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SEPTEMBER 21, 2000
SUBJECT:
Variance Application APP2000-00730
Applicant: Joseph
A. Lynott, Esquire
51
Monroe Street, Suite 701
Rockville,
Maryland 20850
Property Owner: Fortune
Oaks, LLC
11911
Coldstream Drive
Potomac,
Maryland 20817
Property Location: Southwest
Quadrant of Towers Oaks Boulevard
& Ramp J - Interstate Highway 270 - Wheel of Fortune Subdivision
Planning Commission Review
Date: September 27, 2000
Board of Appeals Public Hearing Date: October 7, 2000
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:
Street Closing & Abandonment Application SCA98-00076, Montrose 270 Limited Partnership c/o Joseph A. Lynott, a request to abandon a portion of the right-of-way delineated on a plat of the Wheel of Fortune Subdivision shown as Circle Drive and McElfish Road. Approved by the Mayor and Council via Ordinance Number 15-98 on December 14, 1998.
REQUEST:
The application request is submitted in accordance with Sections 25-311 & 411(h)(2) of the City of Rockville Zoning Ordinance. The applicant seeks the following zoning variances: a) a variance of 35 feet and 60 feet from the 100 feet a building must be setback from an abutting street, b) a variance of 20 feet from the 50 foot distance requirement that parking facilities must maintain from the right-of-way of a public street or highway, and c) a lot area variance of 2.59 acres from the minimum 5 acre size requirement of the I-3 (Industrial Park) Zone. The requested zoning variances are sought in order to construct a two-story office building on the subject property.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
Approval is recommended subject to the following conditions:
· Site placement and location of the proposed office building and proposed parking facilities which are subject to this application request must be constructed in substantial accordance with the site development plans as submitted and the zoning variances as granted.
· In accordance with Section 25-25-417 of the Zoning Ordinance, landscaping in the amount of two and one-half (2 ½) square feet per parking space shall be provided in each development containing forty (40) or more parking spaces.
· Additional landscaping must be provided along the outer perimeter of the parking spaces fronting Tower Oaks Boulevard to serve as a physical and visual buffer between those parking spaces and the abutting public street.
· Trees removed to accommodate construction of all site improvements must be replaced in accordance with requirements of the City's Forest and Tree Preservation Ordinance.
ANALYSIS:
Property Description
The subject property is undeveloped and located in the southwest corner of Tower Oaks Boulevard and Ramp "J" of Interstate Highway 270. The site has a wedge shape and is approximately 2.40 acres in size. The property which is the subject of this application request is made up of several properties known as Part of Lots 9, 10, 11, 12, & 26 owned by Fortune Oaks, LLC (the applicant). The subject property is identified as Parcel "B" located in the Wheel of Fortune industrial park subdivision. The property is bound to the north by the GEICO Building and the "comprehensive planned development" of Tower Oaks, east by the residential subdivision of North Farm and the Wheel of Fortune Office Park, south, and southwest by Interstate Highway 270's on-ramp "J". This on-ramp provides access from Tower Oaks Boulevard onto northbound I-270. The property is wooded and contains any array of mature trees and other vegetative materials, all ranging in species and size. The site's topography consists of gradual and pronounced surface sloping. The site's surface elevation fronting I-270 and its on-ramp "J" are substantially higher than those of the finished grades of the street, while the differential in the site's surface grades located along the Tower Oaks Boulevard are not as steep and somewhat less pronounced.
Project Proposal & Application Request
The applicant plans to construct a three-story office building, approximately 30,900 square feet in size. As per the I-3 zone, the maximum floor area ratio (F.A.R.) allowed in the zone is 0.5. The applicant's project development would have a .30 F.A.R., well under the maximum allowed. The proposed office building would be setback approximately 70 feet from the site's front lot line fronting Tower Oaks Boulevard and 39.2 feet from the rear property line abutting Ramp J of Interstate Highway 270. On-site surface parking facilities will be constructed, with a portion of the parking lot spaces located (at grade) under the first level of the office building. The ground floor level of proposed three-story office building is designed to accommodate approximately 28 vehicular parking spaces (See Exhibit "4"). In accordance with Section 25-395 of the Ordinance, a minimum of 104 parking spaces is required for the proposed 30,900 square foot office building. A total of 107 spaces are proposed, which includes five (5) handicapped spaces.
Vehicular access to the site will be provided via two site entrances onto Tower Oaks Boulevard. The western entrance is designed to allow for ingress and egress while the proposed eastern site entrance will allow ingress only, i.e., right-in only turning movements. In order to develop the site as proposed, locating site surface parking facilities 30 feet from the public right-of-way of Tower Oaks Boulevard, in lieu of the 50 feet required in the I-3 Zone, requires the requested 20 foot zoning variance be approved as submitted. The proposed site placement of the office building 67.3 feet from Tower Oaks Boulevard and 40.2 feet from the right-of-way of abutting Interstate 270 on-ramp "J", requires approval of the requested 35 and 60 foot variances respectively. Lastly to develop the subject 2.40 acre site as proposed, a zoning variance of 2.59 acres must be granted from the minimum 5 acre lot size requirement of the I-3 zone.
Applicable Section of the Zoning Ordinance
Section 25-1 of the ordinance defines a variance as "a modification only of the density, bulk, or area requirements, where owing to conditions unique to the property and not the result of any action taken by the applicant a literal enforcement of the ordinance would result in practical difficulty."
Staff Observations and Assessment
After review and analysis of the application request, the following determination is offered in consideration of the subject application request:
1. The variances as requested will not be contrary to the public interest. Although the proposed surface parking spaces would be 30 feet from the adjacent public street right-of-way in lieu of 50 feet required, there is no evidence that vehicular traffic flow along Tower Oaks Boulevard would be adversely impacted by such a site placement. The site's surface elevation along Tower Oaks Boulevard is somewhat higher than the finished grade of the abutting roadway. The physical proximity of the proposed site surface parking spaces to Tower Oaks Boulevard should not pose a problem nor obstruct site distance for motorist traveling east bound along the site's street frontage. Staff would recommend that supplemental plantings be installed along the perimeter of the spaces fronting Tower Oaks Boulevard, so as to obscure the physical presence of the parking spaces from the abutting public street, and surrounding land uses. The proposed three level office building as sited would be located approximately 67.3 feet from the property line located along Tower Oaks Boulevard and 40.2 feet from lot line abutting the I-270 on-ramp "J". Due to the substantial grade differential between the site and the I-270 on-ramp J, the physical location of the building would not affect nor impede traffic flow movement along the site segment of the abutting interstate on-ramp. While the site surface grades are not that much higher than the finished grades along its Tower Oaks Boulevard frontage, the building as sited would be physically setback approximately 80 feet from that roadway.
Based on the proposed site layout, it is likely that a substantial number of existing trees and plant material will have to be removed to accommodate the proposed site development. While the loss of mature trees is environmentally undesirable, the applicant's conceptual landscape plan does show some existing trees being retained under the proposed site development. As per City Code, the proposed site development will be required to comply with requirements of the Forest and Tree Preservation Ordinance. To the extent possible the applicant will have to replace existing significant trees removed on-site or find suitable off site area for such tree replacement, as directed and approved by the City Forester.
The applicant has worked with staff and has made a number of site layout revisions to insure that the planned development will be consistent with neighboring land uses, i.e., office building design, proposed site landscaping, etc. Due to staff concerns about vehicular traffic which will be generated by the planned site development and its impact on traffic flow movements along the site's street frontage, the applicant agreed with staff to amend their initial development plans, which proposed a single site entrance. As previously noted, the proposed office development will have dual means of site ingress from Tower Oaks Boulevard.
The proposed eastern most entrance is designed to allow right-in (only) turning movements into the site from Towers Oaks. The western site entrance allows motorist to enter from or exit to the westbound and/or eastbound travel lanes of Tower Oaks Boulevard to enter or leave the subject site. The location and design of these proposed site entrances should insure that vehicles entering and exiting the site do so safely and not impede or disrupt motorist traveling along the site's Tower Oaks street frontage.
Staff found no evidence that the granting of the variances as requested would be adverse to area land uses or contrary to the public interest. The site is completely surrounded by public roadways. The site is located across the street from the GEICO Claims Center Building, a low rise metal and masonry structure. The GEICO site development is the only land use located in close proximity to the subject site. Hence, due to its somewhat isolated location, it unlikely that the three-level office building and its accompanying surface parking would be physically or visually intrusive on any land uses in the area. It is important to note that due to the property's location, surrounded by public roadways, the scale and ultimate size of any development on this site would be considerably constrained because of such site characteristics.
The variances are requested owing to conditions peculiar to the property and not the result of any actions taken by the applicant. Due to the size and configuration of the site the proposed site development cannot be implemented without approval of the variances as requested. The property's wedged shape and frontage on two public roadways, are physical characteristics specific/unique to the site. The proposed 30,900 square foot office building requires that a minimum of 104 on-site parking spaces be provided. In order to provide the needed site parking spaces, a substantial number of site parking spaces will be located in the site area fronting Towers Oaks Boulevard. Those spaces as sited are located 30 feet from the abutting public right-of-way (r/w), requiring approval of the requested 20 foot zoning variance. Shifting those parking spaces southward on the site to comply with the required 50 foot setback requirement would require the proposed office building to be shifted southward as well. Such a relocation would require the applicant seek a larger than the 60 foot zoning variance currently requested (i.e., 80 feet) from the 100 foot setback the building is required to maintain from the property's southern lot line abutting the I-270 Ramp J. It is also likely that greater site grading activity would be required and added trees would have to be removed to accommodate such a site placement of the planned improvements.
Due its shape and size, the 100-foot setbacks the proposed building is required to maintain from the abutting streets make it impossible for the site to be developed as proposed (See Exhibit "1"). The property's odd shape and size, along with its topography, are also physical attributes that influence the extent of the setback variance needed to locate on-site parking spaces, those fronting Tower Oaks Boulevard and the east side lot line abutting the I-270 Ramp J right-of-way. Based on information provided by the applicant, the Wheel of Fortune subdivision was created in 1928 and since that time many of the lots created by that subdivision have been adversely impacted by the construction of Interstate 270 and its accompanying ramps and interchanges.
The applicant notes that the original size of the subject lots as shown on the Wheel of Fortune subdivision plat was 8.91 acres, which were as follows: a) Lot 9 = 1.38 acres, b) Lot 10 = 2.39 acres, c) Lot 11 = 1.77 acres, d) Lot 12 = 0.90 acres, and e) Lot 26 =2.47 acres. It is further noted that when Monroe Street (now Tower Oaks Boulevard) was constructed and extended through the subject property and Interstate 270 was widen with the accompanying on-ramps, the subject property (subdivision) was further reduced in size by the acquisition of property by the State Highway Administration (SHA). These acquisitions reduced the property to its current 2.403 acre size.
It would appear that the property acquisitions for the noted roadway improvements, resulting in the reduction of the size and shape of the applicant's property, are clearly factors not due to any action taken by the applicant. However, at staff's request the applicant provided information which seeks to affirm the applicant's contention that the property owner/s were not compensated by the state or any other governmental body for the damage caused to the residual property due to the property takings.
3. A literal enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance would result in practical difficulty for the applicant. Due to its size, configuration, and proximity to the abutting public roadways, the site cannot be developed in compliance with applicable development standards of the I-3 zone. As previously noted, the site is wedge shaped and surrounded on all sides by public roadways. Those two physical elements alone, serve as physical constraints in the planned development of the site. It is important to note that the required 100-foot building setback as measured from the abutting public street rights-of-way, extend virtually to the center of the site (See Exhibit "1"). Without the grant of zoning variances from said building setbacks alone, the site cannot be developed as proposed. Hence, due to all of the noted site characteristics, which are specific to the subject site, the proposed office building cannot be located elsewhere on site and fully comply with requirements of the Ordinance. As per the available evidence, it is also highly unlikely that the proposed office building would conform to the required development standards of the I-3 zone even if it were appreciably reduced in size.
Based on all of the afore noted factors, staff finds adequate justification to recommend Variance Application APP2000-00730 be approved subject to the conditions referenced on pages one and two of this staff report.
COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION PROCESS
Notification cards were sent to 136 property owners within the subject site area, informing them of the application request and pending Planning Commission meeting and Board of Appeals public hearing, where the request will be publicly heard and considered. A list of addresses is contained in the project's application file for public review and inspection.
/cdc
List of attachments:
Attachment "A" - Copy of Ordinance No. 15-98
Exhibit "1" - Plan of Requested Variances
Exhibit "2" - Proposed Site Layout
Exhibit "3" - Landscape Plan
Exhibit "4" - Proposed Ground Floor Parking
Exhibits "5 & 6" - Proposed Floor Plans
Exhibits "7 & 8" - Elevation Drawings
Exhibit "9" - Building Perspective