MEMBERS PRESENT: Patrick Kennedy, Bart Pacekonis, Elizabeth Kuehnel, William Carroll, Viney Wilson, Kevin Foley & Mario Marrero
ALTERNATES PRESENT: None
STAFF PRESENT:Michele Lipe, Town Planner
Bob Grillo, Town Engineer
APPLICATIONS TO BE OFFICIALLYRECEIVED:
Appl. 11-40P, Nutmeg Village – Request for a zone change of 49.5+ acres from industrial zone (I) to Multi-family AA zone (MF-AA) and zone change .32 acres of industrial zone (I) to Residential A-20 zone (A-20) and general plan of development to create a 155 unit multi-family complex, on properties identified as R003 Nutmeg Road, L023 Pleasant Valley Road, 388 Pleasant Valley Road and a portion of 438 Pleasant Valley Road, located on the northerly side of Pleasant Valley Road, southerly of South Satellite Road and easterly of Nutmeg Road South
PUBLIC HEARING/COUNCIL CHAMBERS
1. Appl. 11-36P, Nomads II—request for a special exception to Section 7.13 to operate an indoor recreation facility including a bowling facility with 12-16 lanes and party rooms at 60 Bidwell Road, I zone.
Doug Nation, owner of Nomads Adventure Quest came before the commission. He is requesting approval to convert the existing building at 60 Bidwell Road to an indoor recreation facility. He plans to add 14-16 bowling lanes in a new facility to accommodate league play as well as a billiard and dart room, batting cages, and rent out space for parties as well. The business would operate the same hours as Nomads. Mr. Nation explained that there are currently 60 parking spaces on site and he has a letter from the adjacent property owner allowing the use of 70 additional spaces. There is also adequate space to build more spaces if necessary.
Lipe had a Planning report.
1. Request for special exception to section 7.13 and site plan approval for a 25,000 sq ft indoor recreation facility to be known as “Nomads II” in an existing building on property located at 60 Bidwell Road, I zone. This building is currently vacant.
2. The existing site plan shows the existing building and parking layout. The building is accessed by Bidwell Road.
3. This application is being proposed under indoor recreation regulation. The applicant has provided the required items, including a floor plan of proposed uses, and a narrative detailing various aspects of the business and hours of operation.
4. The activities at this site will include 12-14 bowling lanes, which will accommodate league play as well as open bowl. Other space will be used for private parties as well as billiards, darts, indoor batting cages, golf, etc. The hours of operation are M-Thurs 4- 10PM, Fri 4 – 1 am, Sat 10 -1am and Sunday 12-10PM. These are the same hours Nomads currently operate.
5. Applications for special exceptions may be approved if the Commission determines that:
• The proposal is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Plan of Conservation and Development.
• The application has met the requirements of the zoning regulations.
• The land is physically suited to the proposed use.
• Minimal, if any, adverse environmental impacts are created.
• No traffic or other hazards will be created.
• The impacts on the capacity of the present and proposed utilities, street, drainage systems, sidewalks, and other elements of the infrastructure will be minimal.
• There will be minimal or no adverse effects on existing uses in the area.
• Surrounding property values will be conserved.
• The character of the neighborhood will be maintained or minimally disrupted.
• The general welfare of the community will be served.
• There is a balance between neighborhood acceptance and community needs.
• Historic factors are adequately protected; or due consideration to preservation of historic factors has been demonstrated.
• The overall physical appearance of the proposed development is compatible with surrounding development and the Commission’s goals for the neighborhood/corridor.
• The architectural design is aesthetically pleasing and blends well into the surrounding area.
6. The Commission may impose additional conditions in accordance with these regulations in order to ensure that all applicable criteria enumerated above are satisfied.
7. The parking requirement for this recreation use is broken down as follows: bowling alley – 4 spaces per lane or 64 spaces; remaining recreational square footage of 30,000 sf requires 120 spaces with a total required of 184 sp. The site plan provided shows 60. The applicant has provided a letter from the adjacent property owner permitting an additional 70 spaces to be used as needed bringing the total number of spaces to 130. (Section 6.4.7 gives the Commission the ability to approve required parking facilities on a lot within 600 feet from the building that the spaces serve.)
8. The applicant is requesting a waiver of 54 spaces at this time. Staff would recommend that rather than waive the parking spaces, in the event parking does become a concern, the applicant be required to create more spaces on site or on adjacent land that is under the applicant’s control.
9. There are no changes being proposed to the exterior of the building. There is an existing sidewalk that connects Nomads with this site and is currently lit.
10. This property is entirely surrounded by industrially zoned land.
11. There is an existing screened dumpster area shown on the side of the building.
12. Public water and sewer are provided. Water Pollution Control Authority approval is required for the change of use.
13. Sherry McGann, Environmental Health Officer, has indicated that the health department will require a plan and food service application be submitted prior to the commencement of construction. Appropriate approvals are to be issued and a final inspection must be conducted by the department to ensure compliance with health code requirements for food service.
14. The fire marshal’s office and building department must consulted regarding changes to the interior of the building and the specific building codes that will have to be met.
If this application is approved, the Planning Dept requests no additional approval modifications.
There were no Engineering comments.
There was no public participation.
Commissioners asked about the number of proposed parking on the site.
Lipe mentioned that the applicant is proposing 184 parking spaces and the applicant has the ability to add additional spaces adjacent to the site if needed.
Commissioners asked if liquor will be served at this site.
The applicant confirmed that liquor will be served and that the liquor license will be regulated through the State Liquor Commission.
The public hearing was closed at 7:40PM.
REGULAR MEETING-MADDEN ROOM
CALL TO ORDER:
PUBLIC PARTICIPATON:
None
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Appl. 11-36P, Nomads II—request for a special exception to Section 7.13 to operate an indoor recreation facility including a bowling facility with 12-16 lanes and party rooms at 60 Bidwell Road, I zone.
Pacekonis made a motion to approve the above mentioned application with the following conditions.
1. Prior to commencement of any site work, a meeting must be held with Town Staff.
2. No building permit will be issued until the final mylars have been filed in the Town Clerk's office.
3. All plans used in the field by the developer must bear the stamp and authorized signature of the Town of South Windsor.
4. This approval does not constitute approval of the sanitary sewer, which can only be granted by the Water Pollution Control Authority.
5. The building street number must be included on the final plan.
6. Pavement markings must be maintained in good condition throughout the site drives and parking areas.
7. All free standing signs and/or building signs require the issuance of a sign permit before they are erected.
8. If a State Traffic Commission certificate is required, no building permits will be issued until the certificate has been issued (per CGS §14-311).
9. In the event additional parking is needed, the applicant will be responsible to provide more spaces on the adjacent property.
10. A food service application must be submitted to the Health Department prior to the commencement of construction of interior space.
11. The fire marshal’s office and building department must be consulted regarding changes to the interior of the building and the specific building codes for the change of use.
Wilson seconded the motion. The motion carried and the vote was unanimous.
2. Appl. 11-38P, Buckland Commons LLC – request for site plan approval for two commercial buildings, 2,000 sf bank and 17,232 sf office/retail building, on property located at 350 Buckland Road, Buckland Road Gateway Development zone
Commissioner Kennedy mentioned that the Buckland Commons application has not been acted upon by the Wetlands Commission therefore the Planning and Zoning Commission could only hear the application at this time and would not act on it at this meeting.
Peter DeMallie, Principal of Design Professionals Inc. gave an overview of the site.
The site is located to the South of Stop & Shop and Terri Office Park. The applicant is proposing 2 entrances, the first one will be off of Deming Street and the 2nd will be at the end of the property off of Buckland Road. The applicant is proposing a 2,000 sq. ft building for a bank with drive through and a bypass lane as well as a mixed use building for office and retail.
Jeff Wyszynski, Architect with Tecton Architects Inc. presented the architectural plans. The architecture is traditional New England style. The stairs are in the center of the building. The materials for the building are brick and hardy plank with asphalt shingles. Trim details were maintained on all four sides to give an appearance that the building has no back to it. The front of the building is proposed to have floor to ceiling windows.
July Schuler, Civil Engineer, Design Professionals went over the engineering aspects of the plan. The applicant proposes to tie into public sewer and water on Deming Street. The property will drain into a detention basin on the northeaster part of the property. Water quality for the site is above and beyond what the Town requires. There is an erosion control plan that consists of construction pad and silt fence as required by the regulations as well as an operation and maintenance schedule for the detention basins and storm water structures on site.
Ben Wheeler, Landscape Architect with Design Professionals Inc. presented the landscaping plan, site signage and the lighting plan. The landscaping plan for the site meets the regulations at 10% interior landscaping for the parking lot area and also meets the regulation for Buckland Gateway zone of 12% for any parking area between Buckland Road and the front of the building. The landscape for the frontage consists of ornamental grasses and junipers that will grow 2 to 3 ft high at maturity. The parking lot will have landscape for screening of vehicles. The applicant proposed to duplicate the field stone wall that is currently in front of Verizon to carry the same theme throughout Buckland Road. There are two field stone signs proposed for the site that will read “Buckland Commons”, one is proposed for the
corner of Buckland and Deming. The other site sign is proposed near the Buckland entrance and will be smaller to highlight the address of the site. Deciduous trees are proposed for screening of the east side of the parking lot. The applicant had a soil scientist review the site and set up a mitigation plan that includes the planting of shrubs to enhance the wetlands and provide additional buffer to the east. A dumpster pad is proposed in between the proposed bank building and the multi use building that will be screened with a fence and arborvitaes. The detention basin is proposed to be a floating fountain to help keep water functioning, control mosquitoes and to provide habitat for the area.
The lighting on site meets the regulations for full cut off fixtures.
Peter DeMallie, Principal of Design Professionals Inc. submitted the request for a modification to the access management regulations to allow for an entrance on Buckland Road including a left turn into the site.(Exhibit I). A waiver of Section 6.4.9 for parking requirements was also submitted (Exhibit II).
Lipe mentioned that the Town Staff did not review the revised plans or the access management handed out at this meeting by the applicant therefore the Staff comments will not reflect those changes.
Lipe gave the following Planning report:
1. Request for site plan approval to construct a 2,000 sf bank and a 17,232 sf retail/office building at 350 Buckland Road, Buckland Road Gateway Development zone.
2. Several variances have been granted on this property. In September 2011, ZBA granted variances to allow the parking 20’ from the property line adjacent to Buckland Road (65’ required) and a variance to allow the circulation 17’ from the front property line (65’ required). A copy of the ZBA letter has been provided.
3. Maximum impervious coverage allowed is 60%, 36.7% proposed. Proposed building height is 30 feet; 30 feet allowed. Lot size is 4.3 acres; 3 acres minimum required.
4. This application is subject to the requirements of Section 5.5, access management, as well as the access management requirements of Gateway Zone section 4.2.3.E, which states: “Access management will be required on all sites, in order to reduce the number of driveway cuts onto Buckland Road and mitigate the deterioration of traffic flow generally caused by driveways on arterial streets. Access management techniques will include shared driveways (or provisions for future shared driveways for the first site in an area); interior service drives; and other techniques included in South Windsor’s access management program.”
5. This plan is not appear in compliance with the requirements of Section 5.5 Access Management, particularly Section G, which governs access management when alternative frontage is present. This limits access to this site to be exclusively from Deming Street.
6. The applicant is requesting a waiver to Section 5.4.5.I to Subsection G Access on Alternative Frontages. We just received the applicant’s narrative for the waiver and staff has not had a chance to review it.
7. The Commission may waive any requirement of this section when it finds that all of the following conditions have been satisfied:
• The gravity of the waiver will be consistent with the purpose of these regulations.
• The waiver has been specifically requested by the applicant.
• Conditions exist which adversely affect the subject property and are not generally applicable to other property in the area.
• In the absence of a waiver, no reasonable alternative access is available, will be available, or can be constructed.
• The requested waiver is the minimum deviation necessary from this section to permit reasonable development of the subject property.
• The granting of the waiver will not have a significant adverse impact on existing or future traffic operations, adjacent property, or on public safety or welfare
The site plan reflects this provision by showing an area of future connection to the south.
8. The applicant’s traffic report indicates that the projected site traffic will not impact traffic operations on Buckland Road. The report should address accident history in this area.
9. A sidewalk has been shown along the Buckland Road frontage as required by the Gateway Zone regulations. Staff has requested that a crosswalk be added at the intersection to operate in conjunction with the traffic light.
10. The parking requirements based on the proposed for these uses are 94 spaces. The applicant is requesting a waiver of 7 spaces under section 6.4.9 to allow 87 spaces which allows the reduction of spaces when the PZC deems it in the best interest of the Town according to the following:
• the increase in stormwater run-ff rate shall be held to a minimum by reducing the parking spaces, and/or
• the applicant demonstrates through actual experience that a lesser umber of spaces will suffice and further that due to the nature of the building or business, future owners/occupants of the building are also unlikely to need the number of parking spaces required by the zoning regulations.
11. The Commission will want to consider whether you agree that 87 spaces is adequate now and in the future, since there is no room for expansion of the parking lot. We do note that future interconnection to the site south could provide possibilities for shared parking in the future.
12. Architectural and Design Review Committee reviewed this application on November 17 and were satisfied with the architecture and landscaping. ADRC was concerned that no linkage was provided from the sidewalk to the building. The applicant has added that in the revised plans.
13. Proposed lighting includes decorative, full cutoff fixtures on 25-foot poles.
14. Parking lot landscaping requirements have been addressed, with 12% of the interior of all parking areas landscaped in front of the setback line as required and 10% interior landscaping within the other parking areas.
15. There is a low stone wall proposed along a portion of the Buckland Road frontage to provide a break up the frontage landscaping and serves as a barrier between the cars and the pedestrian.
16. The proposed sign is a very tasteful 4 foot high illuminated monument sign that will be lit.
17. There are regulated wetlands on the site. IWA/CC held a public hearing on the project on December 7th and that hearing was held open until December 21st. At this time the PZC will have to wait acting on the application until IWA/CC renders a decision.
18. Public water and sewer are available. Water Pollution Control Authority approval is required.
19. The Fire Marshal has reviewed the plans; his concerns have been satisfied by the applicant.
20. There is a dumpster shown on a concrete pad with screening.
21. If this application is approved, staff requests an approval modification requiring the driveway interconnections at such time as site plans are approved and construction occurs on the abutting sites. Also, after reviewing revised information, additional staff comments may be forthcoming.
Grillo had the following engineering report.
1. The travel lanes should be shown on Deming Street and Buckland Road.
2. The driveway on Deming Street needs to be aligned with the driveway for the proposed Sunrise Senior Living site at 200 Deming Street. This is centered about 20 ft east of the driveway shown.
3. The Buckland Road access should be revised to accommodate right turns in and out only. Left turns in will likely be difficult and may create hazards with the high traffic volumes on Buckland Road. Left turns out need to be prohibited with a single lane turning right and a raised island to make left turns difficult. If the applicant wants to make provisions for left turns in, they must demonstrate the need and that this turn can be done safely. Moving this driveway to the southern property line should improve conditions for left turn in.
4. The sewer main should be a continuation of the existing pipe across Deming Street. Our plans show this pipe ending in a different location. This should extend to the southern property line, with a stub pipe about 10 feet deep to the south and a sewer easement should be provided to the Town. Moving this sewer pipe closer to Buckland Road is suggested.
5. The lane behind or east of the building should be widened for two way traffic or to allow a car to pass a parked delivery vehicle. This would improve traffic circulation around the site.
6. The plan details and the drainage report should clearly describe the detention basin outlet structure, which appears to have a 2.5’ or 36” high outlet of unknown shape and a 15” pipe inlet.
7. Install stop signs at the exit to the bank drive through and bypass lane.
8. The proposed 15” pipe connection to the manhole in Deming Street will not physically fit in this manhole. A different connection should be proposed, such as a manhole connection to the proposed 36” pipe. The western outlet from the existing manhole in Deming Street is a 42” pipe, not a 36” pipe.
9. Details should be provided for the proposed headwall and retaining walls, including top and bottom of wall elevations.
10. Riprap should be shown at the 36” pipe inlet.
11. Some additional spot elevations should be shown for the parking spaces immediately south of the larger building and at the island across from the Buckland Road access, to ensure that the water does not get trapped by the curbs.
12. The sidewalk along Buckland Road should end in a handicap ramp and painted crosswalk for pedestrians to cross Buckland Road.
Commissioners had questions and concerns.
• Access on to Buckland can potentially increase accidents
• Drivers could potentially violate a one way driveway
• Possible back up into the road
• Commissioners mentioned that access management is designed to address traffic
• Commission has the ability to make it a safer site by eliminating access to Buckland Road.
Andrew Krar, Traffic Engineer with Design Professionals responded that there is no substantial back up of traffic.
Peter DeMallie, Design Professionals responded that without the Buckland Road entrance the project will not be economically feasible and the tenant will not be interested in the site. If the project does not go forward the sewer cannot be extended to the other properties. Once the other properties to the south are developed the entrance will no longer be needed.
Bruce Kelley, RSK Kellco owner of 350 Buckland Road addressed commissioners concerns. Without the two way movement the tenants won’t be interested in the site. The bank has agreed to sign a lease only if they have access on to Buckland. The site will remain on the market and would not be marketable when considering the cost of extending the sidewalks and extending the sewer the projects is not economically feasible without the Buckland Road access.
• Commissioners asked why the sidewalk was not lined up properly for safe pedestrian crossing
• Commissioners requested cross walks and/or walk light across Deming or Buckland
Judy Schuler, Design Professionals responded that there is a stop bar by Deming that would place pedestrians behind the stop sign. The property had some constraints with the utilities currently on the site making it difficult to line up the sidewalks. Mr. Kelley responded that the opposite side has a push button and he would have to find out the cost associated with that.
Lipe mentioned that a meeting could be set up with the applicant to discuss those adjustments since safe walking for pedestrians is important. Lipe also mentioned that a plan has been submitted for a possible grant that would allow for the construction of sidewalks on the westerly side of Buckland Road. This plan, if funded, could address the signalization issue.
3. Approval of 2012 Planning & Zoning Commission meeting calendar
Pacekonis made a motion to approve the meeting calendar for 2012. Kuehnel seconded the motion. The motion carried and the vote was unanimous.
BONDS:
Wilson made a motion to reduce the $1,800 bond for Appl. 10-22PD & D Dependable Interior lot to a balance of -0-. Pacekonis seconded the motion. The motion carried and the vote was unanimous.
Wilson made a motion to reduce the $5,000 bond for Appl. 05-68P, Nomads Adventure Quest to a balance of -0-. Pacekonis seconded the motion. The motion carried and the vote was unanimous.
MINUTES: 10-25-11 & 11-22-11
The above mentioned minutes were approved by consensus with minor corrections.
OTHER BUSINESS:
CORRESPONDENCE/REPORTS:
None
ADJOURNMENT:
Commissioner Pacekonis made a motion to adjourn at 9:40 PM. Commissioner Carroll seconded the motion.
The motion carried and the vote was unanimous.
Respectfully Submitted:
Maria Acevedo
Recording Secretary
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