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CITY OF OURTOWN, FLORIDA
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
FOR MEETING OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2007
SUBJECT: |
CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL OF A SITE DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE EXPANSION OF THE CLAY COURTHOUSE, LOCATED AT 825 ORANGE AVENUE NORTH. THE SITE DEVELOPMENT PLAN INCLUDES A VARIANCE TO INCREASE THE MINIMUM HEIGHT OF THE STRUCTURE AND A VARIANCE TO REDUCE THE NUMBER OF PARKING SPACES REQUIRED.
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APPLICANT: |
Spillis Candela, DMJM 800 Douglas Entrance Coral Gables, FL 33134
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OWNER: |
Clay County Board of County Commissioners 825 Orange Avenue North Green Cove Springs, FL 32043
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PROPERTY LOCATION: |
825 Orange Avenue North
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FILE NO.: |
2005-PZ-09
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PARCEL NO.: |
17620-000-00
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CURRENT ZONING: |
P-SP, Public Semi-Public
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FUTURE LAND USE DESIGNATION:
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P-SP, Public Semi-Public
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SURROUNDING LAND USE: |
A combination of governmental, institutional, commercial and single family land uses
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STAFF COMMENTS:
The Clay County Board of County Commissioners has submitted an application for a Site Development Plan approval for the expansion of the Clay County Courthouse. The Courthouse is proposed to be expanded to the south, with the addition to be located on a portion of the existing south parking lot. The existing courthouse is approximately 75,865 s.f. and the proposed expansion would add 86,756 s.f. to the existing courthouse. Initially, 67,077 s.f. would be occupied and an additional 19,679 s.f. would be constructed as shell space. The expanded courthouse facility would be a total of 162,621 s.f. The Planning and Zoning Board approved the two (2) variances requested by Clay County for the courthouse expansion, one for the reduction in the number of parking spaces and the second for an increase in the maximum height allowed. Section 98-142 (d)
of the Green Cove Springs Municipal Code contains a matrix for the minimum number of required parking spaces. Government Offices are required to have one (1) space per 200 s.f of gross floor area. Courthouses are not specifically identified. Based on that requirement, the expanded courthouse would be required to have 813 parking. The variance request is to have the requirement reduced to one (1) space per 370 s.f. of gross floor area and the construction of the parking spaces to be phased with the development. The parking spaces that would be allocated to the courthouse could not have been used for any previous development of the Clay County Administrative/Judicial Complex. Based on the one (1) space per 370 s.f. of gross floor area, 439 parking spaces would be required, plus 9 handicapped spaces.
The County proposes to provide the parking spaces in the following manner:
Courthouse Lot (prior to issuance of CO) |
71 parking spaces |
Judges parking behind Courthouse (prior to issuance of CO) |
7 parking spaces |
Lot "A" - Sheriff's Dept. (prior to removal of existing courthouse parking lot) |
39 parking spaces |
Lot "D" - Palmetto Ave. (prior to removal of existing courthouse parking lot) |
21 parking spaces |
Lot "E" - Palmetto Ave. (prior to removal of existing courthouse parking lot) |
167 parking spaces |
Phase 1 additional parking (at issuance of CO) |
41 parking spaces |
Phase 2 additional parking (2 years after the issuance of CO) |
40 parking spaces |
Phase 3 Shell Space (at issuance of CO for the shell space) |
53 parking spaces |
The maximum height of the structure was approved by the Planning and Zoning Board to allow an increase from 35 feet to 56'4" for the addition and 132'10" the clock tower. The existing courthouse building is 52'4" and the increase in height will allow the expansion to match up with the existing courthouse.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION:
The staff recommends site approval with the following conditions:
1 |
All new utilities shall be underground. |
2 |
Two 5-inch conduits for electrical service shall be located under the parking lot running from Houston Street to the transformer pad for the new building. |
3 |
The applicant shall coordinate the location of the electrical pad with the Electrical Department. |
4 |
The applicant shall be responsible for the relocation of all high voltage electrical lines that are impacted by the construction of the courthouse. |
5 |
In Lot "A" (Sheriff's Dept.), shall be paved prior to the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy. |
6 |
In Lot "E", trees along Palmetto Avenue and Houston Street shall be changed to holly trees. |
7 |
In Lot "D", the landscape island needs to be relocated to meet the requirement of an island for every 10 parking spaces. |
8 |
Holly trees need to be located along Houston Street. |
9 |
In Lots "D" and "E", the electrical service for the street lights need to be coordinated with the Electrical Department. |
10 |
A new 8-inch sewer line and new sanitary sewer manhole needs to be installed along Palmetto Avenue to provide service to the expanded courthouse. |
11 |
A new 10-inch water line needs to be installed along Palmetto Avenue to provide service to the expanded courthouse, unless the applicant can justify a smaller line, without compromising fire protection to any buildings within the Clay County Administrative/ Judicial Complex. |
12 |
All landscaped areas shall be irrigated with installation of backflow preventers. |
13 |
The improvements to Houston Street as shown on Civil Engineer Clark Vargas' Site Plan sheets G-12 and G-13, dated 06/14/05, must be installed no later than two (2) years after issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy. |
14 |
The applicant shall relocate the fire hydrant at the southeast corner of Houston Street and Palmetto Avenue during the Houston Street improvements. |
15 |
The applicant shall review the location of the landscape islands with City Staff to minimize the removal of any large oak trees. |
16 |
The applicant shall construct a 5-foot wide sidewalk along the frontage of all parking lots, courthouse lot, Lots "D" & "E". |
17 |
There shall be no occupied areas above the 4thfloor. |
18 |
A copy of the SJRWMD shall be submitted to the City. |
19 |
The Applicant shall provide storage of stormwater runoff on site. The site plan approval regarding drainage is subject to review and approval of the final design calculations provided by the County and a permit being issued by the SJRWMD. The City reserves the right to require Pre/Post of the "significant storm event" of any recurrence equal to or below the SJRWMD requirement. |
20 |
The City is requesting the County provide $75,000 in assistance towards the construction of 2.3 million dollar stormwater project on Center Street to relieve the currently overloaded stormwater system on Cypress Street. Construction of this new stormwater system will prevent future flooding of the upper Cypress Street basin and Center Street basin. The construction of the new system will allow the City to be compliant with Chapter 86 of the Municipal Code and the concurrency requirements of Chapter 94 of the Municipal Code, specifically the level of service standard of major drainage facilities, the 100 year return period storm/24 hour duration. |
21 |
The applicant shall pay all electrical, water and sewer fees, i.e. transformer fee, water/sewer trust fund fees, water connection fee, water meter fees, etc. as required by City Code. |
22 |
The County shall submit written approval for all of the above site conditions and variance approvals for parking reductions and height increases. |
23 |
The County shall comply with the landscape requirements of Section 98-233 of the Municipal Code and shall resubmit a landscape plan for staff approval that meets the landscape code, including the 10 foot landscape buffer requirement along all public right of ways. |
24. |
Legal Opinion |
25. |
Finance Opinion |
26. |
Manager's Opinion |
MOTION: |
To approve the site development plan for 2005-PZ-09, with compliance with the conditions listed in the staff recommendations. The site plan includes the approval in the reduction in the parking requirements and the increase in height of structures for the Clay County Courthouse Expansion. |
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