REQUEST FOR ACTION CHASKA CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 7, 2015

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1 REQUEST FOR ACTION CHASKA CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 7, 2015 Agenda Item No. 12 Subject: Applicant: Locations: Goodwill and Ridgeview Medical Plaza - Concept Plan Wellington Management 3000 Hundertmark Road Case No.: PC No Synopsis: The applicant is requesting approval of a concept plan that would allow them to locate a 20,600 square foot Goodwill building with donation drive-thru in the northern portion of the parking lot at the Ridgeview Medical Plaza as well as repurposing the existing medical facility to be mixed use retail and a general office building. Prepared By: Elizabeth Hanson Staff Recommendation: Motion to Adopt Resolution #15-96 BACKGROUND In May 1996, the City approved (Resolution # ) the final plat and rezoning for Chaska Commons (PC ). In November of 1997, th e City approved (Resolution # ) the final site & building plan for the Ridgeview Medical Plaza in Chaska Commons as well as the final plat for Chaska Commons 2 nd Addition (PC 97-33). Ridgeview Medical In January 2009, the City approved the site plan for 212 Medical Center at the Northeast corner of Highway 41 and Highway 212. After the completion of this major medical facility, the majority of the uses at Ridgeview Medical Plaza at 3000 Hundertmark moved over to this site leaving the existing plaza in Chaska Commons almost vacant. Since then the facility has not had much activity or tenants to lease out the space. Because of this the applicant is looking at repurposing the facility in hopes of finding users to occupy it. Goodwill For 110 years Goodwill Industries has been a leader and innovator in the practice of retail reuse and repurposing. Proceeds from the retail stores provide the main fundraising source for the Goodwill organizations career training and counseling programs. Goodwill s mission is to help people overcome barriers to employment and they provide training, job placement and continuing support to help the individuals become productive members of the workforce. The success of the Page 1

2 stores is primarily based on receiving high quality donated goods for resale at the stores where they are received. Thus Goodwill s goal is to locate their new stores in desirable communities and neighborhoods. The applicant believes that the location in Chaska is an ideal location to fulfill this goal. Existing Conditions The Ridgeview Chaska Medical Plaza is 38,500 square foot single story office/retail building built in It was originally approved as part of Planned Community District PCD-8, Ordinance No. 600 signed May 20, It is adjacent to the Chaska Commons retail center which includes 327,140 square feet of retail space including a Cub Foods and Home Depot. The building currently has one small office tenant but is has been mostly vacant for the past four years. The new project will adhere to the spirit of the PCD-8 in parking ratios, green space, zoning use, existing site signage, setbacks, landscaping, and screening. CURRENT REQUEST The request this evening is for Concept Plan approval for the construction of the Goodwill retail store that is 20 feet in height as well as the repurposing of the Ridgeview Medical Plaza to be mixed retail and general office space. Wellington Management will purchase this property and redevelop the current space into retail shops and offices, as well as adding a 20,600 square foot new single level Goodwill retail store in what is currently the northern portion of the parking lot. Ridgeview Medical plans to lease approximately 12,000 s.f. in the existing building for general office space and move fifty accounting and payroll employees into the building. Balance of Office portion of existing building and renovated retail portion of existing buildings do not have tenants identified yet. Wellington Management has constructed two Goodwill stores, one in Minneapolis the other in Coon Rapids. Goodwill is one of the fastest growing retailers in Minnesota. They currently own or lease 40 stores in the Twin Cities and several cities in greater Minnesota. They have highlighted Chaska as being a community that they would like to be a part of. They have constructed successful stores in Chanhassen, Minnetonka, Woodbury, Coon Rapids, Elk River, Eagan and many other metro area communities. They plan to offer high quality goods and services to customers in Chaska in a fashion that will be complementary to the other retailers at Chaska Commons. Adjacent properties The new Goodwill and existing Ridgeview Medical Plaza site is bounded on the south by Petco; the north by a City-owned stormwater pond; the east by Hundertmark Road (a collector) ; and the west by Home Depot. East of Hundertmark Road is a vacant site owned by Hazeltine National Golf Club. Use The use of this site for additional retail and offices is consistent with the approved zoning for the property (PCD-8). Goodwill Building Location/Design The Goodwill store is planning to locate its building just northwesterly of the existing Ridgeview Medical Plaza. The front entrance will be facing the south towards the Chaska Commons development. The interior layout will consist of approximately 14,000 SF for retail sales, 4,500 SF Page 2

3 for processing and sorting of donated goods and 1,500 SF for office and staff break room areas. Goods are received at the enclosed donation drive-thru, sorted for resale at this location or placed in a trailer to be shipped to the main Goodwill center in St. Paul for recycling. Almost nothing ends up being disposed of in a landfill. The facility will employ approximately 40 people with a minimum of 15 staff working in the store. The north side of the building would provide for a drive-thru donation drop-off and two loading docks. The t wo dock doors are provided on the east face of the north side; one is used for a semi-trailer which remains parked for up to one week. This trailer is filled with goods to be recycled. Approximately once a week it is removed and replaced with a new trailer. The other dock space is used for a trash compactor. The dock area is located behind the building and will also have a metal wall and gate to screen it from the east and north. Goodwill stores are designed to be very energy efficient and all new stores achieve energy-star certification. Building Façade Floor Structure Windows / Doors Loading Dock Building Materials Modular Face brick (2 colors), EIFs (2 colors) and glass Slab on grade Aluminum exterior doors and frames Clear Anodized Aluminum screen wall Analysis The location of the proposed Goodwill store is appropriate and will help produce a sense of place which is otherwise an extensive parking lot area. Placing the building in the northerly area of the site and orienting the main entrance to the south will help break up the flat bituminous massing, create depth in sight lines, and further establish a corner for this development. The location of the two dock doors are of concern to staff because they are not allowed by code. The doors face a public street and thus are very visible to passers-by. Staff would recommend that the applicant modify the plan to be code consistent, such as moving the entrance of the loading docks to be oriented to the north facing the stormwater pond where the activity of these docks would not be as visible. In addition to that, the applicants have provided a screen wall of 12 feet to obstruct the view of this area. Although this incorporation is helping to mitigate the view of the loading docks, staff feels there is more that can be done to integrate this element into the architecture of the building. Staff would require that the screen wall be constructed of material used on the main building (ie. face brick) to better integrate this element into the overall design. Furthermore, coniferous landscaping should be provided on the northeasterly portion of the site next to Hundertmark to further help with screening this area. Staff would also like to iterate that no trailers should be stored outside of this confinement when operations commence on site. The material make-up of this building is proposed to be composed of modular face brick, EIFs, glass and aluminum. The City of Chaska has certain building design and material requirements for commercial buildings. It is stated as follows: Page 3

4 Office, Commercial, Public and Institutional buildings shall use at least three (3) Class I materials and shall be composed of at least seventy (70) percent Class I materials and shall not exceed thirty (30) percent Class II or Class III materials. Modular brick is classified as a Class I material and EIFs is classified as a class II material, which a majority of the building is composed of. The applicant is proposing to use two different colors of brick, which can be considered two diff erent materials. The colors of the two bricks must be distinctively different in order to be considered two different materials. Staff will require the applicant to provide material samples of each brick color to review more closely. The applicant must show in the preliminary submittal how they meet the City s Building Design/Materials ordinance by calling out each material on the elevations and their percentage make-up. The design and overall look of the building is fairly simple and straight forward. The building occupies a rectangular footprint and creates long flat planes on its elevations. The main entrance (south elevation) creates some variation in design and volumes and thus achieves an articulated look. The east elevation faces a public street and parking lot and thus should achieve a more articulated look. Staff would encourage providing variation in the roof line, incorporating larger windows, and/or producing bu mp-outs o n the elevation to break up the massing. The images below provide examples of how to produce variation in the design: Parapet Details & Variation Added architectural elements/recesses Ridgeview Medical Plaza Design The current building, which is located on site that used to house Ridgeview Medical Plaza, will be re-purposed to include a portion of Ridgeview s medical back office support staff and other office and retail users. The west façade will be redesigned with upgraded storefronts and a new adjacent surface parking lot. This retail will provide s pace for smaller retail shops, professional services and restaurants. The overall footprint of the building will not be changing. Analysis A couple renderings were provided showing the modified west façade with storefronts. The only façade changes show n are adding doors to the areas with windows, and the incorporation of awnings and signs. Staff feels that more design implementations (ie. parapet details / variations or architectural additives ) can be explored with this façade since storefronts are being added. Adding more articulation to the entrances of these new store fronts, much like what is shown in the image examples above, would help establish these retail areas and provide an opportunity to enhance the overall look of the building. Page 4

5 Parking/Access/Circulation The site currently contains 244 parking spaces. 266 parking spaces are proposed as a part of this project. The following chart summarizes the overall parking demand on the site, based on the approximated sizes of the conceptual uses. Uses Approx. Size Code Req. Est. Parking Req. Retail 29,106 sf 1ps/200sf 146 parking spaces Office 29,887 sf 1ps/250sf 120 parking spaces REQUIRED 266 parking spaces PROVIDED 266 parking spaces According to this table the applicant is proposing to meet the parking requirements. The parking lot layout is generally consistent with what is currently there with the exception of an additional parking area situated just west of the Ridgeview Medical Plaza. This was incorporated to achieve the parking code needs. In addition, the applicant is proposing to incorporate larger parking lot islands to help break up the massing and meet the City s planting island requirement. The islands will be designed with plantings and trees to beautify the parking lot and overall site. The project is proposing to use existing entrance s and exits to and from the site with the addition of one entrance across from the Cub Food access at the south end of the property. The applicant anticipate s this entrance will primarily function as a right in entrance for those entering from Hundertmark to the east, but feel this entrance will serve as a cross connection between the businesses to the south and the proposed uses on this property. Sight lines should not be impeded, as they are similar to the entrance to the south, but will be looked at in greater detail to provide a level of comfort and safety for the approval process. The exit from site will remain at Hundertmark and along the road shared with Home Depot that goes into the center. The entrance/exit from the site, towards Home Depot, should be reviewed to ensure that the drive aisle s are aligned with one another. The applicant does not anticipate any significant impacts to the traffic in this area from this development to the surrounding road network. The driveway along the east side of the building parallel to Hundertmark will remain as a service road and fire line to be used by building owner vehicles and vendors. They will not intend to use this road for additional parking or any new use. It will continue to be screened by trees that are currently there. Furthermore, n o new accesses to public streets are being proposed with this plan. Analysis The parking lot count is sufficient in meeting our ordinance and should accommodate the needs of the new Goodwill and Ridgeview s re-use. With the incorporation of planting islands staff will emphasize the importance of meeting the requirements to provide at least 10% of the hard surface area of the parking lot for planting islands. The applicant s site plan indicates that the parking lot islands that are incorporated will meet this percentage. Moreover, staff will emphasize that the inside width of the planting islands shall be a minimum of 10 feet. Page 5

6 Circulation and smooth traffic flow is important in any parking lot design, especially with larger commercial developments such as this. The applicant has shown on their plans how the internal ingresses and egresses of their site are situated in relation to the adjacent sites of Petco and Home Depot. The new south access point is shown to be in line with the existing drive aisle into the Petco parking lot, however, the west access point is fairly offset with Home Depot s drive aisle. Staff will ask the applicant to move this access point more northerly to line up with Home Depot s drive aisle. Setbacks The required setbacks for the site are as follows: BUILDING SETBACKS Direction Setback Hundertmark Road 100 feet from centerline North Property Line 100 feet Interior Property Lines 10 feet PARKING SETBACKS Direction Setback Hundertmark Road 60 feet from centerline Interior Property Lines 5 feet From street ROW 10 feet Landscaping Landscaping will have to meet the City s ordinance in terms of quantity and size for both buildings. Staff will stress importance in providing landscaping on the northeastern corner to provide screening for the loading dock. Furthermore, regulations in the PCD-8 zoning district require that a minimum amount of open/landscaped area not covered by impervious surfaces to be 25% for any individual lot. The applicant has shown on their site p lan their compliance with this requirement but staff will further emphasize importance in maintaining this requirement throughout the next steps of the planning process. Lighting The parking lot lighting proposed for this plan should be fully screened and face downward. The applicant must provide specs if any new lighting is proposed within the parking lot. Any exterior lighting incorporated on the Goodwill building will be subject to the same requirements. Utilities Water and sewer are available to serve this site. Details on the connections to the public utilities will need to be coordinated with the City Engineer. Stormwater Currently, the site drains to an existing pond located to the north of the site. This pond was constructed prior to infiltration requirements and current rain fall event modification being implemented with the recent rule changes. The proposed development will keep the existing Page 6

7 drainage patterns relatively the same as they are today, and will implement modifications to the existing pond, rain water gardens, bio-swales and other acceptable Best Management Practices for the site to comply with the current Stormwater Management Regulations per the City, Watershed District, and the State. Details on this will need to be coordinated with the City Engineer. Platting The overall Ridgeview site will need to be replatted into two lots as part of the preliminary and final processes; including necessary cross access easements. Zoning Ordinance Amendment The zoning (PCD-8) for the overall site would need to modified as part of the preliminary process. There is a provision in this code that limits the maximum amount of building coverage to 17% of any lot or tract. The current Ridgeview Medical Plaza covers approximately 16% of the lot. The proposed additional building will increase the total building c overage to approximately 25%, which is not permitted by the current PCD-8 code. The PCD s for the adjacent developments, SuperTarget & Hazeltine Plaza, allow up to 25% building coverage, and thus modifying PCD-8 s current language to be consistent with this is not unreasonable. Amending the zoning ordinance to allow for up to 25% building coverage will allow the proposal to be in compliance. Moreover, with the creation of two lots as a result of re-platting this site staff will reiterate the importance of each individual lot meeting these requirements. Staging Construction is anticipated to start in the Spring of 2016 for the Goodwill building, with completion and occupancy by October Remodeling of current Ridgeview medical building will coincide with ability to find new tenants and will in part be directed by market demand. CONCLUSION Staff concludes that the proposed Goodwill and re-purposing of the existing Ridgeview Medical Plaza w ill be a positive addition to this area given that the aforementioned items are met adequately. The location in the north portion of the site would further provide a sense of place and corner for the Chaska Commons development. Planning Commission Action Taken on 11/18/15: Motion to recommend approval of the Goodwill and Ridgeview Medical Plaza s Concept Plan (PC#15-11), subject to the following conditions: 1. Approvals shall be based on the following graphic exhibits: a. Project Narrative (pgs 1-5), submitted by Wellington Management, dated 10/5/15 b. Concept Plan (pgs 1-13), submitted by Wellington Management, dated 10/7/14 c. Aurora Investments support letter, dated 10/6/15 2. Modification of the site plan such that the loading dock is in compliance with the requirement of Chapter Compliance with section 9.11 Building Design/Materials in Commercial and Industrial Districts. 4. Provision of a material board showing the two different brick colors to be used on the Goodwill building. 5. Provision of an exhibit showing more articulation in the west façade of Ridgeview Medical Plaza to enhance the proposed retail storefronts. Page 7

8 6. Provision of a turning-radius exhibit showing how the semis dropping off and picking up goods will orient to the loading docks. 7. Provision of planting islands to be at least 10 feet in width. 8. Provision of the westerly access point to be moved more north to line up with Home Depot s west-east drive aisle. 9. Provision of lighting specs to be submitted with preliminary site plan submittal. 10. Coordination with the City Engineer for the provision of public utilities to the site. 11. Compliance with the Engineers Memo dated November 13, Approval of a replat for the Ridgeview site into two lots. 13. Approval of an amendmen t to the zoning district (PCD-8 ), including a n increase in the maximum building coverage allowance. 14. Compliance with applicable zoning requirement s, in particular Chapter 9 (General Requirements). CITY COUNCIL ACTION REQUESTED: Motion to adopt Resolution #15-96 approving the Goodwill and Ridgeview Medical Plaza s Concept Plan. Page 8