Advisory Planning Commission

CITY OF COLLEGE PARK ADVISORY ADVISORY PLANNINGPLANNING COMMISSIONCOMMISSION 4500 KNOX ROAD COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND 20740 TELEPHONE: (240) 487-3538  FACSIMILE: (301) 887-0558 ADVISORY PLANNING COMMISSION Approved Minutes of Meeting June 1, 2017 – 7:30 P.M. City Hall – Council Chambers Members Present Absent Lawrence Bleau x James McFadden x Rose Greene Colby x Christopher Gill, Chair x Kate Kennedy, Vice Chair x John Rigg x Denise Mitchell x Also Present: Planning Staff – Terry Schum and Theresheia Williams; Attorney – Susan Cook I. Call to Order: Christopher Gill called the meeting to order at 7:33 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes: Lawrence Bleau moved to adopt the minutes of May 4, 2017. John Rigg seconded. The motion carried 5-0-0. III. Amendments to Agenda: There were no amendments to the agenda. IV. Public Remarks on Non-Agenda Items: There were no Public Remarks on Non- Agenda Items. V. CPD-2017-04 Departure from the Number of Parking & Loading Spaces Required per Section 190-9 of the Code of the City of College Park Applicant: Tony Akaras Location: 7131 Baltimore Avenue Christopher Gill explained the hearing procedures and placed witnesses under oath. Terry Schum summarized the staff report. The application is for Patak Holdings, LLC represented by Tony Akaras. The request is for a departure for 17 parking spaces, 1 handicap accessible space and 1 loading space. The applicant is proposing to renovate the existing building from an auto repair parts store to an eating and drinking establishment. The parking lot will be restriped and reworked in order to comply with the current parking design standards, resulting in 8 parking spaces, 1 handicap accessible space and a one-way ingress from Baltimore Avenue and one- way egress to Guilford Road. In addition, 4 on-street public parking spaces will be provided. Advisory Planning Commission Minutes June 4, 2017 – Page 2 The subject property is zoned MUI which permits a mix of uses including retail, office and residential. It is in the Development District Overlay Zone of the Sector Plan and is surrounded by other MUI uses. The site has been a commercial use for many years and there are limited single-family residential uses in the immediate vicinity. Physical limitations of the property prevent the applicant from providing more than the proposed 9 parking spaces. On-site parking and circulation will be improved and will comply with current parking design standards. There is no alternative method to calculate spaces for this site. The parking and loading needs of adjacent residential areas will not be infringed upon if the departure is granted since Guilford Road and other area residential streets are regulated by permit parking. This site is well-served by public transit providing visitors easy access to and from the site. Staff recommends approval of the requested departure of 17 parking spaces, 1 handicap accessible space and 1 loading space. Terry Schum submitted the staff report, Exhibits 1-4 and the PowerPoint presentation into the record. The staff report was amended to change the number of parking spaces to 18. John Rigg asked what were the conditions that triggered the departure? Terry Schum stated that the former use was actually mixed-use with residential above and did not require a lot of parking. The property was grandfathered. John Rigg asked where is it indicated in the staff report that there is permit parking for area residential streets? Terry Schum stated that it is located on page 3, under criterion 5. James McFadden asked if the public hearing notice was sent to adjacent property owners? Terry Schum stated yes, and the applicant filed an affidavit indicating that the required notice was filed. Tony Akaras, applicant, testified that he is excited about the opening of the restaurant. He stated that the restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. They have met with the County on several occasions to go over the proposed site plan. Mr. Akaras stated that if the departure is approved, they will obtain the permit and start construction by the end of the month. He stated that his goal is to open by December or January. John Rigg asked what is the restaurant concept and target customer base? Tony Akaras stated that he would like to provide a place that serves the community, targeting non-student, families, young professionals and alumni. John Rigg asked if his intention is to attract a lot of foot traffic? Advisory Planning Commission Minutes June 4, 2017 – Page 3 Tony Akaras stated that with all the development going on, he expects there will be a lot of foot traffic. Terry Schum asked what is the name of the new restaurant? Tony Akaras stated that the new name is District 3 Social House. Commissioners reviewed the criteria that need to be met before the variance can be granted and determined that: 1) This is a renovation of an existing building in downtown College Park where there are over 500 public parking spaces conveniently located within 1000 feet of the subject site. The applicant is providing the maximum number of spaces possible given the property constraints. No negative impacts are anticipated to area residences. The site has been a commercial use for many years (building built in 1918) and there are limited single-family residential uses in the immediate vicinity. 2) Physical limitations of the property prevent the applicant from providing more than the proposed 9 parking spaces (including the handicap accessible space). 3) Most of the existing buildings in downtown College Park, including this one, were constructed prior to zoning and cannot meet current parking requirements based on the physical constraints of the site. 4) On-site parking and circulation will be improved and will comply with current parking design standards. In addition, the parking encroachment on Guilford Road will be replaced with 4 on-street spaces; a sidewalk and handicap ramps will be added. 5) There is no alternative method to calculate spaces for this site. The parking and loading needs of adjacent residential areas will not be infringed upon if the departure is granted since Guilford Road and other area residential streets are regulated by permit parking. 6) The proposed project will result in the creation of 4 on-street parking spaces on Guilford Road adjacent to the subject property. In addition, there are a total of 549 metered spaces in three public parking facilities. 7) The subject property is zoned MUI which permits a mix of uses including retail, office and residential. The Sector Plan applies more specifically to new development but also encourages a better pedestrian realm and shared parking facilities. This project is generally consistent with the goals of the Sector Plan. 8) The site is well-served by public transit providing visitors easy access to and from the site. There is a bus stop in front of the site for WMATA bus lines 17, 83 and 86, which serve the Baltimore Avenue Corridor, the University of Maryland, other bus lines and the College Park Metrorail station (0.6 miles away). Advisory Planning Commission Minutes June 4, 2017 – Page 4 9) The applicant considered a variety of alternative design solutions but the final layout yielded the most spaces while still complying with parking design standards. Lawrence Bleau moved to approve the variance because the request meets the criteria for granting the variance for the reasons stated above. John Rigg seconded. Motion carried 5-0-0. VI. Review and Approval of 2016 Annual Report Commissioners reviewed and discussed the draft Annual Report and recommended the following items for the City Council’s attention: Fence Ordinance - The APC has provided its perspective on the fence ordinance and anticipate Council’s decision on a recommendation. Residential Permit Parking – The APC supports a proposed Comprehensive Parking Study that would also include previously provided APC comments on residential neighborhood parking. APC also suggests that both residential permit parking and commercial parking studies be addressed in the study. Sector Plan – There are a number of applications brought before the APC that deviate from the vision of the Sector Plan. Staff will include the above issues in the Annual Report and prepare a final for submission to the Council. VII. Discussion of Zoning Rewrite Staff prepared and distributed a comparison chart between existing single-family zones and proposed zones in the Zoning Rewrite. Terry Schum discussed some of the specifications, including, density, lot area and structure height. Terry Schum indicated that there has been no updated schedule for moving forward posted on the County’s website. VIII. Update on Development Activity Terry Schum reported on the following: The Hotel – The Hotel will not be opening in July as previously announced. Construction has been delayed, which pushed back the opening date. City Hall Site – The City advertized for a Development Project Manager for the process of combining the City and University properties for building a new City Hall. IX. Other Business: There was no Other Business. X. Adjourn: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:16 p.m. Minutes prepared by Theresheia Williams