PRELIMINARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR LAKE POINTE PCD

COMMERCIAL DESIGN STANDARD REVIEW

This project has been reviewed for compliance with the Commercial Design Standards which have been developed for the City of Lawrence, but have not yet been adopted into the City Code.

The Commercial Design Standards apply to features and issues in both the preliminary and final development stages in the development process. Only standards that apply to the Preliminary Development Plan have been reviewed for this project at this time using the Commercial Design Manual Design Review Checklist, attached. The following report summarizes the review, with actions required to meet the Design Standards in bold print.

Natural Features.

This property is a fairly flat area covered with grassy vegetation. There are no significant natural topographic, geographic, or vegetative features to integrate into the design or protect on the site. Therefore the natural features portion of the Commercial Design Standards is not applicable to this project.

Stormwater & Site Drainage.

These guidelines can easily be met with this project. Open air drainageways are being provided. The detention basins are located where they will serve as focal points; however, the plan does not indicate the landscaping treatment that will establish the drainage basins as focal points for the area. The Commercial Design Standards require native vegetation for drainageways. The drainage swale and detention basins should be landscaped with native trees, shrubs, and/or grasses to create an aesthetically pleasing and properly functioning drainage system. These areas will not be fenced.

Streetscape & Neighborhood Transition.

The development is fairly linear but avoids being strictly linear. The narrow shape of the property places restrictions on the building layout. The Commercial Design Standards sets regulations for the treatment of street frontage. The buildings are designed to front on Lake Pointe Drive.  Since the buildings are within 165’ of the public right of way, it is not necessary to have buildings along 25% of the street frontage. 60% of the street frontage must be occupied by decorative architectural walls, landscaped entryway signage or features, focal point and/or site amenities. There is approximately 800’ of street frontage. 480’ must be occupied as listed above. The proposed preliminary development plan provides 120’ for each drainage basin or focal point and 20’ of signage landscaping at the intersection of Lake Point Drive and Clinton Parkway. This signage landscaping should be increased to 120’. This would result in 360’ of treatment along the street frontage. An additional 120’ should have one of the acceptable treatments: decorative architectural walls, site amenities, landscaped features or focal points. In total, 220’ of landscaping along the street frontage should be provided.

The Commercial Design Standards require that buildings on corner lots frame and complete the intersection. The building on the corner lot is a bank with a drive though. The current placement of the building does not enhance the intersection. It is proposed that the building be rotated so the view from the intersection is more pleasing. In this orientation, it may be possible for the bank and the retail uses to share parking spaces. The site will not have pad site buildings or free-standing kiosks, so these standards are not applicable.

Neighborhood Compatibility

Transitions with adjacent development are weak with this design. The two adjacent areas are the residential area to the west and Clinton Parkway to the south. There is not enough space on the site to allow the preferred transition methods listed in the Standards between Lot 1 and the neighboring residential area so more traditional transition and screening methods such as fencing and landscaping must be used. The fence uses architectural design features such as ‘mortar columns’ to create an interesting face.

Neighborhood Connectivity

A goal of the Design Standards is to integrate the commercial development into the neighborhood rather than to separate it. The fence should be partially transparent to provide screening, buffering, and integration. This fence treatment should continue along Clinton Parkway. Clinton Parkway is a major corridor and gateway into the City, and care should be taken to create aesthetically pleasing features along it. The vegetated drainage swale, coupled with a fence with attractive partially transparent architectural features would be preferred to the fence alone.

The pedestrian connections into the commercial development, including bicycle access, should be clearly defined and continuous. The connections and accessways must be defined with pavement markings or other treatments.

Vehicular Access and Parking Areas.

The site is consistent with the existing & anticipated street system. No access is taken from an arterial street. A clear system of continuous main drive aisles exist; however, they are located along building facades with primary customer entryways. Parking spaces have been provided along the main drive aisles to separate them from the entryways. The parking areas as proposed are acceptable; however, at this point in time there are insufficient parking spaces provided. A revised plan should be submitted which provides the required number of parking spaces. This plan will be reviewed for compliance with the Design Standards.

Pedestrian Access and Amenities.

Internal pedestrian walkways are not 8’ wide. There are walkways along the building facades, although it is not evident from the plan if weather protection has been provided as required. Access points or pedestrian breaks have not been provided in fences of greater than 150’ in length. The ADA accessible connections are acceptable. The focal points are within easy walking distance of the buildings, although pedestrian walkways are lacking to the focal points. The plan does not show that pedestrian walkways have pedestrian-scaled lighting. Lighting will be addressed at the final development plan stage. The pedestrian walkways should be increased to at least 8’ in width. Walkways should be provided along both sides of the drive entrances, to allow pedestrian access to the focal points.  Weather protection, such as awnings or roof overhangs, should be shown on the plan for walkways within 30’ of a store entry. The pedestrian walkways should be extended through the parking lot to assist in pedestrian way-finding. Contrasting materials or markings should define the pedestrian accessway in the parking areas. A pedestrian accessway should be provided to the neighborhood to the west and to the public walking path along Clinton Parkway.

Pedestrian Amenities

According to the formula in the Standards: 1% of Lot Area = 1% of Building Area, this proposed development should have 5833 SF of public space. The breakdown of public space per Lot is: Lot 1-667SF; Lot2-980SF; and Lot3-1099SF.  This public, or open space, requirement is met with this plan.

The intersection of Clinton Parkway and Lake Pointe Drive should provide a focal point for the area. In addition to the signage that is planned for this location there should be one of the following: architectural feature that is between 25’ and 45’ tall, public art or sculpture of visible size and scale, fountains or other water feature, public plaza, or landscape feature.

Outdoor Storage, Sales and Service Areas.

Trash collection has been designed near the residential area for Lot 1 and between the bank and the retail parking area for Lot 3. If possible, these trash collection areas should be moved to the back of the site to reduce their visibility and impact on the site. There will be no outdoor storage or seasonal sales on this site. Screening materials must be of equal quality as that of the primary design and landscaping.

Landscaping Screening and Walls.

There is an inadequate mixture of plant types. The Design Standards require that 1/3 of the plant varieties must be evergreen varieties. 

Site landscaping

The Design Standards require foundation landscaping. A landscaped area of at least 8’ should be provided next to the buildings. At least 1 tree is required per 40 linear feet of building frontage along any façade of a large retail building that faces a pedestrian walkway or public street.  These trees may be clustered and located in landscaped areas directly abutting the building. The area adjacent to the driveways should be planted in ornamental trees, flowering shrubs and perennials and ground cover. This landscaping shall create corner features without obstructive view lines.

Internal pedestrian walkways should feature adjoining landscaped areas. It may be necessary to increase the size of the parking lot islands to accommodate the pedestrian walkway and the required landscaping.

Parking Area Landscaping.

Parking areas shall be landscaped and screened from view of street ROWs with at least one of the following: masonry wall, berm, hedge, landscape plantings or combination. The parking areas are satisfactorily screened.

Fences and Walls

150’ of fence is the maximum allowed without a break. Architectural features, such as columns can be used to provide a break. The proposed fences meet this requirement. The Design Standards require that when fencing is used along a property line, the fencing material must be compatible with the building facades and shall be designed in a manner to create variety such as staggering the fence line and incorporating ‘windows’ or areas of transparency. Windows or areas of transparency should be provided in the fencing along the property lines to the west and south.

The Standards require breaks in the fence to allow required pedestrian connections to other developments or the perimeter of the site. Breaks in the fence should be provided to allow connections to the neighborhood to the west of Lot 1 and to the walkway to the south.

Summary

The proposed preliminary development plan is in conformance with much of the Commercial Design Standards. The shallowness of the site places some restrictions on the building and parking area placement.  The major areas needing improvement are landscaping (to create focal points, along building foundations and pedestrian walkways), fencing (to create visibility and promote a feeling of integration and compatibility with the neighborhood rather than separation), and pedestrian connectivity and accessways (connections to the neighborhood to the west and the walkway along Clinton Parkway to the south and marked pedestrian paths through the parking area) and the creation of a suitable focal point at the intersection of Clinton Parkway and Lake Pointe Drive.