2000-09-07 Site Plan RecommendationNORTHWEST ASSOCIATED CONSULTANTS
INC COMMUNITY PLANNING - DESIGN - MARKET RESEARCH
MEMORANDUM
TO: Albertville Planning Commission
Linda Goeb, City Administrator
FROM: Deb Garross, Senior Planner
DATE: September 7, 2000
RE: Albertville -JMJ Outlet Center Phase II
- Site Plan
FILE NO: 163.06 - 00.31
INTRODUCTION
JMJ Properties, Inc. is requesting site plan approval for development of a 59,800 square
foot retail building to be located on Lot 1, at the Albertville Outlet Mall. The subject site
is located directly east of the existing mall and north of the main access drive. The site
consists of 41.17 acres of land and is zoned Planned Unit Development. The
expansion is considered to be Phase II of the Outlets at Albertville.
RECOMMENDATION
To date, the applicant has submitted the site grading, utility and pavement plans but has
not submitted the site plan, building elevations, proposed exterior materials, landscape
and lighting plans or floor plans. Without the aforementioned plans, we are unable to
conduct a site review for the project. The City Engineer has reviewed the grading, utility
and pavement plans and has provided comments which are attached for review of the
Planning Commission. There are a number of important issues associated with the
access, parking and site development that need to be further addressed by the
applicant.
It is recommended that the Planning Commission review the Engineering plans and
comments at the September 13th meeting and provide guidance to the applicant on the
major issues associated with the project.
Attached for Reference:
Exhibit A -Site Location/Zoning
Exhibit B -Review Memo from S.E.H.
Exhibit C -1998 Site Plan
Exhibit D -Site Grading, Utility and Paving Plan (Sheets 1-5)
5775 WAYZATA BOULEVARD. SUITE 555 ST. LOUIS PARK. MINNESOTA 554 1 6
PHONE 6 1 2-595-9636 FAX 6 1 2-595-9837 E-MAIL NACU WINTERNET.COM
ISSUES
The grading plan indicates that the proposed building footprint contains 59,800
square feet and the parking lot has been designed to provide for 299 parking stalls
with 6 stalls designated as handicap accessible. The building footprint is
approximately 10,100 square .feet larger than the building size indicated on the
original site plan (49,700 square feet). To accommodate a larger building, the
footprint has been increased from the original 100 x 497' footprint to the 100 x 598'
proposed footprint. The number of parking spaces has been reduced from the
original 332 stalls to 297 parking stalls. The increased size of the building coupled
with the decrease in parking stalls is problematic due to the following factors:
^ The existing mall facility is not able to accommodate the parking demand that
has been generated to date.
^ The proposed parking is about 2 stalls short of the minimum requirement.
^ There is not sufficient area remaining to provide for required screening and
landscaping.
2. The larger footprint has further restricted drive aisles and based upon utilizing
standard templates, the turning radius is insufficient for truck traffic within the access
drive located at the northwest corner of the building. Truck turning movements will
not clear the northwest earner of the building if vehicles are parked in the stalls
shown along the north property line.
3. The plan proposes to utilize a similar drive aisle/parking arrangement on the north
(back) side of the new building as is currently in place for the outlet mall. The plan
indicates parallel parking spaces along the edge of the parking lot with cement pads
for trash dumpsters. The experience with the existing mall is that this parking
arrangement/drive aisle does not work. Based upon several site inspections, the
parallel parking spaces are utilized for the storage of delivery containers, boxes,
pallets, extra trash containers, garbage and refuse and angle parking. Trash
dumpsters are often not located on the dumpster pads, are not screened and are
often insufficient to hold the trash, recycling and freight used by the retail tenants.
The result is that the drive aisle is compromised in that vehicles/boxes/merchandise
crates are parked/located in the drive aisle either alongside of the building, in
designated parking stalls and outside of the dumpster locations. This situation is
serious because it impedes traffic flow and could block access for emergency
vehicles. The Albertville Fire Department has cited this matter as an issue as well.
4. The building footprint and parking lot take up nearly the entire area of Lot 1 leaving
little room for required landscaping and screening. It is anticipated that the City
Engineer will seek to incorporate additional turn lanes and wider drive aisle widths
which will take up even more of the little remaining areas for landscaping/screening.
Screening along the north side of the building (parking lot, dumpsters and
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mechanical equipment areas) should be provided as well as landscaping along the
east side of the building. Consideration should be given to the installation of trees
within the drive islands and foundation plantings near to the building, to provide
some degree of landscaping for the site.
5. The plan indicates that a 20' wide sidewalk area will be located along the front
(south side) of the building and a 10' wide sidewalk is proposed along the east side
of the building. There are no provisions for sidewalks to provide pedestrian links
between the existing buildings and the proposed building. At a minimum, a sidewalk
should be installed along the east side of the north/south access drive (located on
the west side of the proposed building) along with a sidewalk on the south side of
the Ralph Lauren shop to connect the two retail areas. For safety reasons, a 3'
raised concrete stoop should be located along the north and east sides of the
building to protect people utilizing the merchandise/employee entrance doors. The
doors at the existing outlet mall open directly into drive lanes and offer no protection
to people utilizing the entrances. Additionally, the revised Park and Trail
Comprehensive Plan calls fora 5' concrete sidewalk to be installed adjacent to
CSAH 19 as part of the Albertville trail system.
6. The plan indicates one parking lot access on the south side of the lot and the use of
the existing freight driveway located on the west side of Lot 1 as the parking
circulation plan. The freight driveway is located about 160' east of the main parking
lot entrance to the existing mall. Traffic is extremely congested at the existing
parking lot entrance and the use of the freight driveway will likely exacerbate the
situation, which will be repeated at this access.
7. The Planning Report and follow-up memorandum from Liz Stockman {dated August
6 and November 18, 1998 respectively) outline the issues identified at that time of
the original outlet mall site plan review that are relevant and/or directly associated to
the subject site:
a. Site plan must show locations of all trash/recycling containers and the means by
which they will be screened. Given the 8'8" width of the trash containers, the 25'
rear access drive does not allow enough space for screening which still allowing
the passing of vehicles and use of employee parking spaces when a delivery
truck is unloading. The access drive should be widened.
b. Site plan must be revised to show a 20' easement along the entire frontage of Lot
1, adjacent to the CSAH 19 right-of-way to accommodate a future 10' trail. This
will affect the parking lot layout of the future expansion area on Lot 1. The
parking arrangement for this future phase must be revised, although it may abut
the required 20' easement.
c. The future expansion area on Lot 1 must also be revised to indicate better
circulation for trucks to rear loading areas. Trucks should not share the main
driveway into this portion of the development, as they likely could not make some
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of the turns shown. It is suggested that the rear driveway of the future
development be connected to the rear loading area driveway behind the adjacent
building to be constructed in phase one. A second outlet for trucks should be
provided which does not require use of the main driveway.
d. Detailed elevation drawings have not been submitted to NAG showing exact
building heights, designs, and materials. The elevation drawings should also
include signage details as appropriate.
e. Parking stalls are lengthened to 20 feet and parking aisles are reduced to 24 feet
to comply with the City Zoning Ordinance.
f. The landscape plan is revised to provide additional screening of side and rear
building areas.
9. Issues identified by the City Engineer in the attached memo from S.E.H. dated
September 5, 2000.
ACTION REQUESTED
The Planning Commission is requested to review the Engineering Plans, comments
from the City Engineer and the issues identified herein and provide feedback to the
applicant. The site plan review should be continued to the October 11, 2000 Planning
Commission meeting to allow the applicant to provide the required submittals for review.
All of the required submittals for site plans identified herein shall be submitted for review
of the City Engineer, City Attorney, City Fire Department, City Building Inspections,
Wright County Highway Department and City Planner by no later than September 18,
2000, to be considered at the October 11, 2000, Planning Commission meeting.
pc: Mike Couri, Pete Carlson, Wayne Stark, Kevin Mealhouse, Chad Cichos, Virgil
Hawkins, Jim Povich, Terry Herman, JMJ Properties Inc.
Jim Morse and Steve Smallbone
JMJ Properties Inc.
107 Sinclair Drive
Muskegon, MI 49441
Virgil Hawkins
Wright County Engineer
1901 Highway 25 North
Buffalo, MN 55313
Terry Herman
John Oliver and Associates, Inc.
580 Dodge Avenue
Elk River, MN 55330
Jim Povich
Mn/DOT
3725 12t" Street North
St. Cloud, MN 56303
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OFFICIAL ZONING MAP
^ A-1, Agricultural Rural ® R-6, Residential High Density ® B-W, Business Warehouse
^ A-2, Agricultural Transitional ® R-7, Special Purpose High Density ^ I-1, Light Industrial
^ R-1A, Low Density Single Family ^ R-8, Mixed Housing ® I-1A, Limited Industrial
^ R-1, Single Family ® R-MH, Manufactured Housing Residential^ I-2, General Industrial
® R-2, Single & Two Family ^ B-1, Neighborhood Business ^ PUD, Planned Unit Development
® R-3, Single & Two-Family ^ B-2, Limited Business ^ P/I, Pub(icllnst~tutional
® R-4, Low Density Multiple Family ^ B-3, Highway Commercial ^ S, Shoreland Overlay
^ R-5, Medium Density Multiple Family ^ B-4, General Business ^ W, Wetland Overlay
CITY OF ALBERTVILLE - WRIGHT COUNTY -MINNESOTA
6-15-99