TO: Chair and Planning Commission
FROM: Dawn-Marie Buckland, Deputy Town Manager
Jeremy Knapp, Community Development Director
Paul Michaud, Senior Planner
DATE: January 9, 2019
CONTACT:
Staff Contact
Paul Michaud, 480-348-3574
End
AGENDA TITLE:
Title
Discussion of Major Special Use Permit Amendment (SUP-18-12)
10555 N Tatum Boulevard - Mountain View Medical Center
Request
REQUEST
Mountain View Medical Center L.L.C., the property owner of the Mountain View Medical Center, is seeking redevelopment of the existing 9.8-acre medical plaza property located at 10535, 10555, 10565, 10575, 10595, and 10599 North Tatum Boulevard (Assessor Parcel No. 168-07-001C). The property owner is requesting a major amendment to the site’s existing Special Use Permit - Medical Office zoning. The request includes a three-part phased demolition of all existing structures. The present site has six single-story medical buildings that will be replaced with four one-story and two two-story medical buildings in approximately the same locations as the existing buildings. Attachment C.1, C.2 and C.3 are the applicant’s submittal items.
Background
MEETING PURPOSE
The primary purpose of this work session is for the Planning Commission to continue their review of the application request focusing on the Statement of Direction (SOD) points of landscaping, infrastructure/utilities and traffic/parking/circulation. Please note, there are no new plans or material provided by the applicant. The material is the same as the prior two work sessions. Full-size plan sets will not be provided for the upcoming work session.
BACKGROUND
Update from Prior Meeting(s)
The Planning Commission discussed this application at the December 18, 2018 and December 4, 2018 work sessions. As noted previously, the Planning Commission will temporarily postpone discussion of Schedule I and Schedule II drugs and consideration of pharmacy hours outside hours of operation specified in Section 1102.2 of the Zoning Ordinance until Council further discusses the Lincoln Plaza Medical Center application.
Items discussed at the December 18th work session included the following points:
• Noise was a concern noted by neighbor’s present. The SOD recognizes anecdotally that the ambient noise levels are high in this area due to the location near commercial uses at two major arterials. There was discussion of locating possible uses that generate more trips like urgent care and uses that generate noise like trash containers in locations that mitigate impact to the residents of the adjoining homes. The Planning Commission may want to discuss whether a noise statement/study is or is not warranted.
• After the last work session, the applicant provided their requested standard hours for the medical plaza as M-F 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Sat 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The proposed standard hours compare to the other Town medical centers as follows: Lincoln Medical proposed at M-F 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Paradise Valley Medical M-F 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sat 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and Scottsdale Institute for Dermatology has no stipulated hours. Hours for the sleep center, urgent care and surgical center to be extended. Based on the prior narrative, the requested extended hours are as follows:
o Sleep centers could operate 24 hour/7 days a week.
o Urgent care could operate 7 days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. with extended hours possible.
o Surgical center could operate 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. M-Sat, with maximum 48-hour patient stays allowable.
Based on the prior discussion, the existing pharmacy/apothecary operates M-Th 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., F 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and closed on the weekends. The applicant requests to extend these hours to match the proposed standard hours of operation.
• The applicant is still working on re-evaluation of the location of sleep centers, outdoor employee areas, trash enclosures, drop-off areas and reducing the proposed construction phases from three to two phases. Also, they need to provide additional sign elevations. This information is expected at a following work session after January 9, 2019.
• The Planning Commission noted that veterinary practices and urgent care is not preferred. The Commission asked the applicant to look at restricting hours/limit use to certain buildings on the veterinary use and to come back with the nearest veterinary practices and urgent care facilities. The nearest veterinary practice is approximately one mile north on Tatum Boulevard (Phoenix Mountain Animal Hospital 4727 E Cactus Rd #124, Phoenix, AZ 85032). The nearest urgent care across the street from the subject site (FastMed Urgent Care 4902 E Shea Blvd #101, Phoenix, AZ 85028).
• The applicant still needs to schedule the require citizen review meeting with nearby property owners within 1,500 feet. This meeting is anticipated to occur in the middle-to-end of January 2019. One discussion point the Planning Commission noted was to get feedback on the parking canopies (height, location).
• The Planning Commission requested clarification on the ownership of the block wall that borders the subject site and the residential homes. This wall varies in height from 5-foot tall to 8-foot tall. Town Code allows by right a shared property wall with a Special Use Permit property at 8 feet tall. From the ALTA survey, this wall is generally half on the medical plaza property and half on the residential lots. The applicant confirmed that the original 1980s building plans had this this wall belonging to the medical plaza. The applicant has been maintaining the wall throughout its ownership.
• The applicant was asked to investigate options to restrict the Beryl driveway access at night and/or other hours/days.
Council Statement of Direction
The Town Council issued a Statement of Direction (SOD) on November 15, 2018. Attachment H is the SOD.
History and Conditions
The property was annexed in 1961. The Town granted medical use on the property in 1980. Essentially, the structures and landscaping on the site are the same as in the 1980 approval. The property has been regularly maintained, with some minor improvements over the years. The last approval was the replacement of the two entry monument signs in 2010 and remodeling of these signs in 2012. Attachment F is a Special Use Permit History of the property.
General Plan/Zoning
The subject property has a General Plan designation of “Medical Office” pursuant to the Town’s General Plan Land Use Map. The zoning on the subject property is “Special Use Permit - Medical Office”. The proposed medical office use is in conformance with this designation and zoning.
Several General Plan policies apply related to the request for redevelopment of the Mountain View Medical Center property. Primary policies that apply include the policies of Goal LU 2.1.2, Special Use Permit Property Revitalization. Attachment E is a more exhaustive list of pertinent General Plan policies for consideration in review of this application request.
Enforcement
As of the date of this report, there is one known active code violation on the subject site. The Town received a complaint on December 19, 2018 about trash pickup prior to 6:30 a.m. Collection follows the large truck regulations in the Town Code, which in the non-summer months is 7:00 a.m. The property owner contacted the trash provider.
Body
DISCUSSION/FACTS
The attached SOD covers a variety of aspects the Town Council would like the Planning Commission to focus their review for this request. Please refer to the SOD for a complete list of items.
Attachment I describe how the redevelopment meets the SOD. This document will be completed as the Planning Commission reviews the application request. Any updates will be shown in track change format.
Some possible points for the Planning Commission to consider for the upcoming work session are as follows:
• Rear Yard Residential Area Landscaping. The applicant proposes to keep the width at 25 feet. This is not in compliance with the SUP Guideline of 40 feet. The proposed landscaping adds many more shrubs and increases the number of trees from 33 to 56. As discussed at a prior study session, the shared wall is allowable by right at 8 feet tall.
• Street Landscaping. The Planning Commission will want to discuss any concern with the reduction of the width of the street landscape area from 24 feet, 55 feet and 100 feet to 29 feet and 42 feet. The SUP Guideline is 50 feet.
• Visually-Significant Corridor. Tatum Boulevard is a visually significant corridor. The proposed landscape plan generally meets the guidelines for that plan. However, it is unclear whether the proposed hardscape/site walls follow that plan with use of split rail, stone veneer, rustic pavers.
• Infrastructure/Utilities. Except for typical construction-related utility improvements, there is no needed off-site utility improvements necessary. The fire flow exceeds the 1,500 gpm standard at 3,842 gpm. The storm drainage capacity will be improved such that each phase will function independently. Both above-ground retention basins at a maximum depth of 3 feet and underground storage/drywells will be used to retain a total of 12,500 cubic feet of storm water. The Planning Commission will want to identify any additional information requested or concerns.
§ Traffic. Traffic is a major concern noted by many persons that spoke on this application request. The applicant provided a traffic study that states most nearby intersections operate at a Level of Service (LOS) of D or better, with the Tatum/Shea intersection and Tatum/Beryl intersection worse in the evening commute. The study states that the proposed development will result in half of the intersections operating at LOS D or better and the other half of the intersections operating less than LOS D during 1 or more peak hours. Some possible discussion points include evaluate gating or restricting access at the Beryl driveway at certain days/times and/or evaluating the impact of the amount of leasable square footage (minus roof overhangs, parking canopies and related footage). From the submittal, the proposed leasable square footage is 91,318 square feet and the existing leasable square footage at 59,969 square feet. A 31,349 square foot increase. The leasable square footage calculation is a different calculation from the lot coverage calculation discussed at the last work session. The total lot coverage is all structures that obstruct the sky (excluding second story area), which is 22.3% (95,169 sf) compared to the proposed lot coverage at 24.9% (106,217 sf). An increase of 17,137 square feet.
• Parking. The existing site meets the minimum SUP Guideline of 1 parking space per 300 square feet. There are 331 spaces (including 26 ADA spaces) and meets the typical 9 feet by 20 feet (180 square feet) parking space size. The proposed plan at buildout has 411 spaces (including 14 ADA spaces). It meets the 180 square feet parking space size using a 2-foot overhang and a parking space reduction calculation of 0.8 space/200 square feet. A discussion point is whether there is support of the parking study reduction calculation. Also, it is suggested as with other SUP properties, that a stipulation be added to make sure the parking space overhang remains clear of obstacles.
§ Circulation. The applicant proposes to retain the existing three access points, allow for full turning movements at its driveways, and keep the speed humps in the rear internal driveway. At this point, contact with the City of Phoenix traffic division resulted in no specific concerns/requests. As noted, the applicant was asked to consider options to restrict the Beryl driveway access at night and/or other hours/days.
PUBLIC COMMENT & NOTICING
Mailing notification will be done in advance of the scheduled hearing to all property owners within a radius of 1,500 feet, along with a newspaper advertisement and property posting. Attachment J includes all written comments given to staff up to the week prior to the Planning Commission meeting.
NEXT STEPS
The SOD provides the Planning Commission until March 5, 2018 to make a recommendation on this application request, with a preference that this recommendation occur by February 5, 2018. The Planning Commission does have the ability to request an extension from the Council should more time be necessary. It is anticipated that there will be multiple work sessions by the Planning Commission to review this request.
Remaining SOD items to discuss include height/viewsheds, architectural design, signage, Special Use Permit stipulations and resident input from the citizen review meeting. There are also points that will need to be revisited based on prior discussions. Available work session meeting dates include January 22, 2019 and February 5, 2019. As such, it is likely that the Planning Commission hearing to make a recommendation to Council will be February 19, 2019 or March 5, 2019.
ATTACHMENT(S):
Attachment A - Application
Attachment B - Vicinity Map & Related Maps
Attachment C.1 - Narrative
Attachment C.2 - Plan Set
Attachment C.3 - Drainage & Utility
Attachment C.4 - Parking & Traffic
Attachment D - SUP Guidelines & VSC
Attachment E - General Plan Policies
Attachment F - SUP History
Attachment G - Existing- Proposed Comparison
Attachment H - SOD
Attachment I - Compliance to SOD
Attachment J - Comments
C: - Applicant
- Case File