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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP-24-05 - Decision - 1611 Williston Road#SP-24-05 - 1 - CITY OF SOUTH BURLINGTON DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND ZONING VERMONT SUITES, LLC – 1611 WILLISTON ROAD SITE PLAN APPLICATION #SP-24-05 FINDINGS OF FACT AND DECISION Vermont Suites, LLC, hereinafter referred to as the applicant, is seeking to amend a previously approved plan for a 4-acre property that includes a single-family home, a triplex, and a 29-room motel. The amendment consists of constructing a 1,050 sf addition to the motel garage and associated site improvements, including the addition of landscaping, the addition of accessory structures for storage, and the demolition of an in-ground pool, 1611 Williston Road. Based on the plans and materials contained in the document file for this application, the Administrative Officer finds, concludes, and decides the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The applicant is seeking to amend a previously approved plan for a 4-acre property that includes a single-family home, a triplex, and a 29-room motel. The amendment consists of constructing a 1,050 sf building addition to the motel garage and associated site improvements, including the addition of landscaping, the addition of accessory structures for storage, and the demolition of an in-ground pool, 1611 Williston Road. 2. The owner of record of the subject property is 147 Loomis Street, LLC. 3. The subject property is located in both the Commercial 1 – Residential 12 (C1-R12) and the Residential 4 (R4) zoning districts, as well as the Traffic and Transit Overlay districts. All existing and proposed development on this property is within the portion of the property zoned C1-R12 – as such, only those zoning district standards apply to this application. 4. The application was received on March 15, 2024. 5. The plans submitted include a proposed conditions plan entitled “Plat of Lands of 147 Loomis Street, LLC”, prepared by TCE, dated 08/30/2022, and edited most recently by Mohamed Basha on 3/26/2024 and two untitled, undated plans – one depicting the proposed short-term bicycle parking and the other depicting the elevations of the proposed building addition. Only the standards below are affected by this application. All other standards will continue to be met. DIMENSIONAL REQUIREMENTS C1-R12 Zoning District Required Existing Proposed  Min. Lot Size 40,000 S.F. 4.13 acres No change  Max. Building Coverage 40% 7.2% 7.8%  Max. Overall Coverage 70% 19.3% 19.9 %  Max. Front Yard Coverage 30% 17.8% No change @ Min. Front Setback 30 ft 12 ft No change  Min. Side Setback 10 ft. 4.5 ft No change  Min. Rear Setback 30 ft. 200+ ft No change  Max. Building Stories 5 2 No change  Zoning Compliance @ Preexisting nonconformity #SP-24-05 - 2 - 3.10 Accessory Structures & Uses The applicant is proposing to install three shipping containers to the west of the motel building, just south of the proposed garage addition, to be used as storage buildings. A. General Requirements. (1) On lots of less than one (1) acre in size, no more than two (2) accessory structures, including a detached private garage, shall be permitted per principal structure. On lots used primarily for agricultural uses and lots that are one (1) acre or greater in size, more than two (2) accessory structures shall be permitted provided all applicable limitations on coverage and setbacks in these Regulations are met. The subject property exceeds 1 acre in size – as such, more than two accessory structures are permitted. The proposed accessory structures will all be at least 10 feet from the nearest side property line and will not increase the building coverage or lot coverage for this property beyond the maximums allowed in the subject zoning district. (2) Accessory structures shall not be placed in the front yard, and they shall not, if placed in a side yard, be located closer to the street than the required front setback of the principal structure. As noted above, the proposed accessory structures are not located in a front yard. The required front setback of the principal structure is 30 feet – the proposed accessory structures are not closer than 30 feet to the street. (3) Accessory structures shall be located a minimum of five (5) feet from all side and rear lot lines. The proposed accessory structures are located more than 5 feet from all side and rear lot lines. (9) On lots of less than one (1) acre in size, the total square footage of all accessory structures shall not exceed two-hundred percent (200%) of the first or ground floor of the principal structures. On lots that are one (1) acre or greater in size, the total square footage of all accessory structures shall not exceed ten (10) percent of the total parcel, or the maximum building coverage for the district, whichever is lesser. In-ground pools, tennis courts, and other similar structures at grade level, and accessory dwelling units, shall not be counted towards the maximum square footage of accessory structures. The total square footage of the three proposed accessory structures and the existing shed is 750 square feet, which is less than 10% of the total parcel size and is less than 10% of the maximum building coverage for this Zoning District. (11) No part of any such accessory structure shall be designed or used for sleeping purposes, and no cooking facilities shall be placed or permitted in any part of such accessory structure unless such structure is a duly approved as an accessory dwelling unit. None of the proposed or existing accessory structures on this lot are approved to be Accessory Dwelling Units – as such, none of the proposed or existing accessory structures may contain cooking facilities or be used for sleeping purposes. 10.01 Traffic Overlay District The project is located in the Traffic Overlay District Zone 3, which limits PM peak hour vehicle trip ends to 45 per 40,000 sf of land area. The subject parcel is approximately 180,000 square feet is therefore limited to 202.5 PM peak hour trips. The proposed addition to the existing garage will not add any #SP-24-05 - 3 - additional rooms to the existing motel or generate any additional traffic. The Administrative Officer finds that the proposed building addition and in-ground pool removal do not present a traffic impact. 10.05 Urban Design Overlay District (UDO) The property is located within the Urban Design Overlay district, so these standards are applicable to this property. However, the applicant is not proposing to alter the primary building façade, therefore, as per Article 10.05.C(1), only the proposed addition is subject to the standards of this section. The standards do not impose any design requirements on building additions that are not a primary or secondary façade – as such, the proposed building addition meets the requirements of this section. The demolition of the existing in-ground pool has no impact on compliance with this section. The Administrative Officer finds the applicable criteria of the Urban Design Overlay District to be met. SITE PLAN REVIEW STANDARDS Only the standards below are affected by this application. All other standards will continue to be met. 14.06 General Standards A. Relationship of Proposed Structures to the Site (3) Without restricting the permissible limits of the applicable zoning district, the height and scale of each building shall be compatible with its site and existing or anticipated adjoining buildings. The addition is proposed to increase the footprint of the building by approximately 8% and is proposed to have a maximum elevation of 19.5 feet – it will be only one story. The proposed addition will be no taller than the rest of the existing motel building to which it will be attached. The Administrative Officer finds the scale and height of the proposed structure to be compatible with the structures on site and neighboring structures. B. Relationship of Structures and Site to Adjoining Area. (1) The Development Review Board shall encourage the use of a combination of common materials and architectural characteristics (e.g., rhythm, color, texture, form or detailing), landscaping, buffers, screens and visual interruptions to create attractive transitions between buildings of different architectural styles. The proposed building addition will be screened from the public ROW by the existing motel building. As such, this building addition will not be seen from Williston Road. There is therefore no need to create an attractive transition between the proposed building addition and the rest of the site. (2) Proposed structures shall be related harmoniously to themselves, the terrain and to existing buildings and roads in the vicinity that have a visual relationship to the proposed structures. As noted above, the proposed expansion will be screened by the existing motel building to which it will be attached. The vicinity does not include any elements that appear to clash with the proposed addition. The Administrative Officer finds this criterion met. (3) To accomplish (1) and (2), the DRB shall consider: (a) Pattern and Rhythm. Update or maintain or extend the overall pattern of development defined by the planned or existing street grid, block configurations, position and orientation #SP-24-05 - 4 - of principal buildings, prevalence of attached or detached building types. The Administrative Officer finds that the proposed addition will be almost entirely screened from the road by the existing motel building – as such, the proposed addition will maintain the pattern of development as defined by the position of principal buildings and the prevalence of attached buildings. (b) Architectural Features. Respond to recurring or representative architectural features that define neighborhood character, without adhering to a particular architectural style. The Administrative Officer finds that the proposed addition meets the general features of the neighborhood character without adhering to any particular style of construction. (c) Privacy. Limit impacts and intrusions to privacy on adjoining properties, including side and back yard areas through context sensitive design. No changes impacting the privacy of adjoining properties are proposed. C. Site Amenity Requirement This non-residential expansion adds fewer than 5,000 square feet to the building area. As such, this criterion is not applicable. 14.07 Specific Review Standards H. Utility Services The proposed addition of garage space and demolition of an existing in-ground pool do not impact the required water or wastewater allocation for this property. The Administrative Officer finds that the applicant is not required to update the existing Wastewater Allocation approval or obtain a new Wastewater Allocation approval. I. Disposal of Wastes The applicant is proposing to install a 6-ft high latchable wood or vinyl dumpster around the existing dumpster. The Administrative Officer finds this criterion met. OTHER APPLICABLE STANDARDS 13.03 Bicycle Parking & Storage The applicant is proposing 13,393 sf of motel use, which is classified as an “other non-residential” use by this section of the LDRs, requiring a minimum of 4 short-term bicycle parking spaces. The applicant is not required to provide any long-term bike parking, as the proposed building addition does not impact more than 50% of load-bearing elements in the existing building. The applicant is proposing to meet the short- term bike parking requirement by installing three ‘inverted-U’ racks on a presently paved area in the southwest corner of the existing paved vehicle parking area. The applicant is proposing to protect these bike racks from motor vehicles via the installation of steel bollards of at least 36 inches in height around the perimeter of the short-term bike parking area. The Administrative Officer finds this criterion met. 13.04 Landscaping, Screening & Street Trees B(7) Snow Storage The applicant has indicated on the associated plans that snow storage will be located just south of the existing paved vehicle parking area. The Administrative Officer finds this criterion met. C. Screening or Buffering #SP-24-05 - 5 - Landscaping, fencing, land shaping and/or screening along property boundaries is required when two adjacent sites are dissimilar and should be screened or buffered from each other, or when a property’s appearance should be improved. The Administrative Officer finds that the existing extended-stay hotel use is not dissimilar from the adjacent residential uses, and the existing appearance of the property is not in need of improvement. The proposed building addition will be approximately 100 feet from the nearest property line – as such, no buffering or screening between this property and adjacent properties is required. G(3) Landscaping Budget Requirements. The Development Review Board shall require minimum planting costs for all site plans, as shown in Table 13-4 below. In evaluating landscaping requirements, some credit may be granted for existing trees or for site improvements other than tree planting as long as the objectives of this section are not reduced. The costs below are cumulative; for example, a landscaping budget shall be required to show a planned expenditure of three percent of the first $250,000 in construction or improvement cost plus two percent of the next $250,000 in construction or improvement cost, plus one percent of the remaining cost over $500,000. The landscaping budget shall be prepared by a landscape architect or professional landscape designer. The cost of the proposed building addition is $35,000, requiring a minimum of $1,050 worth of landscaping plantings. The applicant has proposed fifteen 3’ to 4’-tall arborvitaes in front of the motel along the north property line. The applicant testified, and staff confirmed, that the value of this landscaping is $1,500, which exceeds the minimum value of $1,050. 13.07 Exterior Lighting Lighting requirements are summarized as follows. (1) Fixtures must be downcast and shielded. (2) Illumination must be evenly distributed. (3) Fixtures must be placed to minimize lighting from becoming a nuisance. (4) Poles shall be rustproof metal, cast iron, fiberglass, finished wood or similar structural material, with a decorative surface or finish. (5) Poles & building mounted fixtures may be no higher than 30 feet. (6) Poles must be located in safe locations. Specific requirements for maximum illumination levels are included in Appendix A and are limited to 3- foot candles average at ground level. The applicant has indicated no changes to existing exterior lighting are proposed, and that existing fixtures are downcast and shielded. The applicant has confirmed that no additional building-mounted lighting is proposed. DECISION Based on the above Findings of Fact, the Administrative Officer hereby approves site plan application #SP-24-05 of Vermont Suites, LLC, subject to the following conditions: 1. All previous approvals and stipulations which are not superseded by this approval shall remain in effect. 2. This project shall be completed as shown on the plan and shall be on file in the South Burlington Department of Planning and Zoning. #SP-24-05 - 6 - 3. The applicant must obtain a zoning permit within six (6) months from the date of this decision or this approval expires and is null and void. The applicant may submit a request for an extension to obtain a zoning permit under the terms outlined in Section 17.04 of the LDRs, but the request must be submitted prior to the expiration of this approval. 4. The subject property is approved to include only the following uses: a single-family home, a triplex, and a 29-room motel, with accessory structures as shown on the approved plan. In order to be considered a motel use and not a residential use, the motel shall be available to the general public on a daily basis. 5. None of the proposed or existing accessory structures shall contain cooking facilities or be used for sleeping purposes. 6. The applicant shall obtain a Certificate of Occupancy from the Administrative Officer prior to use of any of the amended site features. 7. All exterior lighting must be installed or shielded in such a manner as to conceal light sources and reflector surfaces from view beyond the perimeter of the area to be illuminated. 8. The applicant must continue to maintain the approved landscaping in a vigorous growing condition throughout the duration of the use. 9. Pursuant to Section 15.13(E) of the Land Development Regulations, any new utility lines, services, and service modifications must be underground. 10. The proposed project must adhere to standards for erosion control as set forth in Section 16.03 of the South Burlington Land Development Regulations. In addition, the grading plan must meet the standards set forth in Section 16.04 of the South Burlington Land Development Regulations. 11. Bicycle racks must meet the minimum requirements of 13.14 and Appendix G. 12. Any change to the site plan shall require approval by the South Burlington Administrative Officer or the Development Review Board, as allowed under the Land Development Regulations. Signed on this 4th day of April, 2024 by ______________________________ Marty Gillies, acting Administrative Officer PLEASE NOTE: Pursuant to 24 VSA §4465, an interested person may appeal this decision by filing a Notice of Appeal with the secretary of the Development Review Board. This Notice of Appeal must be accompanied with a $233 filing fee and be filed within 15 days of the date of this decision. The applicant or permittee retains the obligation to identify, apply for, and obtain relevant state permits for this project. Call 802.477.2241 to speak with the regional Permit Specialist.