Permit Review Detail
Review Status: Completed
Review Details: BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
Permit Number - T08SA00341
Review Name: BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT
Review Status: Completed
| Review Date | Reviewer's Name | Type of Review | Description | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/09/2008 | MARTIN BROWN | FIRE | REVIEW | Approved | |
| 10/15/2008 | JIM VOGELSBERG | ENGINEERING | REVIEW | Approved | C10-08-16 MINTEC BUILDING EXPANSION/MINTEC, INC., 3544 EAST FT. LOWELL ROAD, P-I The Engineering Division has no objection/adverse comments regarding the applicants request for a variance to delete the screening requirement for one loading space, as shown on the submitted plans. |
| 10/17/2008 | JOSE ORTIZ | DOT TRAFFIC | REVIEW | Completed | TDOT-Traffic has no objection to the proposed variance. |
| 10/22/2008 | ANY | COMMUNITY PLANNING | REVIEW | Approv-Cond | URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN COMMENTS C10-08-16 MINTEC BUILDING EXPANSION/MINTEC, INC., 3544 EAST FT. LOWELL ROAD, P-I Grant/Alvernon Area Plan 10/16/08 drcorral The applicant's project is a 2.9 acre site developed with 21,740 square foot office building and is zoned "P-I" Park Industrial. The applicant proposes a 5,632 square foot addition. The proposed expansion is greater than twenty-five (25%) percent which requires the site to be brought into compliance with all Land Use Code (LUC) regulations applicable to new construction. The applicant is seeking zoning approval necessary to eliminate screen walls surrounding a required loading zone. Tucson LUC Sections applicable to the project include, but are not limited to, the following: Section 2.7.1 which provides the criteria for industrial development in the P-1 zone and Sections 3.4.4 and 3.7.2 which provide landscape and screening requirements. The applicant is requesting a variance to delete the screening requirement for one loading space, as shown on the submitted plans. POLICIES This site is within the boundaries of the Grant/Alvernon Area Plan. The City of Tucson General Plan and the Design Guidelines Manual provide additional relevant design guidelines and applicable land use direction for this case. Grant/Alvernon Area Plan General Land Use Policy 2. Encourage the development of vacant property throughout the Grant-Alvernon area to complement the existing scale, character, and identity of the surrounding neighborhood. Policy 3. Support development on the perimeter of residential areas, which serves to protect and enhance the quality of life for neighborhood residents. Policy 4. Demonstrate sensitivity to surrounding uses through the use of design, location, orientation, landscaping, screening, etc., as outlined in the General Design Guidelines. Policy 2. Encourage incorporation of appropriate design elements and buffering techniques during the zoning application and associated development plan review processes, to ensure sensitive design of nonresidential developments adjacent to established neighborhoods. These elements must be shown on rezoning concept plans and related development plans. Design Guidelines/Site Design Guideline 3. Provide a well-defined pedestrian system linking adjacent uses, connecting to the public sidewalk system, offering convenient access to transit facilities, and providing secure bicycle parking facilities, as an integral component of development. Guideline 16. Encourage owners/developers of office or commercial developments to provide a setback, from principal building(s) to property lines adjacent to parcels developed for residential use, a minimum of one and one half times the principal building height. Design Guidelines/Parking and Outdoor Storage Guideline 1. Loading zones, dumpsters, storage areas, utility equipment, water-pumping stations, outdoor mechanical equipment, outdoor mechanical equipment use areas, loudspeakers, guard dogs, and other uses which will produce odor, visual, or noise, or other negative impacts on adjacent residential uses or residentially zoned property, should be located away from the residential property and buffered with landscaping and a minimum six-foot-high masonry wall. Guideline 2. Meet all parking, loading, and vehicle maneuvering requirements on site. Design Guidelines/Freestanding Walls Guideline 1. Encourage the use of perimeter walls in development that is adjacent to existing lower intensity uses. Design walls to enhance development and complement existing, adjacent uses. General Plan Element 2: Land Use (Commercial and Office Development) Policy 5 Support appropriate locations for commercial and office uses, with priority for development and redevelopment within existing urbanized area … 5.1 Promote a mixture of commercial, office, and residential uses along major transportation corridors and in or adjacent to regional activity centers and employment centers. 5.4 Support residentially-scaled neighborhood commercial and office along collector streets if building is residentially scaled; Element 4: Community Character and Design Policy 6 Promote quality in design for residential, commercial, industrial, mixed-use, and publicly funded development. 6.1 All development should incorporate environmentally sensitive design that protects the integrity of existing neighborhoods, complements adjacent land uses, and enhances the overall function and visual quality of the street, adjacent properties, and the community. 6.6 Solutions and strategies included in the Design Guidelines Manual should be utilized to provide an improved level of community design. DESIGN GUIDELINES MANUAL I. All Development A. Land Use and Site Design 4. Vehicular Circulation and Parking c. Parking, Loading, and Maneuvering Intent: Provide safe vehicular parking, loading, and maneuvering, with attention to functional and aesthetic concerns such as trash removal, emergency access, and reduction of heat build-ups. Solution One: Develop a comprehensive vehicular circulation system that allows parking, loading, and maneuvering to be contained wholly within the development. e. Landscape Buffers to Arterial Streets Intent: Separate pedestrians and vehicles on major streets using vegetation as a screen and buffer. Solution: Provide a landscape strip behind the future curb line including all of the following: - Pedestrian walkways sited well away from the road - Drought tolerant street trees to complement existing streetscape vegetation - Masonry walls and berms a. Free-standing Walls (I.B.3.a) Intent - Reduce the impact of freestanding walls over 75 feet long and over 3 feet high and increase their visual appeal. Solution - Promote variations in scale, reflective surface, texture, and pattern: " Vary wall alignments (jog, curve, notch, setback, etc.) " Plant trees and shrubs, in voids created by wall variations, at an appropriate scale/massing " Locate trees every 25 feet " Use two or more wall materials and/or incorporate a visually interesting design on the wall surface " Include decorative features of tile, stone, or brick " Use sound absorbing or scattering materials such as tile, stone, or brick DISCUSSION The applicant is requesting a variance to delete the screening requirement for one loading space, along the northeast corner of the existing building adjacent to C-1, neighborhood commercial, zoning and Richie Boulevard. The General Plan and the Grant/Alvernon Area Plan provide relevant policy guidance. These Plans promote the development which compliment the existing character, scale and identity of surrounding neighborhoods. The Grant/Alvernon Area Plan calls out for new non-residential development to demonstrate sensitivity to surrounding uses through generous landscaping, buffers, design, and building orientation. While the loading space is not adjacent to residential uses, Policy 2 of the Grant/Alvernon Area Plan is to incorporate appropriate design elements and buffering techniques. The applicant has offered a compromise of, rather than eliminating the wall altogether, a reduction in wall height from 6 feet to 2.5 feet. Since the location of the loading zone visible from the Richey Boulevard right-of-way the plans support a reduction in height rather than a total elimination of the wall. Recommendation The applicants' requests are consistent with policy direction in the Grant/Alvernon Area Plan, the General Plan, and the Design Guidelines Manual and are supported by the Plans with the following conditions: 1. Masonry wall surrounding the required loading zone at the northeast corner of the site shall not be less than 30 feet in height. Relevant Policies and Guidelines: " Grant/Alvernon Area Plan, Policy 2 " GP Element 4: Policy 6 and 6.1 " DG - I.B.3.a. - Free Standing Walls 2. All walls visible from a public right-of-way and/or adjacent to existing residential development are to be graffiti-resistant and incorporate one (1) or more visually appealing design treatments such as the sue of two (2) or more decorative materials like stucco, tile, stone, or brick; a visually-interesting design on the wall surface; varies wall alignments (job, curve, notch, setback, etc.) and/or trees and shrubs in voids created by the wall variations. Relevant Policies and Guidelines: " Grant/Alvernon Area Plan, Policy 2 " GP Element 4: Policy 6 and 6.1 " DG - I.B.3.a. - Free Standing Walls |