Title
Resolution to Approve Zaragon Place 2 Site Plan and Development Agreement, 500 East William Street (CPC Recommendation: Approval - 9 Yeas and 0 Nays)
Memorandum
Attached is a resolution to approve the Zaragon Place 2 Site Plan and Development Agreement. Approval of this resolution will allow for the construction of a 14-story mixed-use building that includes retail space on the ground floor, 99 apartment units and 40 off-street parking spaces.
The City Planning Commission, at its meeting of June 15, 2010, recommended approval of this request subject to addressing outstanding comments from the Systems Planning Unit and the Fire Marshal. The petitioner has addressed these issues by 1) moving the proposed fire hydrant closer to the building's Fire Department connection, as requested by the Fire Marshal; 2) agreeing to mitigate the development's impacts to the sanitary sewer system by providing 24 footing drain disconnects upstream of the project, consistent with utility modeling results; and 3) providing a more detailed traffic impact statement.
Petition Summary:
· The Site Plan proposes a 14-story, 96,685-square foot mixed use building on a vacant site that previously contained a one-story bank. The proposed development includes ground floor retail space facing Thompson and a residential lobby facing East William.
· A driveway off East William leads to a ramp inside the building to access one parking space on the ground floor and 39 spaces on the second and third floors. Forty bicycle parking spaces are also provided on the third floor in a secure enclosure.
· On the fourth through fourteenth floors, 99 apartments are proposed, consisting of eleven (11) 4-bedroom unit, sixty-six (66) 2-bedroom units and twenty-two (22) 1-bedroom units. The apartments will come fully furnished and are intended for university students.
· Residential use floor area premiums for the D1 zoning district have been used to increase the normal 400% floor area ratio maximum to 681.5%. All conditions and prerequisites for the residential use floor area premium option have been addressed, including achieving a minimum of two points under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) energy and atmosphere credit and each sleeping room having at least one window facing directly to the outdoors.
· The proposed development is intended to be a sister to the existing Zaragon Place development at 619 East University Avenue. The proposed materials and architectural style of Zaragon Place 2 are almost identical to the East University development. The differences between the two developments are mainly because of the different shape of the two parcels and the offset proposed at the top of the streetwall, which is now required by the Zoning Ordinance.
· A development agreement has been prepared to address sanitary sewer flow mitigation (footing drain disconnects), off-site tree planting for landmark tree mitigation, parkland contribution and documentation of LEED points.
Attachments: June 15, 2010 Planning Staff Report
June 15, 2010 Planning Commission Minutes
Zaragon Place 2 Citizen Participation Report
July 22, 2010 Draft Development Agreement
Staff
Prepared by: Alexis DiLeo, City Planner
Reviewed by: Wendy L. Rampson, Planning Manager
Sumedh Bahl, Community Services Administrator
Body
Whereas, The Democritus Associates, LLC has requested site plan approval in order to develop Zaragon Place 2, a site plan to construct a 14-story mixed use development with retail space, apartments and off-street parking;
Whereas, A development agreement has been prepared to address sanitary sewer flow mitigation, off-site planting for landmark tree mitigation, parkland contribution and documentation of LEED energy and atmosphere points;
Whereas, The Ann Arbor City Planning Commission, on June 15, 2010, recommended approval of the petition subject to addressing outstanding staff comments, and those issues have been resolved;
Whereas, The development would comply with the D1 Downtown Core/State Street Character Overlay/Primary Street frontage zoning established pursuant to the requirements of Chapter 55, and with all applicable local, state, or federal laws, ordinances, standards and regulations;
Whereas, The development would limit the disturbance of natural features to the minimum necessary to allow a reasonable use of the land, applying criteria for reviewing a natural features statement of impact set forth in Chapter 57; and
Whereas, The development would not cause a public or private nuisance and would not have a detrimental effect on the public health, safety and welfare;
RESOLVED, That City Council approve the Development Agreement, substantially in the form of that attached, dated July 22, 2010;
RESOLVED, That the Mayor and City Clerk are authorized and directed to sign the Development Agreement after approval as to substance by the City Administrator and approval as to form by the City Attorney; and
RESOLVED, That City Council approve the Zaragon Place 2 Site Plan dated June 29, 2010 upon the condition that 1) the Development Agreement is signed by all parties, and 2) all terms of the Development Agreement are satisfied.