DATE: April 18, 2018
TO: Franklin Municipal Planning Commission
FROM: Josh King, Principal Planner
Amy Diaz-Barriga, Current Planning Supervisor
Emily Hunter, Director of Planning and Sustainability
Subject
title
Franklin Park Subdivision, Site Plan, Revision 2, Lot 8, (Three Franklin Park Building), 330,575 Square Foot Office with 7-Level Attached Parking Garage on 4.99 Acres, Located near the Intersection of East McEwen Drive, I-65, and Tower Circle (Private Road), with One Design Modification Request (Façade Variation).
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Project Information
COF Project Number: 6636
Applicant: Wes Magill, Ragan Smith and Associates
Owner: Pat Emery, Hall Emery LLC.
Background/Staff Comments
The applicant is proposing a 330,575 square foot, 11-story commercial office building with 7-level attached parking garage located near the intersection of McEwen Drive, I-65, and Tower Circle (a private road). The applicant is proposing the third building of a multi-phase plan. The proposed office building meets the requirements of the Zoning Ordinance. The parking structure, as proposed, requires one design modification.
Design Modification
The City of Franklin Zoning Ordinances classifies parking structures as buildings and regulates them under the same standards as other nonresidential building types. The applicant is requesting a design modification from Chapter 5, Section 3, Subsection 6, (4) and (6) of the Franklin Zoning Ordinance.
5.3.6(4) Building Facades- (a) Rear and side façades, if visible from public streets, shall have a similar architectural treatment as used on the primary or front façade; (b) Blank building walls are prohibited; … (e) Windows and Doors shall have a vertical orientation and be vertically aligned between floors; (f) Buildings shall be constructed (Through the use of materials, design elements, or architectural details) to emphasize the proportion of height to width so that building facades are vertically oriented.
5.3.6(6)- Façade Variation Requirement Standards- Buildings shall use wall offsets or other variations to break up the mass of a building, maintain building rhythm along a street, and to establish a human scale in accordance with the standards: … (b) Building façades containing the primary building entrance, visible from a street, or visible from land used by or intended for residential development shall incorporate façade variations a minimum of every 35 feet; buildings over 20,000 square feet may increase the minimum requirement for façade variations to every 50 feet. (A list of possible façade variation treatments are found in Section 5.3.6 (6)(d) of the Zoning Ordinance.)
The two visible facades of the proposed garage are the North elevation and West elevation of the proposed parking garage. These are the only two facades visible from the public right of way and therefore the only two facades subject to these façade requirements. Staff is considering both facades as one deviation of standards from the Zoning Ordinance.
It is staff’s understanding that the applicant would desire that the proposed parking structure for Building 3 match the adjacent parking structure for Building 2, which is already constructed. Buildings 1 and 2 were some of the first approved parking structures under the current Zoning Ordinance, and it was a staff oversight, primarily due to complexity of the Zoning Ordinance, that the façade variation standards were not originally applied. Since that time, several other parking structures have been approved in the city, and they were consistently required to meet basic façade variation standards to help soften the appearance of these large garages. While staff understands the reasoning behind the applicant’s request, staff must consistently enforce the Zoning standards, and only the Planning Commission can hear and decide on modifications to design features. For this reason, staff recommends disapproval of this design modification request.
Note: Staff will be looking to have specific parking structure design standards that are clearer with the new Zoning Ordinance.
Recommendation
recommendation
Approval, with conditions.
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See attached pages for a list of staff recommended conditions of approval.
PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS:
1. The applicant shall upload the corrected plan to the online plan review website (<https://franklin.contractorsplanroom.com/secure/>). All revisions to the approved plans shall be “clouded.” With the resubmittal, each condition of approval/open issue in the online plan review system shall contain a full response from the applicant as to the satisfaction or completion of that condition.
2. Once the corrected site plan has been approved, one (1) full-size and one (1) half-size copy of the final approved landscape plans shall be submitted to the Department of Building and Neighborhood Services for future landscape inspection purposes.
3. Once the project has obtained Site Plan approval, the applicant will be notified by COF Engineering Department with instructions regarding the status of their digitally stamped construction plans.
4. The applicant shall upload complete building plans, including the approved, revised site plans, to the City's IDT site for Building and Neighborhood Services Department review and approval prior to the issuance of a building permit.
5. Prior to start of any excavation work, the developer and/or contractor shall notify AT&T and Comcast.
6. The city’s project identification number shall be included on all correspondence with any city department relative to this project.