HomeMy WebLinkAbout20210062 Marion Avenue - Maple Dell PUD Narrative (2)
PROJECT NARRATIVE
PROPOSED PLANNED UNIT DISTRICT (PUD)
AMENDMENT FROM TOURSIST RELATED BUSINESS and UR-2 TO PUD
1. Introduction
collectively referred to as for the creation of
the Marion Ave PUD located on Marion Avenue (New York State Route 9) and Maple
Dell, north of the Route 50 arterial. The Applicant controls (via fee ownership or
authorized representation) seven parcels totaling 7 acres in the project area; a map is
provided in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Parcels Involved in the Planned Development District
2. History of the Corridor:
the Zoning Code created a unique prohibition of uses which would otherwise be
permitted in the Tourist Related Business (TRB) district because of the Gateway Design
District Requirements (see below). Therefore, owners of lands within the TRB
which are also impacted by the GDD are treated differently in their ability to develop
land as compared to owners of lands with the TRB which are not. In particular, this
Application involves the impact of this differing treatment in that convenience and gas
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sales are which are prohibited by the GDD, create pre-existing on two of the four parcels
at issue.
The explicit prohibitions in the GDD has the specific result of creating non-conforming
uses at the Mobil, along with associated car wash, and siting Goodemote Physical
Therapy (3 Maple Dell) via use variance. In addition to the parcels in the TRB zone, the
proposed PUD includes three parcels in the Urban Residential 2 (UR-2) district of which
one is vacant, one is conforming to the UR-2 zoning, and the remaining was most
recently the subject of use variance application and litigation between the Zoning Board
of Appeals (ZBA) and the owner regarding a dental office. The factual evidence
submitted and debated in that case underscores the challenges of realizing a reasonable
return on investment within the current zoning, the pre-existing uses, a busy commercial
corridor along two state routes, and contrary zoning in the two most adjacent
municipalities (Greenfield and Wilton).
The parcels included in the PUD and their conformance with TRB/GDD zoning are
outlined in the table below.
Table 1: PUD Parcels and Conformance to Base Zoning
Address SBL Conforming Status
34 Marion Ave 166.5-3-25 Vacant/Use Variance
Litigation
3 Maple Dell 166.5-2-40 Use Variance
11 Maple Dell 166.5-2-40 Conforming
33 Marion Ave 166.5-4-1.2 Non-Conforming
31 Marion Ave 166.5-4-1.3 Non-Conforming
Marion Ave (No Address) 166.5-4-1.1 Vacant
Interior Parcel 153-2-3.1 Vacant
3. PUD Justification: The need for the PUD stems from the high traffic volume associated
with commuter traffic from the Towns of Greenfield and Wilton to the north accessing
Exit 15 via Marion Ave and the overall use of the Route 50 arterial. Figure 2 provides
imagery from the Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) from the New York State
Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) indicating the volume through the proposed
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PUD to be 12,750. For comparison, similar volumes exist along West Ave (between
West Circular St. and Washington) and Ballston Ave which have Transect zoning at both
intersections. Such traffic levels justify relocating the intense commercial uses away
from the neighborhood/residential component to ensure economic viability and
simultaneous improvement to adjoining property by decreasing adjoining street traffic.
Figure 2: NYSDOT AADT Traffic View for Marion
Ave and Route 50
4. PUD Districts: Acknowledging the non-conformance with the established zoning and
requests for Use Variance, while balancing residential zoning that surrounds the PUD, the
Applicant proposes three distinct zoning districts: Professional/Medical (P/M),
Commercial Intense (CI) and Residential (R), Figure 3 (below) provides an illustration of
the proposed districts to be established within the PUD.
the parcels at issue in the PUD, is willing to relocate its more intense commercial uses
from the new PM to the CI in order to reduce traffic and noise for those land owners in
the UR2 adjacent to the proposed PUD.
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Figure 3: Marion Avenue PUD Proposed Districts
Uses permitted in the PUD shall be as follows:
Professional/Medical/Institutional: Office, Medical Office/Clinic and Educational
Institutions
Residential: Residential development of single and multi-family homes including
clustering
Commercial Intense: Uses allowed in PMI District, plus Animal Clinic, Nurseries, Day
Care Center, Service Establishments, Bathhouse/Health Spa, Hotel or Motel, Car Wash *,
Fueling Station*, Convenience Store* (*Uses shall only be allowed on parcels exceeding
350 feet of frontage on a New York State Route)
Bulk Requirements:
Professional/Medical/Institutional-2
Residential-4A
Commercial Intense: Developed by Applicant and Planning Board through Site Plan
5. PUD Objectives (Section 10.2.3): In order to justify the establishment of a PUD as an
alternative to current zoning regulation and carry out the intent of this Section, the proposed
PUD intends to achieve the following objectives:
1. Provide for a development pattern of mixed-uses consistent with the objectives of
the Comprehensive Plan.
Proposal to relocate the commercial intensity of the convenience store to the
highly trafficked State Highway (Route 9) which is locally called Marion Avenue;
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2. Provide for a more efficient arrangement of land uses, buildings, circulation
systems, infrastructure and open space than otherwise possible under current
zoning.
Project Narrative discusses historic non-conforming uses throughout the corridor
and the proposed PUD seeks to realign those uses by creating conforming
districts.
3. Provide for diversity in residential housing opportunities at varied economic
levels.
The proposed PUD includes a housing component but does not include price
points.
4. Provide for uses and amenities that fulfill identifiable community need
Proposal seeks to reduce the current number of non-conforming land uses and the
likelihood of use variance requests.
5. Provide for enhanced open space and the preservation of natural resources.
Currently, only the parcels zoned UR-2 are open spaces but not included in an
open space preservation plan. The applicant is willing to seek a density reduction
for the proposed residential component along with ensuring appropriate buffering
to surrounding land use.
6. Prevent soil erosion and enhance the preservation of trees, outstanding natural
topographical and geological features
The majority of the project includes a pre-existing development environment.
Site plan review of individual elements and their configuration will ensure
preservation of existing trees.
7. Enhance integration of transportation systems including vehicular, pedestrian,
bicyclist and transit
The project corridor currently lacks sidewalks or pedestrian connectivity which is
being proposed as part of the project.
8. Minimize adverse impacts of land development upon neighboring properties
Proposal seeks to remove the commercial intensity of the convenience store from
the neighborhood and its roadway network
9. Provide for a more economically viable and environmentally sustainable land use
pattern than would be possible through the strict application of other Articles of
this Chapter.
The relocation of the commercial activity to the Marion Avenue ensures the
economically viability of the project.
6. Planning Board Evaluation (Section 10.2.6.1.1): The proposed PUD submits the
1. Consistency with the goals and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan
Due to the historic non-conforming use of the property, the opportunity exists to
bring the sites into compliance with current regulations including those
surrounding stormwater management and as discussed above, the sites currently
lack pedestrian connectivity which will be introduced through the project.
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2. Consistency with the general purposes and intent of this Chapter and the intent
and objectives of a PUD as expressed in this Article
The current zoning, particularly the Gateway Overlay prohibits the use
configuration which the proposal attempts to rectify
3. Community need and adherence to sound planning and design principles in the
proposed land use configuration, transportation system, open space, and storm
water management concept
The non-conforming zoning has prevented Site Plan amendments bringing the
uses into compliance with design principles and standards which are to rectified
by the proposal
4. Positive and negative impacts to population, schools, traffic, utilities, recreation,
taxes, and aesthetics
i. Population: The residential component is minimal and will have a negligible
impact on overall population of the City
ii. Schools: Tied to the unlikely increase of population, negligible impact is
anticipated.
iii. Traffic: The proposal seeks to remove intense commercial traffic including
delivery trucks and customers from the neighborhood and placing them on the
highly trafficked state roadway. Further, there is a gap in the sidewalk network
which will be eliminated by construction of new sidewalks.
iv. Utilities: Relocation of many of the existing uses will minimize the impact on the
current and future utilities.
v. Aesthetics: Review by Design Review Commission and the Planning Board
would improve the aesthetic elements currently prohibited from alteration by the
non-conforming zoning of the project area.
5. Availability and adequacy of utilities including water and sewer service
Project relocates many existing uses and will not impact water or sewer service.
6. Availability and adequacy of transportation systems including accommodation for
vehicular, pedestrian, bicyclist and transit needs
The introduction of sidewalks will improve the pedestrian transportation system
and the pass-by nature of the convenience store and gasoline will decrease the
7. Potential for any adverse impacts on the surrounding neighborhood, including the
character of the neighborhood, and any proposed mitigation to minimize possible
detrimental effects
The relocation seeks to mitigate existing impacts.
8. The height and bulk of buildings and their relation to other structures in the
vicinity
The proposal does not seek to dramatically alter heights of existing buildings on
site
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9. Potential for adverse impacts on environmental resources including wetlands,
surface water, floodplains, and plant and wildlife communities
The proposal is outside established overlays and the development of new Site
Plans increases likelihood for bringing elements into desired conformance.
10. General ability of the land to support the development including such factors as
slope, depth to bedrock, depth to water table and soil type
Because the bulk of the project is the relocation/orientation of existing features it
is believed the site can accommodate the proposed features.
7. Draft PUD Legislation:
AMENDMENT TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE
CITY OF SARATOGA SPRINGS TO ESTABLISH
THE PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT
BE IT ORDAINED by the City of Saratoga Springs, following a public hearing as follows:
Section I: Name
which amends Section 240 of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Saratoga Springs. The
Marion Avenue Maple Dell Planned Unit Development shall herein be referred to as the PUD.
Section II: Amendments
Upon adoption of this PUD legislation, the Zoning Ordinance and the Zoning Map of the City of
Saratoga Springs shall be amended to reflect the Marion Avenue Maple Dell PUD.
Section III: Boundary
The PUD shall include tax maps numbers listed via Section, Block and Lot: 166.5-2-40, 166.5-3-
25, 166.5-4-1.2, 166.5-4-1.3, 166.5-4-1.1, 153.17-2-6, and; 153.-2-
long Maple Dell and Marion Avenue
with the eastern parcels adjacent to the City-owned property west of Loughberry Lake.
Section IV: Objective
The objective of the PUD is to relocate certain existing commercial uses from the interior of the
Maple Dell neighborhood to the more commercial-intense corridor of Marion Avenue to
harmonize surrounding land uses and reducting the impact to surrounding residential property
owners. The existing zoning is Tourist Related Business (TRB) with a Gateway Overlay. These
zoning classifications prevent certain land uses and building modifications to the existing
buildings which would otherwise be in greater compliance with the desired features of the
surroundings uses, design guidelines, and Comprehensive Plan.
Further, several of the parcels have been subject to use variances by the Zoning Board of
Appeals (ZBA) because the Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) presented by New York
State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) through its Traffic Viewer indicates a daily
traffic of 12,750 cars per day. In order to reduce the likelihood of more uses developing by way
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of variance, the PUD would more effectively enable the City to meet the goals of the
Comprehensive Plan.
Section V: Concept Plan
A "Concept Plan" of a potential use scenario of PUD properties showing the development is
attached hereto as Exhibit "B which includes three distinct zoning districts:
Professional/Medical/Institutional (PMI), Commercial Intensive (CI), and Residential (R). The
purpose of the districts is to segregate the uses by varying intensity into locations where there is
greater modulation of the intensity of commercial and environmental impacts.
which
demonstrates proposed locations of improvements including the proposed buildings, sidewalks,
in the near future, the PUD properties may evolve and over the decades re-evolve. As a result,
the attached Sketch Plan may change, be altered, or amended pursuant to Section 240-3.6 of the
Zoning Ordinance.
Section VI: Uses, Area and Bulk Requirements
A. Zoning Districts:
Professional/Medical/Institutional (PMI): Office, Medical Office/Clinic and Educational
Institutions
Residential (R): Residential development of single and multi-family homes.
Commercial Intense (CI): Uses allowed in PMI District, Animal Clinic, Nurseries, Day Care
Center, Service Establishments, Bathhouse/Health Spa, Hotel or Motel, Car Wash *, Fueling
Station*, Convenience Store* (*Uses shall only be allowed on parcels exceeding 350 feet of
frontage on a New York State Route)
B. Bulk Requirements:
Profes-2
-4A
Commercial Intense: Developed by Applicant and Planning Board through Site Plan
C. Additional Review
The construction of any new building or facility shall require site plan review pursuant to Section
7.2, et seq. of the City Zoning Ordinance and design review compliant with Section 3.3 of the
City Zoning Ordinance. Changes in tenancy to previously approved commercial space shall not
require site plan review or additional design review.
Section VII: Signage
PMI: Each use shall be allowed to a sign of no more than twenty-five (25) square feet and one
free standing sign also of twenty-five (25) square feet. If multiple uses share a sign, their
combined square footage shall be the multiplier of the number of users by thirty-five square feet.
CI: Each use shall be allowed two building signs which combined shall not exceed fifty-square
feet and a freestanding sign which shall not exceed thirty-five (35) square feet. If multiple uses
share a sign, their combined square footage shall be the multiplier of the number of users by
twenty-five square feet. In the instance of a convenience store and gasoline filling, the
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placement of gasoline pricing on the canopy shall be not account for the building signs as the
canopy itself if a structure. However, the square footage of canopy mounted signage shall not
exceed a combined forty (40) square feet.
Residential: One monument sign shall be allowed and located on an adjoining parcel for
wayfinding purposes and shall not exceed fifty (50) square feet.
Section VIII: Parking Requirements
All parking shall be located within the parcel for which it is intended and all parking shall be off-
street parking.
PMI: 1 space for every 200 square feet of gross area
CI: 1 space for every 200 square feet plus 1 for every employee
R: two spaces for every residential lot created or one driveway as determined by the Planning
Board.
Section IX: Amendments
Upon adoption of the final adoption of the Sketch Plan any subsequent alteration shall be made
applicable to the Zoning Ordinance. The addition or subtraction of buildings on the Site Plan
shall not be consideration Amendments and shall be permitted through the Site Plan process.
Section X: Effective Date
This Ordinance shall take effect the day after publication as provided by the provisions of the
City Charter of the City of Saratoga Springs, New York.
Adopted: ________________, 2021
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