The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutA001 - Council Action Summary dated March 27, 2012 COUNCIL ACTIONSUMMARY Meeting Date: 3127112 Agenda Item #: Comments SUBJECT: Letter from Chris Theisen dated March 21, 2012, Requesting to Add a Category to the Minimum Off-Street Parking Requirements of the Municipal Code for"Farm/Home Store" ACTION TAKEN: Referred to staff. MOTION BY: Wacha SECOND BY: Goodman VOTING AYE: Davis, Goodman, Orazem, Szopinski, Wacha VOTING NAY: None ABSENT: Larson By: Diane Voss, City Clerk Copy to: Steve Osguthorpe, Planning &Housing Director e. r;� :- G: � `` �e C t• I ! Theisen's City Council Meeting 3/27/12 Referral bobanncamp, tom,jlarson101, matthew, Chris Theisen to: dvoss,jeremyndavis, pforazem, torfinseth, 03/26/2012 11:48 AM vszopinski Mayor and City Council Members, It is my understanding from City Clerk Diane Voss that you have in your packets for Tuesday's council meeting a request from Theisen's Home-Farm-Auto to refer back the city a review to either reduce the parking requirements for retail in general or an additional category be added (Farm/Home store)to the Minimum Off-Street Parking requirements. I have included a copy of my letter so I will not go into great detail at this time. Not every zoning application fits every scenario. What might have been considered best practice at 4.5 to 1 for mass merchants like Lowe's,Target, or Wal-Mart certainly doesn't fit everyone. I believe the time is right for the City of Ames to review the parking requirements. I have had conversations with Steve Osguthorpe, Planning& Housing Director, and he is aware of the issue we are trying to address. We look forward to working with the City of Ames to find an agreeable parking requirement. In this time where every business, university, and government entity are considering all "green" alternatives it seems only natural that this would be a fit. The City of Ames website says "There is a growing movement in the Ames community to promote conservation of limited resources as a means to achieving a greater global good —a more sustainable future." Keeping permeable surfaces in place when not necessary to a business seems to be consistent with the growing movement vs. overbuilding a concrete parking lot. I hope that you would consider a referral with a motion to second to allow the City of Ames to review the requirement. Before tomorrow night's meeting I welcome any conversation you have on the topic by calling my cell number 563/590-2033. Thank You, 74a� Co-Owner/VP Operations Theisen's Home-Farm-Auto 6201 Chavenelle Road Dubuque, lA 52002-9692 563/556-4738 X212 chris@theisens.com visit us at www.theisens.com Parking letter to City Council.docx . f March 21,2012 Honorable Mayor&City Council City of Ames 515 Clark Avenue Ames, Iowa 50010 RE: Request to Add a Category to Table 29.406(2)the Zoning Ordinance Honorable Mayor&City Council: Theisen's Is In the process of adding 37,500 square feet to our current 51,130 square foot store for a total store size of 88,630 square feet. The original store had a parking requirement of 4.5 spaces per thousand square feet for a total requirement of 230 parking spaces(and 237 actual spaces were constructed), The 4.5 per thousand is a requirement for"Retail and Shopping Centers"over 50,000 square feet in size. Based on the 4.5 requirement Theisen's would have to add 169 parking spaces for the proposed 37,500 square foot expansion. Theisen's corporate standard for parking is 2.5 spaces per thousand which for the completed 88,630 square foot store would require 222 spaces. Based on our corporate standard and our true need for parking the Ames store already has sufficient parking for the current store and the expansion. The expenditure of$300,000+for additional parking and hard surface is not in the best interests of environment or Theisen's. The Ames store typically has an average of 50-75 spaces in use at any one time. On the busiest days it will still typically be less than 150 spaces in use. Theisen's does not have the post-Thanksgiving/Christmas parking use that would require the additional spaces. Theisen's does not need 4-5 times our normal day to day parking needs. We are requesting either a review to reduce the parking requirements for retail in general or an additional category be added to the Minimum Off-Street Parking Requirements-Table 29.406(2)of the municipal code. This category would be"Farm/Home Store"and we would request a standard of 2.5 spaces per thousand. This would be more than other similar categories In the Ames Code"Display Stores" and"Wholesale Trade"that require 2.0 per thousand. Our business is more similar to those uses and will have similar customer parking needs. We requested a parking variance from the City of Ames Zoning Board of Adjustment. On 2/13/12 we were turned down by the Board as the Board found that the preferred method of addressing this issue was through a text amendment for a parking standard appropriate to our use and customer needs. Not every zoning application fits every scenario. What might have been considered best practice at 4.5 to 1 for mass merchants like Lowe's,Target,or Wal-Mart certainly doesn't fit everyone. We feel with our proven track record In 20 markets in Iowa this parking ratio is out of line for our type of business. It puts undue pressure on us to come up with unwarranted up-front parking building costs and over development is detrimental to the environment. We fully understand if our business needs the extra parking spaces that it would be in our best interest,probably before the city gets any feedback,to add additional parking spaces. Otherwise we would only be hampering our own business. We feel 100%confident we won't need the extra 169 spaces.In this time where every city,county,state,and university are considering all"green"alternatives it seems only natural that this would be a fit. We have studied the issue in detail for our Ames store and compared the parking requirements with our other stores. In the 20 markets we are in we don't have another standard as high as Ames 4.5 to 1.Our newest store we opened in 2011 in Indianola we were granted a 3 to 1 variance or 196 spaces for our 65,000 sf store.Coralville was built in 2010 and we were granted a 3 to 1 variance or 271 spaces for our 101,250 sf store. Our store in Dubuque has 87,000 sf. The store is in a PUD district and was granted 3 to 1 variance for parking. The store has a total of 220 parking spaces and this is allowed by separating the.uses of warehouse,auto,and office space,This calculates to 2.53 spaces per thousand for the 87,000 sf store. It's in a PUD where the Dubuque's view is that Theisen's is only limiting themselves because of parking. The Dubuque store has the highest sales volume store in the company. Sales volume of Ames is anticipated to be 213 of Dubuque's in 2012. We respectfully ask you refer this matter back to the Planning and Zoning Staff for a recommendation to add a category to the parking requirements table. We appreciate your attention to this matter. If you have any questions or concerns,please feel free to call me at 563- 556-4738 X212 or email me at chris@theisens.com. Sind U' . Chris Theisen Owner/Vice President Operations Theisen's Home-Farm-Auto Referral: Theisen's Letter Dated March 21, 2012 Diane R Voss to: Steve Osguthorpe 03/28/2012 02:57 PM - Bcc: Cindy L Hollar 4s i. Theisen's.032712.pdf L'.Yv Theisen's Letter dated March 21, 2012.pdf Diane Voss, City Clerk/Records Manager P. O. Box 811 Ames, Iowa 50010 (515) 239-5105