Planning Commission Staff Report Project Plan Approval Hearing Date: June 24, 2015

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1 Planning Commission Staff Report Project Plan Approval Hearing Date: June 24, 2015 ITEM 4 Provo City s Energy Department requests Final Project Plan approval to rebuild and expand the Energy Department campus, to include a new 51, 890 square-foot office building with truck and service bays, a new storage/work yard, new parking lot, and new decorative perimeter wall, and the expansion of the pocket park on the west side of the campus; comprising 9.76 acres overall; located at 251 West 800 North, in the Public Facilities (PF) Zone. North Park Neighborhood, PPA, Sean Allen, Applicant: Provo City Energy Department Staff Coordinator: Sean Allen Property Owner: Provo City Parcel ID#: , , , , , Current Zone: Public Facilities (PF) Zone General Plan Des.: Public Facilities Acreage: 9.76 Number of Properties: 8 Number of Lots: 5 and 1-parcel Council Action Required: No ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS 2. Continue to a future date to obtain additional information or to further consider information presented. The next available meeting date is July 8, 2015, 5:30 p.m. 3. Deny the requested Project Plan. This action is not consistent with the recommendations of the Staff Report. The Planning Commission should state new findings. Current Legal Use: Provo City Energy Department offices, truck yard and repair bays, power distribution, telecommunications, and all permitted uses in the PF Zone. Relevant History: 1940 Power plant and smoke stacks completed; Mid 50 s Original Energy offices completed; 1985 CUP approval for a heating plant; 1996 CUP approval for telecommunications; 1997 Approval to construct a wireless facility; 2010 CUP to co-locate cellular antennas; 2013 Plat approved to create 5 lots (Google Fiber) Neighborhood Issues: No concerns Summary of Key Issues: 1. The site has been used for Energy offices and related activities since the mid 1950 s; 2. The entire Energy site is to be demolished, except for the Google Fiber building, Water Building, Electrical sub-station off Freedom, and the west pocket park. 3. The demo and construction will be in two phases. Phase II will remove the existing Power House, smoke stacks, and Cooling Tower. 4. West pocket park is to be expanded to 800 North, with newly acquired properties, and will include a trail access. 5. Site re-build shall require Council s approval to vacate 300 West and 650 North adjacent to the site, and a small portion of 700 North that connects to 300 West. Staff Recommendation: 1. Approve the project overall plan proposal. Staff has provided recommended conditions of approval.

2 June 24, 2015 Page 2 OVERVIEW: The Provo Energy Department and Provo City are seeking to re-build and expand the Energy Campus at its current location. The City has submitted various land use applications (General Plan Amendment, Rezone, Project Plan, Conditional Use Permit, Subdivision Plat, and Street Vacations) to accomplish this objective. The General Plan Amendment and Zone change were recently approved by the City Council. The remaining applications are under review. FINDINGS OF FACT: 1. All properties are zoned PF - Public Facilities; 2. The campus in bordered by 800 North, Freedom Boulevard, 650 North and 300 West; 3. The Provo City Rec Center, directly south, has the same PF zoning designation; 4. The properties to the west are single-family residential and in the R1.6A zone. 5. The proposed campus re-build is to accommodate and maintain this site as the center of operations management for the City s Energy Department. STAFF ANALYSIS: Staff has found the project meets all Zoning Ordinance requirements. The following are key elements of the project plan proposal: Energy Campus Expansion There are two areas included in the expanded campus (See 2013 aerial map and proposed Site Plan). The first comes through the vacation of 650 North, 700 North, and 300 West streets. This area will allow for additional parking, landscaping, and expansion of the future pole yard. The second area comes from the acquisition of three residential properties on the northwest section of the subject area. These properties will be used to expand the existing pocket park. Phasing Please refer to the attached Site/Phasing Plan. The breakdown is as follows: Phase 1: Proposed Building and Truck Bays All areas in green and grey (new parking lot, park expansion & pole yard) Phase 2: Removal of Power House, large smoke stacks, and Cooling Tower

3 June 24, 2015 Page 3 The majority of the new campus will be completed with Phase 1. A potential Phase 3 is anticipated in the form of re-locating the electrical sub-station away from the southeast corner to where the Power House was located, but that will come forward as a separate site plan amendment. Parking The site is a combination of several non-residential uses (office, warehouse, truck repair bays. The required parking is based on square footage of these uses, and prior agreements with Google Fiber. The following is a breakdown of the required and provided parking: Required: Provided: New Office Warehouse Truck Bays 35 Google Fiber 8 8 (Agreement with City) The required parking for the Energy campus calculates to 152 total spaces. The total provided by the plan is 181 stalls. Campus Site Elements The new campus site elements include a new building for the Energy Department offices, equipment storage and truck bays. Please refer to the Building Design section for those building details. The following is a list of supporting site elements for the new campus: Pavilion and seated break area (upper-middle of campus) New cellular monopole with ground equipment (middle of campus) Pocket park/trail (West side of campus) Perimeter Fence (completely around utility yard area) Covered Parking (east and south rows for fleet vehicles) Solar panels (on covered parking & on truck bay section of new building) Existing electrical sub-station (southeast corner) Utility yard access gates (four) All other areas of the campus not used for yard area or drive access will be fully landscaped with grass/sod, trees and other landscaping elements.

4 June 24, 2015 Page 4 Pocket Park Trail The Energy campus already has a small pocket park on the opposite side of 300 West. This is to remain, but will be expanded up to 800 North. This public park will be fully landscaped with trees and grass, and will have a lighted trail running between 800 North and the Provo Recreation Center. Building Design The PF Zone allows up to two-stories with a maximum height of thirty-five (35 ) feet. The proposed office section, on the northern half, is two-stories in height, with a limited upper level. This section will house office spaces for the Power Company s engineering, project planning and management sections. Spaces located on the second floor will include an emergency operations center. The south half of the new building includes the truck and service bays and has a height of approximately twenty (20 ) feet. On June 11, 2015, the Design Review Committee (DRC) recommended an approval of the proposed building design, materials, and overall campus layout. The building has a contemporary/modern design. The exterior materials have been chosen to fit the context of the building, with the red brick and gray metal panels designed to harmonize with the city s recreation center located directly to the south of the new Energy campus. The most prominent views of the architecture and design of the building will be at the northeast corner and along the Freedom Boulevard frontage. At those locations, there is more glass mixed with the brick and metal panels. The truck bay areas will be screened from the public street by a proposed wall. There are two main access doors to the main office building, one facing west, toward the new parking lot off 800 North, and the second on the east side, from the drive access off Freedom Blvd. Perimeter Wall Besides functioning as a screen of the yard functions and truck bays, the six foot high perimeter wall will be an aesthetic feature to the site. The wall will be composed of matching masonry and metal panels to give it a character consistent with the proposed building design. (See last page of attachments). Access There will be four main access gates to the Energy Department s yard area. One just south of the Google Fiber building, two off the south driveway that leads to Freedom Boulevard, and the fourth directly off Freedom Boulevard, near the north end of the building. This north Freedom Boulevard driveway is reserved for City employees and large delivery trucks. Landscaping As shown on the drawings, most of the landscaping shall be on the north and west sides of the campus. There are 13 different tree types being proposed.

5 June 24, 2015 Page 5 The proposed landscaping complies with the City s non-residential landscaping requirements found in Section of the municipal code. Conditional Uses The following uses, related to the campus project, require conditional use permit (CUP) approval: Communications monopole (cellular antennas and ground equipment) Electric utility company office Electricity regulating substations Company storage yards and equipment storage The communications monopole has already obtained CUP approval. The remaining conditional uses have been noticed separately as Item 5, and shall require a separate motion. City staff supports the approval of the CUP in association with the proposed project plan. Street Vacations The street vacations include 300 West to 650 North, 650 North to Freedom Boulevard, and a small section of 700 North that connects to 300 West. These street vacations are being addressed through a separate application and approval. Remaining Items Remaining items to address, deal specifically with completing the City staff development review (CRC) process, and completing the Street Vacation, and Final Subdivision Plat processes. These are conditions of the project plan approval. CONCLUSIONS: The proposal does comply with the PF Zone, as long as the conditional uses are approved. Although the internal City development review has not been finalized, the City s Development Review Committee has given a positive recommendation for the design and layout of this proposal. With a large pocket park on the west, providing an expanded public amenity, and also functioning as a buffer between the single-family homes and the Energy campus, staff believes any ensuing impacts are successfully mitigated.

6 June 24, 2015 Page 6 STAFF RECOMMENDATION: City staff recommends that the Planning Commission APROVE the Provo Energy Campus re-build, and phasing plans, with the following conditions: 1. The applicant completes all development review (CRC) review comments, and obtains final approval prior to obtaining a building permit; 2. The City Council approves the Vacations of 300 West, 650 North and the portion of 700 North, as presented, prior to obtaining a building permit; 3. The conditional use permit is approved for the conditional uses presented in the report; 4. The portion of 650 North, used for access to the Rec Center, must remain open; 5. The subdivision plat review (CRC) process must be completed, and plat recorded, within one year from the Street Vacation approval date. ATTACHMENTS: Aerial Location Map Zoning Location Map Proposed Phasing Site Plan 1 Proposed Phasing Site Plan 2 with Parking & Site data Yard Setbacks and Corner zoomed in Landscape Plans Proposed Exterior Elevations (2 pages) Proposed Perimeter Wall

7 June 24, 2015 Page 7 AERIAL LOCATION MAP:

8 June 24, 2015 Page 8 ZONING MAP:

9 June 24, 2015 Page 9 PROPOSED PHASE 1 SITE PLAN:

10 June 24, 2015 Page 10 PROPOSED PHASE 2 SITE PLAN/ PARKING & SITE DATA:

11 June 24, 2015 Page 11 YARD SETBACKS DIMENSIONS AND STREET CORNER ZOOMED IN:

12 June 24, 2015 Page 12 LANDSCAPE PLAN:

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14 June 24, 2015 Page 14 PROPOSED EXTERIOR ELEVATIONS:

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16 June 24, 2015 Page 16 PROPOSED PERIMETER WALL: