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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSTAFF REPORT Beaver Point Heights Amended Plat 2006-08-15RMNP RockyMountainNationalPark RMNP USFS USFS USFS Lake Estes MarysLake LilyLake Mac Gregor Ranch YMCAConferenceGrounds 36 EVDC Boundary EVDC Boundary Eagle Rock RMNPFall RiverEntrance RMNPBeaver MeadowsEntrance Prospect Mt. - (/34 (/36(/7 (/36 (/34 (/36 (/7 CheleyCamps USFS USFS I. PROJECT DESCRIPTION/BACKGROUND PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING DATE: August 15, 2006 PLAT TITLE: “Amended Plat of Lots 5 through 10, Except the Westerly 90 Feet of Lot 7 and 8, Beaver Point Heights, Located in the North ½, of the Northwest ¼, of Section 35, Township 5 North, Range 73 West of the 6th P.M., County of Larimer, State of Colorado” LOCATION: The site is located at 945 Moraine Avenue (US Highway 36). This property is being annexed into the Town of Estes Park. It fronts two streets, Moraine Avenue (US Highway 36) and High Drive (County Road #67W), and is bordered by Rocky Mountain National Park to the west. APPLICANT/PROPERTY OWNERS: All Mountain View Inn and Suites, LLC/Same CONSULTANT/ENGINEER: Zach Hanson, Van Horn Engineering and Surveying, Inc. STAFF CONTACTS: Alison Chilcott APPLICABLE LAND USE CODE: Estes Valley Development Code (EVDC) PROJECT DESCRIPTION/BACKGROUND: This is an amended plat/minor subdivision application. As described in the statement of intent, this is an application to consolidate the property into two lots. At the recommendation of staff, the applicant has revised the application to propose one lot. The property has been developed as, and functions as, one lot. It is zoned “A” Accommodations/Highway Corridor and is approximately 1.52 acres. Xanterra, the new Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) concessionaire, has a contract to purchase the property. They intend to change the use from accommodations to employee housing. Xanterra is also interested in constructing a dining hall/meeting room on the property and expanding storage for the manager’s Amended Plat of Lots 5 through 10, Except the Westerly 90 Feet of Lot 7 and 8, Beaver Point Heights Town Hall, 170 MacGregor Avenue PO Box 1200 Estes Park, CO 80517 Phone: 970-577-3721 Fax: 970-586-0249 www.estesnet.com Page #2 – Amended Plat of Lots 5 through 10, Except the Westerly 90 Feet of Lot 7 and 8, Beaver Point Heights unit. Depending on the scale of development proposed, a development plan will either be reviewed at staff-level or by Planning Commission. If the dining hall/meeting room is proposed as a separate building, it will be considered an accessory building. In the “A” Accommodations/Highway Corridor zoning district, accessory buildings cannot exceed 1,000 square feet. A larger building would require review and approval of a variance. II. SITE DATA TABLES AND MAPS Number of Parcels Proposed One Parcel Number(s) 35352-06-005 Gross Land Area 1.52 acres, 66,175 square feet per plat Existing Land Use Accommodations (All Budget Inn) Proposed Land Use If the property is sold to Xanterra, the new Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) concessionaire, the new property owner intends to change the use to employee housing. SERVICES Water Town of Estes Park Sewer Upper Thompson Sanitation District Fire Protection Estes Park Volunteer Fire Department Electric Town of Estes Park Telephone Qwest Gas Xcel Mapped Hazards/Physical Features Applicable to this Site? Wildfire Hazard No Geologic Hazard No Wetlands No Streams/Rivers No Ridgeline Protection No Critical Wildlife Habitat Yes – Deer Page #3 – Amended Plat of Lots 5 through 10, Except the Westerly 90 Feet of Lot 7 and 8, Beaver Point Heights LOCATION MAPS WITH ADJACENT LAND USES AND ZONING AERIAL PHOTO Page #4 – Amended Plat of Lots 5 through 10, Except the Westerly 90 Feet of Lot 7 and 8, Beaver Point Heights III. REVIEW CRITERIA All subdivision applications shall demonstrate compliance with the standards and criteria set forth in Chapter 10, “Subdivision Standards,” and all other applicable provisions of the Estes Valley Development Code. For minor subdivisions, the EVPC shall also find that approval will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare, injurious to other property in the neighborhood, or in conflict with the purposes and objectives of this Code. This application does not fall within the parameters of staff-level review and will be reviewed by the Estes Valley Planning Commission and Estes Park Town Board. IV. REFERRAL COMMENTS These requests have been submitted to all applicable reviewing agency staff and adjacent property owners for consideration and comment. The following staff and/or adjacent property owners submitted written comments. Estes Park Public Works Department See Greg Sievers’ memo to Alison Chilcott dated August 1, 2006. Town Attorney See Greg White’s letter to Alison Chilcott dated July 21, 2006. Upper Thompson Sanitation District See Reed Smedley’s letter to Alison Chilcott dated July 12, 2006. Colorado Department of Transportation See Tim Bilobran’s letter to Alison Chilcott dated August 3, 2006. Owner of 880 Heinz Parkway (Lot 2, Block 1, Park Entrance Estates) See William R. Jones letter to Alison Chilcott dated July 22, 2006. V. STAFF FINDINGS 1. Project Description/Background The Project Description/Background found in Section I of this staff report is included as a staff finding. 2. Reviewing Agency Comments This request has been submitted to all applicable reviewing agency staff for consideration and comment. All comments submitted by reviewing agency staff, referred to in Section IV of this staff report, are incorporated as staff findings. Page #5 – Amended Plat of Lots 5 through 10, Except the Westerly 90 Feet of Lot 7 and 8, Beaver Point Heights The Public Works comment #5 should be addressed with this amended plat and comment #9 should be addressed prior to recordation of this plat. The remainder of the comments should be addressed during review of the development plan and/or change of use/building permit. The Town Attorney’s comment #1 concerning easements is no longer applicable because the application has been revised to propose only one lot. 3. Public Comments Staff received a letter from Williams Jones, the owner of 880 Heinz Parkway, opposing the amended plat, expressing concern about prior development on the lot and concern about the impacts of future development of this property, which this amended plat could facilitate. Mr. Jones expressed concern about the existing 3,104-square-foot, two-story building, which was constructed in 1999 according to the Larimer County Tax Assessor website. This building was constructed prior to the effective date of the Estes Valley Development Code and a permit was issued by the Larimer County Building Department. At that time, the scale of development did not require neighbor notification or a public hearing. Mr. Jones also expressed concern about future development. If more than 2,000 square feet of development is proposed, submittal of a development plan is required and adjacent property owners will be notified. This plan will be reviewed for compliance with EVDC regulations; however, view protection is not one of the standards. The impacts of any additional traffic will be reviewed at that time, a traffic impact analysis may be required, and CDOT will be involved with this review since the property fronts a state highway. 4. Minor Subdivisions This is a minor subdivision application. Staff is supportive of the revised application to create one lot. Staff was not supportive of the original proposal to create two lots that would have been non-conforming as to lot size and would have required numerous cross easements. The property has been developed as one lot with buildings, utilities, driveways, and fencing constructed and installed without regard to the location of lot lines. The property has also been combined into one parcel for tax purposes, i.e., there is one tax identification number for the entire parcel. Approval of this application would not be materially detrimental to the public welfare, injurious to other property in the neighborhood, or in conflict with the purposes and objectives of this Code. Page #6 – Amended Plat of Lots 5 through 10, Except the Westerly 90 Feet of Lot 7 and 8, Beaver Point Heights 5. Lot Size, Dimensional Standards, and Configuration The lot area/size, width, depth, shape, and orientation are appropriate for the location of the subdivision and type of development and use contemplated. The proposed lot meets the 40,000-square-foot minimum lot size requirement and is close to a rectangular shape. The former lot lines should be labeled “former lot lines to be vacated by this plat.” 6. Setbacks/Encroachments The shed in the northeast portion of the property should be relocated out of the setbacks. The exit sign is located in US Highway 36 right-of-way. This should be relocated onto the property in a location reviewed and approved by staff. 7. Slope Protection and Ridgeline Protection Standards This is not applicable to the proposed plat. 8. Geologic and Wildfire Hazards There are no mapped geologic or wildfire hazards on this property. 9. Wildlife Habitat Protection The property is in mapped deer habitat. Since no development is planned at this time, the plat was not sent to the State Division of Wildlife for comments. 10. Wetlands and Stream/River Corridor Protection There are no streams or rivers on this property. 11. Adequate Public Facilities Adequate public facility requirements are not triggered with the application. Adequate public facilities requirements will be triggered with a change of use, e.g., from accommodations to residential use, and/or with new development. These standards address domestic water, fire protection, sewer, electricity, transportation, and drainage. 12. Utility Easements Generally, ten-foot-wide utility easements are required along all property lines and these easement are proposed along all property lines. The dedication statement should be revised so that utility easements are not also dedicated as drainage easements. A drainage easement that was created to benefit Lot 10 is being vacated by this plat. 13. Plat Notes The Property Information should be revised to reflect one lot. Note #3, which states “Lot 6A and Lot 9A shall remain zoned A – Accommodations,” should also be revised since Lot 9 A is no longer proposed. Page #7 – Amended Plat of Lots 5 through 10, Except the Westerly 90 Feet of Lot 7 and 8, Beaver Point Heights 14. Postal Cluster Box The postal cluster box pull-off shall be reviewed by the Post Office and the Town. This pull-off currently encroaches onto the property. If this is not required by the Post Office, the area shall be revegetated, otherwise an access easement shall be provided for this pull-off. VI. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Based on the foregoing, Staff recommends APPROVAL of the application CONDITIONAL TO: 1. The application form shall be completed. The gas and lift station questions shall be answered. The water service is listed as Town of Estes Park. This is not correct and shall be revised. The property is served by a well. 2. The annexation plat shall be recorded prior to recordation of this plat. 3. Compliance with Greg Sievers’ memo dated August 1, 2006. Public Works comment #5 shall be addressed with the preliminary plat and comment #9 shall be addressed prior to recordation of this plat. The remainder of the comments shall be addressed during review of the development plan and/or change of use/building permit. 4. The former lot lines shall be labeled “former lot lines to be vacated by this plat.” 5. The shed in the northeast portion of the property shall be relocated out of the setbacks prior to recordation of the plat. 6. The exit sign located in US Highway 36 right-of-way shall be relocated onto the property in a location reviewed and approved by staff prior to recordation of the plat. 7. The dedication statement shall be revised so that utility easements are not also dedicated as drainage easements. 8. The Property Information shall be revised to reflect one lot, as shall Note #3, which states “Lot 6A and Lot 9A shall remain zoned A – Accommodations.” 9. The postal cluster box pull-off shall be reviewed by the Post Office and the Town. This pull-off currently encroaches onto the property. If this is not required by the Post Office, the area shall be revegetated, otherwise an access easement shall be dedicated with this plat for this pull-off. Page #8 – Amended Plat of Lots 5 through 10, Except the Westerly 90 Feet of Lot 7 and 8, Beaver Point Heights VII. SUGGESTED MOTIONS APPROVAL I move to recommend approval of the application to the Town Board of Trustees with staffs’ findings and conditions. CONTINUANCE I move to CONTINUE the application to the next regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting because… (state reason for continuance - findings). Note: With some exceptions, the applicant must agree to this, otherwise a continuance is deemed approval. DENIAL I move to recommend DENIAL of the application to the Town Board of Trustees because… (state reason for denial - findings).