Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout4 - Street Project Memo To: Planning Commission From: Justin Fortney, Associate Planner Date: February 25, 2008 SubjectCity of Hastings : – Original Hastings Design Guidelines Review #2008-05 – North Vermillion Area Improvements REQUEST The Planning Commission is asked to review and comment on the following actions: North Vermillion Area Improvement Plan 1). The City of Hastings is preparing to th reconstruct most streets and utilities from Spring St. east to Tyler St. and 6 St. th south to 10 St as part of the North Vermillion Area Improvements Plan. The area falls within the study area of the Original Hastings Design Guidelines study area as established under the 2003 Heart of Hastings Plan. St John’s Church Parking Request. 2)St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church has requested that as part of the street reconstruction project the City provide th angled parking adjacent to their property on the north side of 8 St W and both sides of Eddy St. The proposal will provide 10 to 11 additional parking spaces more than the current parallel spaces. This proposal will require the removal of 8 mature boulevard trees and require Eddy St to be widened from 32 feet wide to 66 feet wide. ORIGINAL HASTINGS DESIGN GUIDELINES Original Hastings Design Guidelines were adopted by the City Council in 2003 as part of the Heart of Hastings Master Plan. The Design Guidelines list four functions that the plan should be used for. One of which is to: Guide the design of public improvements (streetscape, public buildings, etc.) within Original Hastings. Design Guidelines establish different criteria for street and streetscape improvements based upon the land use and character. Streets within the improvement area are termed “neighborhood” streets and described as follows: NORTH VERMILLION AREA IMPROVEMENTS PLAN The Engineering Department is currently developing plans for street and utility reconstruction for the North Vermillion Area Improvements project. Streets proposed for reconstruction include thththth 6, 7, 8 & 9 Streets between Vermillion Street and Spring Street, Eddy Street from halfway thththththth between 5 and 6 Streets to 10 Street, Spring Street between 6 and 10 Streets, on 7 and ththth 8 Streets between Vermillion Street and Bailly Street, and on Sibley Street between 6 and 8 Streets. The proposed improvement area consists of 26 ½ blocks of street and utility reconstruction, along with the reconstruction of three alleys. About half of the street segments in the proposed project area are within the Neighborhood Conservation District as defined by the Design Guidelines for Original Hastings portion of the Heart of Hastings Plan that was adopted by the City in 2003. The remaining streets are within the Historic District, for which the Hastings Preservation Commission has reviewed and provided comments. The Engineering Department has worked to accommodate most of the design guidelines for neighborhood streets, which include: 32 foot street width to accommodate parallel parking Boulevard tree placement and preservation 4 foot minimum width sidewalks 4 foot minimum width boulevards Ornamental street lighting fixtures Please see attached memorandum from City Engineer Nick Egger for more detailed information about proposed street improvements. ANALYSIS The City has carefully planned improvements to be consistent with the Original Hastings Design Guidelines. Staff finds the North Vermillion Area Improvements to be consistent with the Original Hastings Design Guidelines. ST JOHNS CHURCH REQUEST th St Johns Evangelical Lutheran Church located at 208 West 8 Street seeks to amend th the North Vermillion Improvement Plan to allow for on street diagonal parking on 8 Street W and Eddy Street. HISTORY In 1988 the HPC recommended that the church consider curb cuts to increase the on street parking rather than relocating a historic house to build a parking lot. The church had the Engineering Department develop a parking diagram to determine if it was feasible to do so. At this time the church did not want to bear the expense of the curb cut parking and the City would not because the streets were not scheduled for replacement. Now the City is replacing the streets and the request has come-up. Please see memo from City Engineer Nick Egger for further information. RECOMENDATION Staff does not support St John’s parking request finding it inconsistent with the Original Hastings Design Guidelines as follows: th Street width along Eddy St and 8 Street would be extended beyond the 32 1) foot limit. Along Eddy Street the width would be nearly 66 feet, more than double the 32 foot width limit. Removal of existing mature boulevard trees. 2) All of the mature boulevard trees along Eddy Street would be removed which would significantly alter the character of the roadway. Removal of landscaped boulevard. 3) The landscaped boulevard between the sidewalk and Eddy Street would be removed; the widened street would be located directly behind the existing sidewalk with no transition or buffering. Limited increase of parking. 4) Conversion of existing parallel parking spaces to diagonal parking would achieve a net increase of only 10-11 parking spaces. Limited use of parking. 5) Parking spaces would remain vacant at most times. Parking use would likely be limited to Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. ATTACHMENTS Map of street and utility replacement Design Guideline street type map 1988 parking analysis study Site photos Memo – Nick Egger - North Vermillion Area Improvements Memo – Nick Egger - St John’s Church parking request Above is the project area by jurisdiction Original Hasting Design Guideline street type map 1988 Parking analysis study Eddy looking north HPC to make a recommendation on this portion Church th 8 St W Looking East Spring Street MEMO To:Hastings Planning Commission From: Nick Egger – City Engineer Date:February 22, 2008 Re: North Vermillion Area Improvements (NVAI) The Engineering Department is currently developing plans for street and utility reconstruction for the North Vermillion Area Improvements project. Streets proposed for reconstruction thththth include 6, 7, 8 & 9 Streets between Vermillion Street and Spring Street, Eddy Street from ththththth halfway between 5 and 6 Streets to 10 Street, Spring Street between 6 and 10 Streets, on ththth 7 and 8 Streets between Vermillion Street and Bailly Street, and on Sibley Street between 6 th and 8 Streets. The proposed improvement area consists of 26 ½ blocks of street and utility reconstruction, along with the reconstruction of three alleys. About half of the street segments in the proposed project area are within the Neighborhood Conservation District as defined by the Design Guidelines for Original Hastings portion of the Heart of Hastings Plan that was adopted by the City in 2003. The remaining streets are within the Historic District, for which the Hastings Preservation Commission has reviewed and provided comments. The Engineering Department has worked accommodate most of the design guidelines for neighborhood streets, which include: 32 foot street width to accommodate parallel parking Boulevard tree placement and preservation 4 foot minimum width sidewalks 4 foot minimum width boulevards Ornamental street lighting fixtures The following sections summarize the design features that are currently incorporated into the plans for this project and how they apply to the criteria listed above. S&BW TREETOULEVARDIDTHS Wherever possible, streets that are currently less than 32 feet wide have been designed to be reconstructed to a 32 foot width. This configuration is ideal in accommodating parallel parking with two-way traffic, and preserves adequate space for the maintenance of emergency access. In some cases, topography and the presence of boulevard trees or other obstructions in close proximity to the existing street edges prohibits street widening. When these conditions are present, streets have been designed to achieve the maximum width possible. S IDEWALKS Existing sidewalks in the District would be replaced in as close to their current locations as possible to the City standard of five feet in width, with some areas remaining if they are found to be in good condition. There are several areas in which physical constraints, such as slopes and trees, prohibit widening of sidewalk segments. Although the City adopted standard sidewalk width is five feet, these situations will require compromise to maintain the continuity of sidewalk corridor. There are also several areas in which at least a portion of the existing sidewalk is located on private property. City staff will be approaching the affected property owners to discuss these situations and to pursue easements in order for these sidewalks to be replaced. BT OULEVARDREES The project area contains many mature boulevard trees. Accordingly, staff has made diligent efforts during the design process to preserve existing trees to the maximum extent possible while still maintaining the infrastructure improvement goals of the project. Engineering Department staff worked closely with the City Forester and Parks Superintendent to determine conditions of existing trees, and whether project design features have potential in harming existing trees. Staff is also determining tree species that will be planted in boulevard areas in need of populating and in cases where trees must be removed due to poor health or where removal is unavoidable. A list of 10 trees recommended for removal has been developed by City Forester Paul Mahoney and Parks Superintendent Kevin Smith. Eight of the trees listed are considered risk trees due to poor health, decay, or concerns about long term stability such that these trees pose a threat to public safety in the event that they would fall. Two other trees obstruct sight lines at intersections and also present a concern to public safety. Staff will take a further look at these trees to see if measures such as trimming for sight clearance may be possible. OL RNAMENTALIGHTING The Neighborhood Street Design Guidelines of the Original Hastings Design Standards indicate that ornamental lighting fixtures be implemented as part of the streetscape, at a concentration of four per block. With block lengths within this project area consistently between 250 and 300 feet, this would result in light pole spacing of approximately 100 feet assuming lights at each corner. It is staff’s opinion that this will produce lighting concentration far in excess of what is reasonably necessary and tolerable for street lighting in a tight neighborhood setting. Staff’s recommendation is that a light at each intersection, and one mid block will suffice. An example ndth of this spacing interval can be found along Eddy Street between 2 and 5 Streets. It is also important to point out that such lighting has not been incorporated into recent projects other than the aforementioned section of Eddy Street. In addition, a system of lighting meeting the design guidelines would require the installation of approximately 75 new ornamental poles and carry an exorbitant price on the order of $500,000 or more, not including continual operation and maintenance costs. This is well beyond the City’s budget for project costs this year, and therefore this feature has not been included in the plans. Instead, City staff is seeking feedback from the HPC, Planning Commission, and Council Operations committee to ascertain their desires regarding this item. If ornamental street lighting were desired, staff would recommend that there be an annual street lighting project on a much smaller scale, until the areas within these districts met the guidelines for street lighting. ODF THERESIGNEATURES Some sections of retaining walls will be necessary to support slopes within boulevards in a few areas. In these cases, modern modular block retaining wall materials will be used for construction. The block material design specified for this project will match what was previously approved by the HPC for use in conjunction with the Vermillion Historic Wall project. It is anticipated that walls constructed in this project area will be a maximum of 3 feet high, thereby not requiring any sort of protective fencing or railings above them. If fencing were to be necessary, it would be of a compatible design and materials. Photos of these materials will be available at the Planning Commission meeting. C ONCLUSION In summary, staff has taken care in laying out the configuration of the proposed improvement area with consideration for the design standards of the Conservation District. This has resulted in plans that will allow the character and features of the neighborhood streetscape to remain while carrying on the goals of the City for improvement of the public infrastructure. The Department appreciates the opportunity to present this information to the Commission and the Commission’s feedback. Recommendations that the Commission may have will be combined with comments from affected property owners received by staff at the neighborhood meetings and forwarded to the City Council for their consideration at the upcoming Public rd Hearing for this project on March 3. MEMO To:Hastings Planning Commission From: Nick Egger – City Engineer Date:February 22, 2008 Re: St. John’s Lutheran Church Parking Request City staff met with representatives of St. John’s Lutheran Church several weeks ago to discuss their request to incorporate angle parking into Eddy Street as part of the North Vermillion Area Improvements project. The italicized information below was sent by Public Works Director Tom Montgomery to the City Council shortly after to summarize the request and staff’s recommendations regarding the matter. Mayor and City Councilmembers, th As part of the proposed 2008 Street and Utility Reconstruction Program, both 8 Street and Eddy Street would be reconstructed, affecting St. John’s Church located at the NW corner of th 8 and Eddy along with the church offices located across Eddy Street from the church, behind the historic Smith-Atwood house. The draft plans call for reconstructing the project streets at the existing 32 ft. width and preserve the existing angled parking in front of St. John’s Church on th 8 Street. St. John’s Church has requested that the City construct angled parking in front of their property on both sides of Eddy Street and extend the existing angled parking on the north side of th 8 Street west to their west property line (see enclosed drawings and pictures). The proposed additional angled parking would generate a net 11 or 12 parking spaces. City staff met with representatives from the church and explained that staff would not be recommending construction of the additional angled parking for the following reasons: The properties are within the Conservation District or the Old Hastings Historic District. Neighborhood Design Guidelines note that the character of existing neighborhood streets should be maintained, with 32 ft. wide streets, sidewalks and boulevard trees. The addition of angled parking would effectively pave the entire 66 ft. wide right of way on Eddy Street south of the alley, converting the street into a parking lot. The angled parking would not fit in with the existing character of Eddy Street and would not meet the Conservation District’s design guidelines. Six mature trees would be removed from the boulevard on Eddy Street; two trees would th be removed from the north side of 8 Street. Snow removal would become an issue as the entire Eddy Street right of way is parking or sidewalk, leaving no place to push snow. Background In 1988, St. John’s Lutheran Church purchased the historic Smith-Atwood house, whose property extended back to Eddy Street. St. John’s Church initially proposed moving the house and utilizing the property for their office and church parking. The Historic Preservation Commission opposed moving the historic home. The HPC and St. John’s Church reached a compromise under which the property would be subdivided, separating the Sibley St. frontage from the rest of the historic property. Under this proposal, the existing carriage house was converted to an office with a smaller parking lot and variances were recommended to allow fewer parking stalls than ordinances required. As part of the analyzing overall parking needs, the Engineering Department prepared the enclosed drawing illustrating the maximum number of parking stalls that could be created on street to address the additional parking needs generated by the office conversion and planned addition to the church. I have also enclosed 1988 correspondence and Planning Commission minutes on this issue for your information. The St. John’s Church representatives asked how they could further pursue their angled parking request. I asked them to send me a letter explaining their request, noting that I would thth forward it to the Council along with other comments staff receives from the February 5 and 6 neighborhood meetings. I also mentioned that they have the opportunity to address the Council directly on this issue at the public hearing on the proposed 2008 North Vermillion Area Street Reconstruction Project, which will be held in March. Additional information included with this memo: Planning Commission and City Council minutes from meetings in 1988 in which parking variances were approved in order to accommodate the Church’s acquisition and change in use for the carriage house on the Howes-Graus property. A letter from St. John’s Lutheran Church explaining their position on this matter. Representatives of the Church are also planning to attend the meeting and speak on this issue.