Aberdeen Street to Kildaire Road at Market Street, Southern Village
This proposal requests to modify an existing Special Use Permit Approved in 1996 and revised in 1998 in order to allow construction of either a hotel or a residential condominium in the block bounded by Aberdeen Street, Market Street to the west, Kildaire Road, and Market Street to the east.
The current SUP encompasses the Village center in Southern Village and incorporates residential, commercial and civic uses. The Special Use Permit as approved put limits on the percentage of each use. We would like to relax those limits so that the village center can grow in a more organic form and meet changing market demands and neighborhood preferences over time.
Four finding must be made by the Manager, Planning Board and Council in order to approve a Special Use permit. Those findings, and our rational for how we address them, are as follow:
These issues can generally be condensed down to traffic impacts, availability of public utilities, air, water and soil pollution, trash handling and affects such as noise and restricting access to air and light.
Additional traffic will likely be generated and will require a Transportation Impact Analysis to ensure that any off site impacts are mitigated. The main access into the village center is from hwy 15/501 onto Market Street. That intersection is signalized. The proposed development site itself has frontage on four streets in the village center – Aberdeen Street, Market Street on two sides, and Kildaire Road which allows multiple access points.
All public utilities are available at the perimeter or within the site.
The proposed building will be in an existing parking lot, so that increases in impervious surface and stormwater impacts will be small. Storm water management devices will be installed as needed.
Erosion Control measures will be installed prior to beginning construction to prevent sediment from leaving the construction area.
The refuse collection area is located within the building limits and therefore will have little impact on neighboring properties.
Site lighting will meet Town requirements. Impact of the proposed building on the adjacent buildings relative to shading and solar access has been evaluated and will be minimal.
This project complies with the standards of Chapter 4.5 of the LUMO, and meets all applicable provisions of Articles 3 and 5, and the applicable standards contained in Article 6, save for:
- a modification requested in the Floor Area Ratio
- a reduction in the solar setback
- a reduction of the minimum parking requirements.
All dimensional, design and development standards are in conformance with those stipulated in the LUMO except that we are asking for a reduction in the solar setback. The property abuts only rights of way and there are no private properties abutting the site. Building setbacks and height limitations are being met. We are requesting a modification to the floor area ratio to allow 148,000 sf of total floor area rather than the 39,321 sf permitted. Of the 148,000 sf being requested, 58,000 sf would be to accommodate structured and underground parking spaces. No environmentally sensitive site issues have been identified on the site.
The project will need a decrease in the minimum parking requirement. There are currently 73 parking spaces on site or on-street adjacent to the site which will be removed as part of this development. The new project would provide 147 spaces or an additional 74 spaces to the total that currently exist. We feel that because of the nature of Southern Village there will be a higher proportion of hotel guests or residents who will not need cars.
The project as approved and as well as the proposed modification will maintain or enhance the value of contiguous property.
The proposed hotel or residential condominium development would support the existing businesses in Southern Village and would act as another anchor in the village center. The original design for the village center included a building on this property, and the current program was developed through a community design workshop in 2007.
The project as originally approved, as well as the proposed modification, is developed in accordance with the general plans for physical development per the LUMO and Comprehensive Plan.
The proposed use, either a hotel or residential condominium, would be complementary to the existing uses in the district. The site does not abut single family residential property, but is buffered by commercial and mixed uses. Goals of the Comprehensive Plan call for concentrating commercial uses in and around existing commercial nodes, promoting transit oriented development, and increase employment opportunities for residents and satisfy local demand for commercial and retail services. The proposed hotel or residential use will satisfy all of these recommendations.