SUBJECT:

Special Exception Application SPX99-0283

Applicant:
Realty Capital Partner, LLC
1600 Anderson Road
McLean, Virginia 22102

Property Owner:
Sandy Spring National Bank of America
17801 Georgia Avenue
Oleny, Maryland 20832

Property Location: 611 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852

Planning Commission Review Date: February 23, 2000
Board of Appeals Public Hearing Date: March 4, 2000

PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION:

Use Permit U-192-64, Montgomery Banking & Trust Company, a proposal to operate a banking operation in a temporary structure located in the (then) C-2 zone and (now) O-1 zone at the subject location, approved by the Planning Commission on January 7, 1965.

Use Permit U- 208-65, Victor R. Beauchamp, a proposal to construct an office building containing a bank in the then (C-2) zone and now O-1 zone at the subject location, approved by the Planning Commission on March 17, 1965.

Special Exception Application S-174-90, Jefferson Plaza III Limited Partnership, a request to provide drive-thru banking facilities at the existing bank located on the subject site in the O-1 zone, approved by the Board of Appeals on July 7, 1990. (Note: Expired due to lack of implementation)

Special Exception Application S-181-91, Jefferson Plaza III Limited Partnership, a request to install drive-thru banking facilities at the existing bank located on the subject site in the O-1 zone, approved by the Board of Appeals on April 6, 1991. (Note: Application similar to S-174-90 that expired due to lack of implementation.)

Use Permit U-484-91, Jefferson Plaza III Limited Partnership, proposal to construct drive-thru banking facilities for an existing branch bank office at the subject location in the O-1 zone, approved by the Planning Commission on July 24, 1991. 

REQUEST:

The applicant seeks special exception approval to modify previously approved Special Exception Application S-174-90. The applicant wishes to temporarily relocate the site’s banking operation and its drive-thru facilities as in interim measure while the subject property located at 611 Rockville Pike is being redeveloped. Under the redevelopment proposal, the applicant plans to construct two new office buildings and accompanying surface and subsurface parking facilities. Once completed, the site’s branch banking operation would be re-established and permanently located in the new office building that would be constructed under the applicant’s first phase of the site development project (See Exhibit "4").

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:

Staff recommends the application request be approved subject to the following conditions:

Landscaping for the temporary banking site must be provided and approved in consultation with the City Forester or as maybe amended with the Planning Commission's approval of the projects use permit.

ANALYSIS:

Property Description

The subject property has frontage on three (3) public streets, Rockville Pike on the north, Richard Montgomery Drive to the east, and Fleet Street to the south.  The site is currently improved with a two story office building which is of masonry construction, with on-site surface parking facilities located on the north, west and south sides of the building. Vehicular access to the site is provided via dual site entrances on Richard Montgomery Drive, the northern driveway is "entrance only" and the southern  driveway is "exit only".  The site currently has a single entrance on Fleet Street (See Exhibit "1").  The site's topography slopes pronouncedly from the property's frontage along Rockville Pike, downward towards its frontage along Fleet Street. The property is modestly landscaped and contains a variety of mature vegetation, ranging in species and size, i.e., hedges, shrubs, flowering and non-flowering plantings, an evergreen tree and several hardwood trees.

The applicant property is approximately 116,980 square feet (2.68 acres) in size, zoned for O-1 (Office Building) land usage, and is bounded to the north, east, and south by institutional and commercial land uses and to the east by governmental and non-governmental office uses. The properties to the north and east of the site are zoned for RPC (Rockville Pike Commercial) land usage, to the south R-60 (single family detached, residential), and to the west zoned for O-1 (Office Building) land usage.

Land Use Request ­ Project Proposal

The applicant (Realty Capital Partners, LLC) has been authorized by the property owner (Sandy Spring National Bank) to file the subject special exception request, which would amend the bank's previously approved Special Exception S-174-90. As previously noted the applicant seeks special exception approval to relocate the site's banking operation and its drive-thru facilities to a temporary location on the subject site as an interim measure, while the overall property is completely redeveloped.

The applicant plans to redevelop the existing office property in two (2) distinct phases. Under the first phase of development, the applicant would vacate, discontinue use, and raze the existing office building that now houses the subject branch bank. Banking operations and its customer drive-thru facility  would be the only existing site office uses retained. The bank would be temporarily located in a modular/trailer type building structure with on-site surface parking facilities for customers and employees, and be access via a new vehicular site entrance on Fleet Street (See Exhibit "2"). The temporary banking facility would continue to operate its customer drive-thru teller services.

Upon completion of the first phase office building and accompanying parking/garage facilities, all banking activities housed in the temporary structure would be terminated and relocated to new office accommodation in the newly completed office building. The temporary branch bank building and its accompanying facilities would be removed to make way for the proposed phase-two component of the site redevelopment project. Hence, the branch bank and its new financial center would operate out of the first phase office building, with new drive-thru customer banking facilities with three (3) drive aisles. One (1) drive-thru lane will be served by an ATM facility and the other two-(2) lanes served by bank staff working from indoor office (window) locations.

While not subject to the application request, but relevant to the overall proposal to redevelop the site, the second/last phase of the proposed site redevelopment project, the construction of the second office building and accompanying parking facilities will be initiated as market conditions dictate (See Exhibit "4"). However, the requested special exception must be approved to temporarily relocate the site's existing banking operations elsewhere on the site and later re-establish operations in the newly completed (phase one) office building.

Applicable Sections of the Zoning Ordinance & Staff Assessment

In accordance with Section 25-338 of the Ordinance the Board of Appeals shall not grant any petition for special exception unless it finds from a preponderance of the evidence of record that:

1. The proposed use does not violate or adversely affect the Master Plan, the Zoning Ordinance or any other applicable law; and

The existing and proposed use of the property is consistent with both the Master Plan's land use designation and zoning classification of the site. Based on available information, the existing branch bank and accompanying drive-thru facilities have been in continuous operations on the subject site for nearly ten (10) years. The land use designation of the subject property by the Plan is as "transitional area". As per Section 25-272(h) of the Ordinance, the purpose of the O-1 (Office Building) zone,  which the subject property is presently zoned, "is to provide office space for private, quasi-public and public land uses and complementary service uses and to provide a transition between general commercial and residential uses." There is no evidence that the request to temporarily relocate the site's existing branch bank and accompanying drive-thru facilities and later re-establish said operations within the new phase-one office building would be adverse to the Plan, the Ordinance, or other applicable law. The request is submitted in accordance with Section 25-339(c) of the Ordinance. If approved the subject request would modify the bank's previously approved special exception S-174-90, which allowed drive-thru banking facilities to be established on the subject site in July 1991.

2. The proposed use at the location selected will not: a)  Adversely affect the health and safety of residents or workers in the area; or b)  Overburden existing public services, including water, sanitary sewer, public roads, storm drainage and other public improvements; or c)  Be detrimental to the use or development of adjacent properties or the neighborhood; and d)  Change the character of the neighborhood in which the use is proposed, considering services currently required, population density, character and number of similar uses; and

The subject application request represents only one aspect of the proposal to redevelop the subject site. As previously noted, once the phase-one office building and accompanying site parking facilities are completed, the proposed temporary banking facilities will be removed and all operation relocated to the first level of the new office building. However, to insure that customers using the temporary banking facility drive-thru, enter and leave the site safely and efficiently, appropriate directional and traffic control signage should be installed on site. As noted vehicular access to the temporary facility will be via a new site entrance on Fleet Street. It is important to note that the new entrance as located will be near a bend in the roadway, which will require vehicles exit the site in a cautious manner. To insure that vehicles exiting the site from that entrance on Fleet Street can do so in as safe a manner as possible, new traffic control signs may need to be installed along that area of the roadway. These new signs should serve to inform motorist to slow and be alert to vehicles entering the street from the subject and neighboring properties in the area. Although this entrance will cease to be used by banking customers when the temporary banking facility is relocated to the new phase one office building, it will be used to provide ingress and egress to new on-site parking facilities constructed under phase-two of the planned site development project.

At present time the existing branch bank's customer drive-thru facilities is comprised of one (1) drive-thru window located at the rear southeast corner of the existing site office building. When fully operational from its new permanent phase-one office location, the bank's new drive-thru facilities will be located in a separate freestanding drive-thru structure. The new facility will have three-(3) drive thru lanes, one (1) ATM facility and two (2) conventional drive-thru teller lanes. Staff found no evidence the new three-(3) lane drive-thru facility would generate vehicular traffic that will overburden or adversely impact site area roadways. As a condition of approval, staff recommends that the new drive-thru facility be shifted inward on the site so that customer vehicles exiting the facility have adequate stacking area in the drive aisles when attempting to leave this site.

The drive aisle area where vehicles exit the drive-thru of the proposed permanent drive-thru facilities should have stacking space to allow vehicles to stagger and alternate lane departures. Unencumbered ingress and egress of vehicles attempting to enter/exit the site's drive-thru banking facilities should help limit potential disruption of site circulation in/around said facilities. Also, it is unlikely the temporary or new office building location of the site's branch bank operation and drive-thru facilities would be detrimental to the current use or future development of neighboring properties. The applicant has submitted a traffic impact study, which analyzes the impact of projected site generated traffic on respective site area roadways and street intersections. Staff's review and assessment of the study's findings will determine what level of improvements and/or monetary contribution the applicant should provide in order to mitigate (where possible) such impacts that site generated traffic will have on site area roadways. If it is deemed necessary, the applicant may also be required to make improvements along the site's street frontages to insure that site vehicular ingress and egress is safe, efficient, and does not impede traffic flow in and around the subject site area. To insure that the bank's new office operations and accompanying drive-thru facility, including other planned office and retail site uses do not overburden public improvements within the site area, the applicant will be required to fully address such concerns prior to approval of the pending project's Use Permit USE99-00600. Note, the final driveway locations proposed along Fleet Street will be determined at use permit.

Although the planned relocation of the branch bank and drive thru facilities would not require major upgrade or retrofit of site utilities, it is likely that such upgrades will be needed to accommodate the applicant's full site redevelopment. It is anticipated that the level of water and sewer services needed to accommodate the proposed overall site development, will be much greater than those that now serve the site's two (2) level office building. It is also probable existing storm drainage infrastructure located in and around the site area may need to be modified and or improved to accommodate additional stormwater runoff created by the planned site build-out. The proposed project's compliance with stormwater management and sediment-erosion control requirements will be determined by the Department of Public Works during the project's "use permit" review stage. At this stage of the development review process there is no indication that the availability and/or delivery of public services within the site area would be substantially altered or reduced due to the planned modification and improvement's to the site's branch bank operations. While the overall scale of the planned site redevelopment project will be much more intensive than the current site office use, the planned site use/s will be in keeping with the similar land uses located within the site area, i.e., office, institutional, and commercial land uses.

It is anticipated that the new banking operation and facility will provide its customers a greater variety of services, but will continue to conduct business in a similar fashion as has been done for the past several years. Although there are no other similar financial institutions located within the immediate site area, those that are located further to the south on Rockville Pike should not be adversely impacted by the proposed temporary relocation and planned re-establishment of the site's banking operation and drive-thru facilities. As proposed, the applicant's new facilities should serve to enhance banking services within this area of the city. Also, due to the commercial nature of the planned site use, coupled with the existing land use and development patterns of the site area, it unlikely that existing residential densities in the surrounding site area will be altered. Coupled with all of the afore noted factors, and because the subject site use is permitted in the O-1 zone only by grant of special exception approval, it is unlikely there will be a proliferation of similar land uses within the site area.

3. The proposed use complies with all requirements of the ordinance that are applicable thereto.

In accordance with Section 25-296 of the Zoning Ordinance, "banks having drive-thru facilities for the purpose of conducting business transactions from vehicles," are permitted in the O-1 zone by grant of a special exception. The applicant submits the subject application request attempting to satisfy this fundamental requirement of the ordinance and as required per Section 25-339(c). It must be noted that while the request as submitted meets all requirements of the Zoning Ordinance at this conceptual phase of the special exception review process, a thorough review of the applicant’s overall site redevelopment proposal is currently taking place with the project’s pending Use Permit USE99-0600.

Lastly, in addition to the afore noted findings the Board is required to make in its consideration of this application request, as per Section 25-354(b) of the Ordinance, the Board is required to make the following additional finding:

The proposed use is necessary to the convenience of businesses and employees in the surrounding area.

The previous owner of the property (Jefferson Plaza III Limited Partnership) was granted special exception approval (ref. S-181-91) to establish drive-thru banking facilities for the existing site branch bank, by the Board of Appeals in April 1991. The existing Sandy Spring Branch Bank with its customer drive-thru component, has been operational and serving customers for nearly 10 years and as such has established itself as a viable financial institution within the community. Due to its longevity at its current location, it is obvious that the banking services provided are needed and beneficial to businesses and individuals working and/or living in the subject site area. The planned temporary relocation of its branch office and ultimate re-establishment in the new phase-one office building, along with its new expanded customer drive-thru facility are intended to insure greater choice and access to banking services within the site area.

Based on all of the afore noted factors, staff finds adequate justification to recommend Special Exception SPX99-0283 be approved subject to compliance with the conditions referenced on page two of this staff report.

COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION PROCESS

Notification cards were sent to abutting property owners informing them of the application request and pending Planning Commission meeting and Board of Appeals public hearing, at which time the request will be publicly heard and considered.  Notices were sent to 800 property owners located within the site area. A list of addressees is contained in the project's file, available for public review and inspection.

/cdc

Attachments

Exhibit "1" ­ Existing Site Topography & Layout

Exhibit "2"­ Proposed Site Plan ­ Temporary Bank Location

Exhibit "3"­ Elevation Drawings of Proposed Drive-Thru Facilities