07-24-2003 Regular Meeting and Public Hearing of the La Porte Zoning Board of Adjustment

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Staff Report August 28, 2003 Special Exception Request #SE03-006 ' Requested 6v: Mr. Jack Phillips, owner Requested for: Reduction in the amount of required parking. Location: 1426 Sens Road 3.918 acres out of Outlots 341 & 342 Enoch Brinson Survey, A 5 Zonin : Business Industrial (BI) Bacimround: The Sens Road Office/Warehouse is proposed on 3.918 acres. Forty-four (44) lease spaces in 2 buildings (approximately 60,500 square feet). of warehousing with office space will be developed. On June 10 , Staff mailed and faxed written comments to the. developer's engineer about items that required changes. During review, the number of parking spaces required and parking spaces in the "landscape only" setback area did not meet the City's requirements. (Variance request V#03-003 discusses the "landscape only"' requirements.) Below, the City's parking requirements are discussed. Section 106-839 —Parking requirements are based on the occupant's use. Storage and warehousing require a minimum of 4 spaces plus 3 per 1,000 sq ft.. of office plus 1 per 1.5 non -office employees. This development is proposed with 60,500 square feet. Using the parking formula, this yields 4 + 3 (60) + 44 = 228 parking spaces. City code also requires 7 ADA accessible spaces for a total of 235 spaces. This assumes that all space will be utilized as office space. When an officetwarehouse development .occurs, .the developer is asked to provide the amount of office and warehousing on the site plan. This information is inputted into the equation to determine the exact amount of parking needed. In his August 5, 2003 letter, the applicant indicates that 120 sq ft of office and. approximately 1,200 square feet of warehouse space will be used; however, this information was not shown on the submitted site plan. The applicant supplied the City with this information when he applied for the Special Exception. On his site plan, -the applicant. does not use the City's parking formula, .but creates the following formula: minimum of 4 spaces plus 1 per 1, 000 sq ft of . office and 1 per 1.5 non -office employees. Using his formula, the applicant proposes six (6) spaces x 44 lease spaces + 7 ADA spaces which equal 264 parking spaces; however, the site plan only shows 214 spaces. This falls below the City's required parking and the applicant's formula. In addition, the site plan shows 33 spaces in the rear setback Parking in the setback is prohibited by the Zoning ordinance. The ordinance states that "landscaping only" is allowed in the setback when adjacent to a residential district. Using the City's parking standards, the submitted plans do not meet the . requirements. In accordance with Section 106-191 B (3), the applicant seeks