01/25/1994 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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.•? > stated that there is no warrant for a traffic light at the Country_Club access to this site, neither is a light warranted at Columbia Road and Country Club Boulevard even taking into consideration post development traffic. He clarified that their traffic engineer had worked with Mr. Griffith, the city traffic consultant. The Mayor had i.ndicated that infrastructure work is planned, for Brookpark and Columbia Roads. The Great Northern Boulevard intersection at Chester's easement operates at present at the highest level of service, that intersection is controlled by lights at Country Club and Great Northern and Brookpark and Great Northern c-i1.lowing gaps in the traffic. Relocating the building is not practical from Wal-Mart's point of view, the only place this building fits on the site is an east-west orientation, since from a retailing viewpoint the parking has to be in front of the door. They did try other orientations of the building, but this one worked best. He strongly emphasized, that as a resident, he would prefer to have a landscaped area between his residence and a commercial neighbor, than to have a parking lot with the attendant noise and lighting adjacent to his house. It will be easier to buffer this area with mounding, landscaping, and fencing than it would be to screen a parking lot. The landscaping pl3n will be revised as they proceed through the various boards. He stated that from a layout standpoint, the garden center, T.B.O. and compactor cannot be r_elocated. The warehouse is in the rear of the store and it would not be practical to bring customers through the warehouse to these facilities. The fencing and landscaping will provide noise screening. There will be 100 feet between the truck dock and compactor and the neighboring building. Mr. Orlowski noted that the Commission had discussed the truck dock with the developers for 8 months before it was finally relocated at the former site. Mr. Newberry stated that the only place they could relocate would be against Brookpark Road which would put the truck access on Brookpark Road. The parking to the south of the building is needed to conform to the codes, and will also provide parking for the T.B.O., the garden center, and employees. Building Commissioner Conway advised that by his count they need 832 spaces, they show 858 spaces. Mr. Gorris asked how many spaces Wal-Mart would want, if there were no city codes. Mr. Newberry responded that Wal-riart needed 6-%2 spaces per 1,000 square feet which is the same as the city requirements. Mr. Gorris asked Mr. Papandreas, representing Biskind Development, to give a synopsis of the history of the parcel and how they believe that this fits into the overall scheme of things and what property will be left vacant. Mr. Papandreas outlined the location of the entire parcel "A" and explained that there was a vision for this parcel in the early 1980's for a Mixed Use development. In 1983, they submitted a land use plan that predominantly iocused on office development which at that time was a promising opportunity for development. However, later the market changed and they have had to develop the property in what they believed was best for the property and in the best interest of the community so the plan was amended to include a hotel and restaurant. At this time the parcel contains Corporate Center I and II which are class "A" office buildings and «ere part of the original plan then the hotel was added and later the restaurant. Recently two restaurants were added across Country Club. Now they have submitted an amended preliminary land use plan to include this retail development, which is a result of market conditions, since office developznent is not been productive and the market is dry. They have put together a development criteria for this parcel which must be adhered to with this development. Mr. Gorris stated that originally retail areas were included in this p1an, but only as an ancillary use to the offices. Mr. Papandreas responded that in some of the consultant's„plans, retail had been included, in garticular a retail strip facing Great Northern Boulevard, but they opted for the hotel and restaurant. Two acres of land adjacent to Chester's will 4