DATE: September 19, 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
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PUBLIC HEARING: Consideration Of Resolution 2018-81, To Be Entitled: “A Resolution Approving A Development Plan For Carothers Crossing West PUD Subdivision, For The Property Located North Of Liberty Pike And West Of Carothers Parkway.” (9/27/18 FMPC9-0; 10/09/18 WS)
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Project Information
COF Project Number: 6793
Applicant: Greg Gamble, Gamble Design
Owner: Porter Family Limited Partnership
Background/Staff Comments
Envision Franklin places this area in Regional Commerce. It states:
The Regional Commerce design concept contains high-intensity activity centers that attract large numbers of people and employers from both within and outside the City. These areas include major employment and revenue generators that are valuable community resources.
Regional Commerce should transition in intensity and scale across this design concept. Higher-intensity uses should be located closer to the I-65 interchanges and major thoroughfares, with less-intensive uses transitioning to established residential areas.
Regional Commerce areas have a high level of visibility along I-65 and primary arterial streets and are important gateways into Franklin. New developments should have integrated designs with coordinated access, amenities, and cohesive architecture that fits within the context of the corridor.
As the project map indicates, the parcel being developed is the northwest corner of Liberty Pike (Arterial) and Carothers Parkway (Arterial).
Envision Franklin places a strong emphasis on building placement. Relevant sections of Envision Franklin are:
“Buildings should be arranged on sites so that they help to frame and define the streets, giving deliberate form to streets and sidewalk areas. Building setbacks should be minimal to create an active street environment that encourages pedestrian activity. Where internal drives are used to organize buildings and pedestrian movement, setbacks to internal drives should be minimized wherever possible.”
This proposed development utilizes an internal street with minimal setbacks for the attached residential live/work units and apartments. The applicant has proposed formal open space in the area between the multifamily/live work units and the retail buildings along the new internal road. The change in grade between the finished floor elevations of these buildings prevented the retail buildings from fully lining the street with storefronts.
“Along high-volume streets, buildings may be set back from the street, provided they are sited to be consistent with the predominant line of building massing (setback) along the street in order to create a defined streetscape and sense of place.”
The office and retail buildings have a setback on Carothers Parkway consistent with the retail buildings on the east side of Carothers Parkway.
“When larger setbacks are used, plazas and formal open spaces that serve as pedestrian-friendly gathering places should be located between the building and the street, rather than parking, to activate the street frontage.”
The applicant has illustrated several areas on the proposed Development Plan where formal open spaces can be utilized to mitigate the visual impact of any parking proposed between the structures and Carothers Parkway.
“New multifamily residential is encouraged within Regional Commerce to create lively, walkable neighborhoods near restaurants, shops, grocery stores, and workplaces. First floors are encouraged to have active commercial spaces, including retail, restaurants, leasing offices, and other amenities, which should be individually accessible from the street. In locations where commercial use on the first floor is not viable, multifamily units should provide individual ground floor entrances, stoops or front porches, and pedestrian connections to the street or to a drive resembling a street. Multifamily buildings are encouraged to have urban form and be part of a connected and master-planned site.”
The applicant uses a mix of live/work units to create a walkable community with pedestrian and bicycle connections to potential retail, restaurants, and office space. Each unit fronting the internal roadway is designed to have individual entrances and a parking space in front of each unit. The live/work units are intended to transition to a mix of light commercial uses over time as the market allows.
The entire proposed development is illustrating pedestrian, bicycle, potential future transit options, and vehicular connections into other existing and proposed developments spanning north of McEwen Drive south to Murfreesboro Road and as far east as Columbia State Community College campus.
Project Considerations
Project Considerations are not conditions of this approval, but are intended to highlight issues that should be considered in the overall site design or may be required when more detailed plans are submitted for review. These items are not meant to be exhaustive and all City requirements and ordinances must be met with each plan submittal.
Specific architecture is not approved at the Development Plan stage but is expected to stay consistent through site plan.
The applicant has requested to use fees-in-lieu for the majority of the tree canopy preservation requirements. The Zoning Ordinance in section 5.2.9(3) states that:
(a) Eligibility
The Department of Planning and Sustainability may consider requests for in-lieu payments to the Tree Bank only when:
i. The site does not provide for adequate landscape surface area to accommodate the total number of required replacement trees or trees required by Subsection 5.4.5, Site Landscape; or
ii. The unique soil types, topography or unusual nature of the site would not assure growth of the replacement trees or trees required by Subsection 5.4.5, Site Landscape;
The preference of an applicant to use an in-lieu payment is not an adequate justification for determining eligibility.
Staff has considered the request in light of the nature of the site and the adjacent properties. The site has significant grade change, which provides a challenge for grading in a way that will maximize its development potential. The properties to the east and southeast had extenuating circumstances that allowed staff to approve similar requests for fees-in-lieu for tree canopy preservation. However, the property to the east was granted fees-in-lieu because a modification of standards (MOS) was granted to allow larger than typical parking lots, squeezing the remaining developable area between said parking lots and a landfill area. The property to the southeast was granted fees-in-lieu because several easements left limited area on the site for development.
This site, however, does not have any of these previously mentioned site constraints to limit the developable area. Factoring in the challenges associated with the property’s topography and the extensive grading work necessary to develop the site, staff has determined that the development plan shall attempt to meet the intent of the Zoning Ordinance by at least providing half of the required tree canopy retention, or half of the acreage required. The other half of required tree canopy can be met with fees-in-lieu, paid to the tree bank.
Recommendation
recommendation
Recommend approval with conditions to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
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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. The city’s project identification number shall be included on all correspondence with any city department relative to this project.