75C - PH MORTIMER MIXED USE - Laserfiche WebLink

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SPR No. 2020-03/ VAR No. 2020-06/AA No. 2020-04 — 4ch and Mortimer Mixed -Use Development October 12, 2020 Page 8 composition of massing the project site; and/or a smaller building footprint that would reduce the building's interior floor area and individual unit sizes. The adjacent automotive repair and commercial space on Site B offers collective massing relief for the site. Although not part of the project, this parcel's relative size means that if redeveloped, it will always be to a lower building and massing scale than the proposed five -story structure on Site B. When viewed collectively, the amount of "stepback" or reduction in floor volume would exceed the required 85% of ground floor requirement and would be roughly comparable to the third floor stepback accomplished by the courtyard on Site A. Further, the Citywide Design Guidelines encourage new buildings to be compatible with surrounding character, including building style, form, size, materials, and roofline. Specifically, Chapter 8 (Downtown Development Guidelines), Section 8.6 encourages the height and scale of new buildings complement existing structures and provide a sense of human scale and proportion. As the two blocks are being developed together they're designed with appropriate congruity and diversity in both style and articulation. Both buildings rise with balanced "U-shaped" courtyard design facing Fourth Street and vary significantly with a two- story height variation. A two -block development where one block looks arbitrarily carved down by a forced stepback would present as an incompatible design and could cause an unbalanced composition of massing along Fourth Street, inconsistent with the architectural vernacular and intentions of the TZC. Conformance to Transit Zoning Code Development Standards The project has been designed to conform to the development standards in the Transit Zoning Code, with the exception of the proposed building and massing standards on Site B. Furthermore, with approval of the amendment application for the zone change on Site B, the project would comply with the allowable building types. A full description of conformance to development standards is provided in Exhibit 14 to this staff report. Onsite Parking The overall parking proposed for the project is 422 spaces, including 394 residential stalls and 28 commercial visitor stalls. The proposed residential parking provides a ratio of 2.3 parking spaces per residential unit, with commercial parking provided at one space per 400 square feet of commercial area, which meets and exceeds the minimum requirements of the TZC. Both parking garages will provide vehicular gates separating available commercial parking spaces (e.g., guest, commercial, employee, etc.) from the residential parking areas. Vehicular access will be provided from Fifth Street by one right -turn only driveway west of Mortimer Street and one full access driveway east of Mortimer Street. The on -site circulation would provide safe access for vehicle -pedestrian traffic and the driveway would provide sufficient throating such that access to parking spaces is not impacted by internal vehicle queuing/stacking. 75C-343