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HomeMy WebLinkAbout3 - SUP - Neighborhood Commercial - Kisby Ventures To: Planning Commission From: Justin Fortney, City Planner Date: April 13, 2020 Item: Special Use Permit – Neighborhood Commercial - United Promotions – 201 7th Street East Planning Commission Action Requested: The Planning Commission is asked to review the proposed Special Use Permit for Neighborhood Commercial and make a recommendation to the City Council. Background Information: The Special Use Permit for Neighborhood Commercial may allow business related activity with no adverse changes to the residential character of the neighborhood. The provision contains several stipulations on appropriate sites, businesses, and conditions of operation. The former use or design of an existing building proposed for Neighborhood Commercial is not considered in any of the provisions for approval or appropriateness. Kirby Ventures Commercial, LLC. doing business as United Promotions, formerly as Special Tees located at 1206 N Frontage Road is a company specializing in the promotional decorating of apparel and items with screen printing, heat press, and embroidery. The business has outgrown their current 4,800 Sf commercial facility located at 1206 N Frontage Road. Their working operations include the following details: 1. Their normal working capacity includes 18-24 total employees, with anywhere between 2-18 at any given time during operating hours. 2. Their standard business hours are 8:30-5:00 M-F. This is when management, sales, customer service and design staff are present. 3. Production runs two shifts during busy times: 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM and 3:00 PM – 11:00 PM. 4. Deliveries and pickups are done by standard UPS and FedEx trucks daily. They each deliver sometime every morning and they each pick up every afternoon, all during standard business hours. They use employee vehicles to pick up and deliver orders from Storm Creek, their largest customer. This could involve 1-4 trips daily. We also receive an occasional delivery from Speedee Delivery and some of our customers hire courier services for orders to local customers. Planning Commission Memorandum 5. The currently have a small number of retail customers that come to the business. These customers are limited to Hastings Highschool letter jackets. They are in the process of locating an alternative source for students to obtain these jackets. This would end the retail component of the business. Subject Property: The former funeral home located at 201 7th Street East was constructed in 1959 as a funeral home and is about 7,300 SF in size. The property has been for sale for several months. In September of 2019, an application for a home occupation by Dean and Shirley Markuson to operate Foss and Swanson Veterans, a community center, museum and library, which was denied for the following reasons: 1) Operation of the Home Occupation would cause additional parking and traffic than would be normally expected in a residential neighborhood. The proposed Community Center would provide events for up to 150 individuals. 2) Community Center operations proposed as part of the Home Occupation are more intensive than other allowable uses within the R-2 Zoning District and not consistent with the general residential nature of the area. The property is zoned R-2, Medium Density Residential, as defined below: § 155.23 R-2 MEDIUM DENSITY RESIDENCE (A) Intent. The intent of this chapter in establishing a medium density residence district is to protect those predominately single-family residential areas within Hastings that were developed in most part prior to World War II, encroachment from potential conflicting uses, and to provide for future residential and related development consistent with proper existing development existing neighborhood character and with minimum maintaining standards for the provision of health, light, air, and visual appeal. Allowable uses for the property include a single or two-family residence, apartment, neighborhood commercial, funeral home, residential care facility (nursing home), fire station, library, or Bed & Breakfast as regulated under City Code chapter 155.23. Neighborhood Commercial Review: The zoning ordinance contains the following conditions for approving a SUP for Neighborhood Commercial and staff’s analysis: (1) Any business related activity occurring on the premises shall not cause any adverse changes to the residential character of the neighborhood; The proposed operations appear to be more intense than the existing character of the homes in the neighborhood. The business certainly creates more traffic with up to 24 daily employees coming to the site and between 5 and 10 deliveries per day. There are a few uses in the area that currently or in the past have also produced greater traffic than residential homes in the area, including SEAS School, St Luke’s Episcopal church, and the former funeral home at the subject property. The business’s operation hours are much later than both the area residential homes and higher traffic generating uses in the neighborhood. The printing operations of the second shift may not be evident outside of the building, but the 2-18 employees leaving the site after 11:00 pm could be a nuisance to the neighborhood. (2) Adherence to the minimum parking standards of § 155.09; The site is a mixture of uses including office, storage, and manufacturing which complicates the parking analysis. Professional/ General Office parking category and others require 1 space/ 300 Sf of area. The proposed building is 7,300 sf requiring 25 parking spaces. Parking is not well defined on the site, but may currently fit 10-12 cars. The applicants have stated a parking agreement could be obtained from St Luke’s Episcopal church, which is directly across Sibley Street and would generally have available spaces during the operations of the business. (3) The operation of any retail business, unless it is conducted entirely by mail, is prohibited. On-site sales shall be limited to those clearly incidental to services provided in the dwelling; The business currently sells Hastings High School letter jackets retail, but are phasing out this component. (4) Operation of any business shall be in conformance to the residential character of the neighborhood; As mentioned in item (1) above, the site would have more deliveries, individuals, and cars at the site. The hours of operation would go until 11:00 pm, which is later than other residential activities of the area. (5) Location of the property shall be considered. Properties not fronting on a major roadway or adjacent to a commercial zoning district may be unsuitable for operation of a neighborhood commercial uses; The site is not situated adjacent to a major roadway or commercial district, but is near a school and church. (6) Any exterior changes necessary to conduct the business shall be sufficiently screened, properly designed, or separated by distance so as to be consistent with existing adjacent residential uses and compatible with the residential nature of the neighborhood; The applicant does not intend to make any exterior changes to the property. (7) Shipment and delivery of products, merchandise, or supplies shall be limited to between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. and shall occur only in single rear axle straight trucks or smaller vehicles normally used to serve residential neighborhoods; Deliveries and pickups would be done by standard UPS and FedEx trucks twice daily. They each deliver sometime every morning and they each pick up every afternoon, all during standard business hours. Employee vehicles are used to pick up and deliver orders from Storm Creek, their largest customer. This could involve 1-4 trips daily. They also receive an occasional delivery from Speedee Delivery and some of their customers hire courier services for orders to local customers. The type of deliveries is consistent with the neighborhood, although much higher in intensity. (8) Any interior changes necessary to conduct the business shall comply with all building, electrical, mechanical, and fire codes governing the use in a residential occupancy; Building permits for work wound require building permits. (9) Signage may consist of not more than 1 single faced unlighted wall sign per home with a maximum area of 2 square feet; The applicant said this is not ideal, but they don’t have a strong need for site advertising. (10) The conduct of the business shall not generate noise, glare, vibrations, fumes, odors, or electrical interference detectable to normal senses outside of the dwelling unit. In the case of electrical interference, no equipment or process shall be used which creates visual or audible interference in any radio or television; The applicant does not believe this would be an issue. Although not ideal or a guarantee to resolve any issues, possible violations could be handled through enforcement of this provision and or the City’s Nuisance Ordinance. These were not reported issues at their existing location. However, their existing location is in a commercial district situated on the frontage road of a State Highway with few neighboring properties. (11) No traffic shall be generated by the business in greater volumes than would normally be expected in a residential neighborhood. The home occupation shall not increase parking requirements by more than 4 additional parking spaces at any given time in addition to the parking spaces required by the occupants. Any need for parking generated by the conduct of the home occupation shall be met off of the street; There does not appear to be enough off-street parking for the current business operations. Traffic from up to 24 employees over two shifts from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm, would increase traffic and parking beyond what is expected in residential areas. The applicant would certainly have to address all parking needs off-street with a parking agreement or parking lot expansion. (Staff is not sure where the limitation on 4 additional parking spaces above is from, as it is contrary to section two, which requires adherence to parking standards.) The residential properties in the area are limited to parking of 3 vehicles outside their property. (12) No business shall be allowed which jeopardizes the health and safety of city residents; and (13) The Fire Marshal may conduct a fire safety inspection of the space proposed to be used for the home occupation. Occupancy shall meet all applicable fire codes prior to opening for business as well as thereafter. General Special Use Permit Review: As the use of Neighborhood Commercial is a Special Use Permit consideration, findings certifying compliance with City Code Section 30.02I(2)(b)(5) must also be made. a. Ingress and egress to property and proposed structures thereon with particular reference to automotive and pedestrian safety and convenient traffic flow and control, and access in case of fire or catastrophe; As a previously developed site, the proposal appears to meet this requirement, conditioned on inspection of the City Fire Marshal. b. Off-street parking and loading areas where required, with particular attention to division I(2)(b)5.a. above, and the economic, noise, glare, or odor effects of the special use on adjoining properties and properties generally in the district; As a previously developed site, the proposal appears to address off street loading. Parking could be adequately addressed with a parking agreement as proposed by the applicant, if consistent with 155.09 (A). The applicant does not believe that noise, glare, or odor would be an issue for neighboring property owners. Although not ideal or a guarantee to resolve any issues, possible violations could be handled through enforcement of this provision and or the City’s Nuisance Ordinance. These were not reported issues at their existing location. However, their existing location is in a commercial district situated on the frontage road of a State Highway with few neighboring properties. c. Refuse and service areas, with particular reference to items divisions (2)(b)5.a. and I(2)(b)5.b. above; As a previously developed site, refuse and service areas appear to be adequate. d. Utilities, with reference to locations, availability, and compatibility; As a previously developed site, the utilities are preexisting. e. Screening and buffering with reference to type, dimensions, and character; As a previously developed site, the existing site design and landscaping appears to meet this requirement. f. Signs, if any, and proposed exterior lighting with reference to glare, traffic safety, economic effect, and compatibility and harmony with properties in the district; The Neighborhood Commercial regulations address signage in a manner that would negate negative affects to the neighborhood. Furthermore, as a previously developed site, the lighting appears to be compatible with the neighborhood. g. Required yards and other open space; As a previously developed site, the existing yards and open space are existing and appropriate. And h. General compatibility with adjacent properties and other property in the district. The proposed business appears compatible with St. Luke’s Episcopal church to the west and SEAS School one block to the east. However, the proposed SUP is not compatible with the adjacent and area residential properties due to the intense operations, traffic from many employees and deliveries, and long and late hours of operation. Notification Property owners within 350’ were notified of the SUP. No comments have been received, from the mailing. Two letters of support were included with the application (attached) Recommended Action: Staff is supportive of the business and would certainly like them to stay in Hastings. This business has a high number of employees and many deliveries. Its hours of operations over two shifts from 7:00am to 11:00pm is more intense than the neighborhood and most business in the commercial and industrial districts. The principal component of this business is production. This type of business is not allowed in any of the commercial districts in the city, as it is not primarily an office, entertainment, lodging, or retail use. The purpose and intent of the City’s I-1 Industrial Park is to establish land to serve these businesses that are vital for providing area residents jobs and contribute to the tax base of the community. The City has placed a great deal of effort in trying to find businesses like this to locate in the Hastings Industrial Park. The City has lots available for as little as $1.00 per acre for businesses like this to build on. These sites would allow a business to design a structure that maximizes their efficiency and processes. The sites and structures would also allow for efficient expansion so the business doesn’t have to waste time and money relocating as they grow. Staff believes the operation of the business at this site would not conform to the residential character of the neighborhood and cause adverse changes to the residential character of the neighborhood based on the finding listed above. With the location of the site not being on a major roadway or adjacent to a commercial zoning district, the intensity of the business production and number of staff, long and late hours of operation, substantial parking needs, and high amount of traffic generated by employees and deliveries, the negative impacts on the surrounding neighborhood cannot be sufficiently mitigated through imposition of reasonable conditions. While staff does not believe the use can conform to the residential character of the neighborhood, the following conditions should be required, if a motion for approval is considered. 1) Conformance with the Planning Commission Staff Report and plans dated April 13, 2020. 2) If the use authorized has not been established within one year from approval by the Board of Adjustment and Appeals, the permit shall be null and void. 3) If the use authorized is discontinued for a period of three years or longer, the permit shall be null and void. 4) There shall be no on street parking allowed for regular business operations. 5) Off-street parking shall be provided on site or with a parking agreement consistent with the provisions of 155.09 (A) 6) The business must be operated consistent with the provisions listed is City Code chapter 155.07 (F) 7) Any site changes will require site plan review. 8) Any building modification will require the appropriate building permits from the city of Hastings. 9) A fire safety inspection must be conducted by the Hastings Fire Marshal. 10) No retail activity is permissible. Attachments: To be added · Aerial Photograph · Photographs · Application Materials Subject location Existing Location Subject Property