The city Form Based Code Committee on Thursday addressed a proposed hotel and a tricky parking lot during their Thursday meeting.
Developers made a request to drop required parking spaces from 74 to 67 and to change it from a parking garage into a surface parking lot for a proposed Cowart Street hotel. In addition to this, they made another request to get relief from perimeter planting on the west side of the lot, and relief from one of the ADA spaces adjacent to the building.
Developers earlier said deep foundations were needed due to the weight of the multi-story structure and the poor bearing capacity of the soils. Drilling began on the deep foundations and was about 90 percent completed when drillers began to notice a strong petroleum odor.’
The project is looking to update an existing parking lot (that is currently “ripped up”) and a proposed structure on the site. The site is close to several CARTA bus routes as well, which is something the FBCC considered. The developer said that the original plan was to create a parking garage on the existing lot, but that it had to be changed to a surface-only lot after environmental hazards made it impossible to build a garage there.
The property sits next to an existing lot, and so acquiescing to current development codes when the existing lot was not made with those in mind would be difficult and take away parking spaces, it was stated.
”If we put that landscape buffer, we lose 26 parking spaces,” the applicant said. “The second issue was the landscape island on the east side of the handicap spaces. If we were to shift it east, we’d shift it onto two spaces and those spaces would have to go farther away from the building, which isn’t helpful for those who are handicapped.”
The applicant told the committee that there is also off-site parking to make up the difference between rooms and available parking spaces. He said that because it is a downtown hotel, there is not a requirement to have an exact 1:1 parking space to room ratio.
A board member said, “The applicant has found offsite parking to suffice the difference. The previous zoning did not have parking requirements. To revitalize certain spots and fill these vacant lots, a lot of people are searching for offsite parking to suffice for the needs of the site.
After some discussion, the committee approved the project with the recommendations asked for by the applicant.
Another developer asked for permission to add a fifth floor to a new Manufacturers Road apartment complex. Allen Jones of Asa Engineering represented the developers, and said that the property is actually split into two different zoning types, and that the L-shaped building would be four stories in one section and six in another if kept as-is.
The idea is that instead of an awkward four and awkward six, we can just do it at five,” Mr. Jones said. “It fits the urban context of the area a little better.”
The member of a nearby Manufacturer’s road HOA said he supported building the new apartments, but asked for what he called “consistency.” He asked for the committee to keep the building at a split four and six story design. He also voiced concerns about a taller building possibly blocking sunlight and views, and thus making other residents feel cramped or shut in.
The Committee noted that there are three properties that will eventually all be developed, and this application was only for one of those three properties. The application to allow the building to be a uniform five stories was approved.