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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDRBM_10272009 ��'�"�°�� City of Ukiah, CA ,�'�'="���. ;* � +� Design Review Board '��+i►�o�r.���, 1 MINUTES 2 3 Regular Meeting October 27, 2009 4 Conference Room 3 1:00 p.m. 5 Ukiah Civic Center, 300 Seminary Avenue 6 1. CALL TO ORDER 7 2. ROLL CALL Present: Tom Hise, Tom Liden, Acting Chair 8 Alan Nicholson, Jody Cole, Nick Thayer, 9 Richard Moser 10 Absent: Estok Menton 11 Others Present: Haji Alam, V. Thygeren, Jonathan Ramos 12 Staff Present: Jennifer Faso, Associate Planner 13 Kim Jordan, Senior Planner 14 Cathy Elawadly, Recording Secretary 15 16 3. CORRESPONDENCE — None 17 18 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES— Deferred to next meeting. 19 20 5. AUDIENCE COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS — None 21 22 6. RIGHT TO APPEAL — Acting Chair Liden read the appeal process. For matter 23 heard at this meeting, the appeal date is November 6, 2009. 24 25 7. NEW BUSINESS 26 7A. Site Development Permit and Use Permit No. 07-23 SDP-UP-PC, Proposed 27 Gas Station and Convenience Market located at 615 Talmage Road, APN 180- 28 070-10. Recommendations to the Planning Commission. 29 30 Staff presented the staff report. The project involves a major use permit for a gas station 31 (ARCO AM/PM) with a mini-market and another space for retail. The existing gas station 32 will be removed for the new development. Plans were available for discussion purposes. 33 34 Jonathan Ramos, Project Manager: 35 • There have been several project revisions. 36 • The building will consist of earth-tone colors; Some of the design features will 37 include awnings, treatments for the signage and other design 38 elements/landscaping features to complement the building and site. 39 • Rather than maximize the building size on the lot, attention was given to the 40 overall site layout as it relates to effective traffic flow/circulation and 41 landscaping. There will be an extensive landscape plan to include street trees 42 to comply with City standards. 43 • The proposed building footprint is smaller than the original design so it would 44 be a better fit for the site to allow for effective circulation and landscaping. 45 • The building will have a steel frame from completely recycled steel. Design Review Board October 27,2009 Page 1 1 • Energy efficient materials will be used; possible installation of solar panels on 2 the roof. 3 • The intent is to design a project that is architecturally pleasing and a 4 substantial improvement to what presently exists on the site. 5 • The existing well on the site will be used for irrigation purposes for water 6 conservation purposes as opposed to the use of City water. 7 8 Staff recommended the DRB review the project comments made by the applicant in the 9 Downtown Design District Design Guidelines Checklist for commercial projects outside 10 of the District and provide input regarding the project. 11 12 DRB Comments: 13 14 Design and Architecture 15 ■ Design is typical for a gas station/mini-mart. 16 ■ Include awnings on the west blank wall and east blank wall (facing Hastings 17 Road). 18 ■ The awning should wrap the corner and continue to the front elevation. 19 ■ Install window(s) on the east elevation. 20 ■ Would be nice to have landscaping at the front of the building in place of the 21 signs. Consider trellis with vines. 22 ■ Use score lines to breakup the blank wall of the building on the rear and west 23 side of the building. 24 ■ Building is visible from Talmage Road and Hastings Road. May also be visible 25 from the motel to the west and from the building located to the south. 26 27 Site Plan 28 ■ Design is typical for a gas station/mini-mart. 29 ■ Need to provide better pedestrian circulation through the site. There should be a 30 clearly marked pedestrian path from the pump islands to the mini-market. 31 ■ Modify the parking in front of the building to provide the required landscape 32 island and pedestrian path. Okay to provide the planter at the fifth space (one 33 planter every four stalls) so long as the required number of planters is provided, 34 the intended /required tree shading of the parking is provided, and the pedestrian 35 path is provided. 36 37 Landscapinq 38 ■ Verify the appropriateness of the species selected for the bioswale. Species 39 selection needs to be coordinate with drainage characteristics of the bioswale. 40 ■ Remove the Hollywood Juniper and place the monument sign in this location and 41 relocate the trees to be planted to improve the line of site. 42 ■ Remove the palms trees from the landscaping plan or locate them next to the 43 mini-mart building. In this instance would create a "native/natural California zone" 44 in the landscaping plan and a separate "tropical zone" in the landscaping plan 45 located only next to the building. 46 ■ Consider interior Live Oaks instead of Pistache and continue them at the 47 southeast corner of the site. 48 ■ Provide an additional tree at the Talmage Road frontage adjacent to the west 49 property line and driveway entrance. 50 ■ Consider replacing Pistache with Flowering Pear in order to tie in with the pear 51 orchard across the street and other pear trees in the area. Pistache is ubiquitous. Design Review Board October 27, 2009 Page 2 1 ■ Replace the ribes viburnifolim groundcover. This species does not grow well 2 here. Consider coprasma, an Australian native as an alternative. 3 ■ Consider incorporating freestanding planters in front of the building and at the 4 pumps. This would require the installation of dedicated irrigation line along with 5 the planters. 6 7 Liqhtinq 8 ■ Consider pedestrian safety lighting, such as a bollard style at pedestrian 9 circulation areas and close to the trash enclosure. 10 ■ Concerned that the site may be over lit. 11 12 Green Buildinq 13 ■ Like the idea of installing solar panels on the roof. City has its own electric utility 14 and offers rebates for solar panels. May want to speak with City staff regarding 15 the program. 16 ■ Consider using recycled base rock. 17 ■ Consider using flyash concrete. 18 19 Information Requested 20 ■ Show location of trash cans on the plans (landscaping and site plan). 21 ■ Provide sheet L2 (irrigation plan)that is based on the revised landscaping plan. 22 ■ Consider a different color for the awning on the east elevation to distinguish this 23 tenant from the AM/PM tenant. 24 ■ Consider a coping for the parapet to provide a more finished look for the parapet. 25 ■ Use score lines at rear and sides of building to break up the blank walls. 26 ■ Clarify is the glazing clear or tinted. Prefer clear glazing. 27 28 Staff Comments: 29 ■ Based on the number of vehicle parking spaces required, a minimum of 2 bicycle 30 parking spaces are required. 31 ■ Signs cannot be located in the right-of-way as shown on the plans. This would be 32 considered an "off-site sign" which is prohibited. 33 • Signs located on the building that are temporary and changed regularly to 34 advertise products are considered "reader boards" and are prohibited. 35 ■ Freeway sign does not exist at present and due to the time that has passed has 36 been abandoned and cannot be continued. 37 ■ The project will be required to provide a photometric plan with the building permit 38 plans as a condition of approval. This would be reviewed by staff to ensure that 39 light is not too bright and does not spill over the property lines. 40 ■ Due to the number of parking spaces required for the project, planter island is 41 required every 4 spaces. The parking spaces located in front of the building are 42 not consistent with this requirement. 43 ■ Planning Commission can consider an alternative to the every 4 spaces 44 requirement, such as a different distribution provided that the planters are 45 provided. Please provide recommendation to Planning Commission as to 46 preference. 47 ■ The number of parking spaces required is determined by the use(s). In this case, 48 a retail building and a gas station. One way to address issues related to 49 inadequate room for truck circulation, parking, landscaping and other 50 requirements is to reduce the size of the building which reduces the number of Design Review Board October 27, 2009 Page 3 1 parking spaces required and allows more room for landscaping and pedestrian 2 circulation. 3 ■ The building has two fronts—Talmage Road and Hastings Road. 4 5 Additional Applicant Comments: 6 ■ Reaffirmed using well water from the onsite well for irrigation. 7 ■ Reaffirmed possible use of install solar panels. 8 ■ Reaffirmed use steel frame for the building. This makes construction of the 9 building faster. 10 ■ May use LED lighting. 11 ■ There will be lighting under the canopy. 12 ■ Cannot install trellis with vines at the front of the building due to lack of space. 13 ■ Sidewalk just meets ADA requirements. 14 ■ Design reflects issues related to site access and circulation for the tanker trucks. 15 ■ The oak tree on the site is dead and has been for awhile. Can provide an arborist 16 report to prove this. 17 ■ Building is not visible from the west or south. Part of the building located to south 18 extends over the property line. 19 ■ The freeway sign cannot be seen from the freeway due to the trees. 20 ■ In the spirit of compromise, would consider some of the landscaping and 21 circulation changes if the monument sign can be located in the right-of-way as 22 shown on the plans. 23 ■ Glazing is clear. 24 25 8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS; 26 8A. FaCade Improvement Grant Program: Discussion and complete modification to 27 Fa�ade Improvement Program Project Score Card/Evaluation Sheet. 28 29 There was continued discussion concerning revisions to the Scorecard. Staff noted the 30 section `Implements City and RDA Goals and Polices' and section `Project Results in 31 Blight Reduction' are to be considered separately because one is not related/consistent 32 with the other. 33 34 No changes were made. 35 36 9. MATTERS FROM THE BOARD: 37 Staff stated the property owner at 247 N. State Street has inquired about requesting FIP 38 funding to renovate the building at this location. The building is currently an eye-sore in 39 the Downtown and in dilapidated condition due to a fire. The code violations associated 40 with the building must be cleared before FIP funding can be considered. 41 42 10. MATTERS FROM STAFF: None. 43 44 11. SET NEXT MEETING/ADJOURNMENT 45 The next regular meeting will be December 10, 2009. There being no further business, 46 the meeting adjourned at 5:06 p.m. 47 48 Tom Liden, Acting Chair 49 50 51 Cathy Elawadly, Recording Secretary Design Review Board October 27, 2009 Page 4