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Home My WebLink AboutA004 - Staff Report dated October 14, 2012 ITEM #: 3 DATE: 10/24/12 CITY OF AMES DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND HOUSING REPORT TO THE ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT DATE PREPARED: October 19, 2012 APPLICANT: Timothy R Grandon PROPERTY OWNER: Continue Care Real Estate Holdings, LLC ZONING: Highway-Oriented Commercial (HOC) ZONING OVERLAY DISTRICT: None REQUEST TO CONSIDER A SPECIAL USE PERMIT: To amend the 2007 Special Use Permit for the funeral home at 414 Lincoln Way to allow the addition of a cremator. PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The applicant wishes to add a cremator to the property at 414 Lincoln Way. It has been a funeral home since 2007 when the Zoning Board of Adjustment approved a Special Use Permit to allow that use. The applicant currently offers cremation services but must use facilities in other communities. APPLICABLE LAW: The laws applicable to this case file are as follows: Table 29.501(4)-5 of the Ames Municipal Code includes Funeral Facilities within the Institutional Use Categories. If further defines a Funeral Facility as "...providing for the preparation of the deceased for burial or cremation, the display of the deceased and the rituals connected therewith before burial or cremation, or the storage of human bodies prior to burial or cremation." It further explicitly states that this includes crematories, funeral homes, and mortuaries. Table 29.804(2) of the Ames Municipal Code lists uses that are allowed with the HOC Highway-Oriented Commercial zoning district and under whose authority approval can be granted. Funeral Facilities are permitted and require a Special Use Permit from the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Although the Board approved a Special Use Permit for this in 2007, the record shows that a crematorium was not a part of that proposal. In order to operate a crematorium at this location, the existing Special Use Permit must be amended. The funeral home has been in operation since 2007. Staff is not aware of any complaints or issues with this use operating at this location for the past five years. Therefore, the Board is asked to consider only those impacts resulting from the addition of the crematorium—not whether the funeral facility use is appropriate at this location. Ames Municipal Code Section 29.1503(4), establishes the criteria for reviewing a Special Use Permit and describes the finding of fact that the Zoning Board of Adjustment must address before a Special Use Permit can be granted. Ames Municipal Code Section 29.1503(4)(a): 1. General Standards. The Zoning Board of Adjustment shall review each application for the purpose of determining that each proposed use meets the following standards, and in addition, shall find adequate evidence that each use in its proposed location will: (i) Be harmonious with and in accordance with the general principles and proposals of the Land Use Policy Plan (LUPP). (ii) Be designed, constructed, operated and maintained so as to be harmonious and appropriate in appearance with the existing or intended character of the general vicinity and that such a use will not change the essential character of the area in which it is proposed. (iii) Not be hazardous or disturbing to existing or future uses in the same general vicinity. (iv) Be served adequately by essential public facilities and services such as highways, streets, police, and fire protection, drainage structures, refuse disposal, water and sewage facilities, and/or schools. (v) Not create excessive additional requirements at public cost for public facilities or services. (vi) Not involve uses, activities, processes, materials, and equipment or conditions of operation that will be detrimental to any person, property, or general welfare by reason of excessive production of traffic, noise, smoke, fumes, glare, or odors. (vii) Be consistent with the intent and purpose of the Zone in which it is proposed to locate such use. 2. Commercial Zone Standards. The Planning and Zoning Commission and the Zoning Board of Adjustment shall review each application for the purpose of determining that each proposed use in a commercial zone meets the "Commercial Zone Standards," set forth in Section 29.1503(4)(c), which are listed below, and shall find adequate evidence that each use in its proposed location will: (a) Be compatible with the potential commercial development and use of property planned to occur in the area. (b) Represent the sufficiently desirable need for the entire community that the 2 loss of commercial land is justifiable in relation to the benefit. (c) Be consistent with all other applicable standards in the zone. FINDINGS OF FACT & CONCLUSIONS: Staff makes the following findings of facts: General Standards FINDING 1. The Land Use Policy Plan (LUPP) map designates this site as Highway-Oriented Commercial (HOC). This is an area of the city characterized by commercial uses that are associated with strip development along major thoroughfares. FINDING 2. The applicant describes the proposed addition to accommodate the cremator in the attached site plan. The addition to the building will be in an unobtrusive location and be compatible with the existing structure. The south face of the addition will reuse existing lap siding. The east wall will be non-combustible concrete block. A crematory flue will extend above the roof line. Although the site plan shows it extending approximately 16 feet above grade, the actual height will be approximately 21 feet above grade. The height of this flue will be about one foot above the tallest part of the structure. FINDING 3. The applicant will need to obtain a construction permit from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The IDNR will issue a permit only after an ambient air quality assessment is made to determine the impacts of the proposed facility on surrounding air quality. While the applicant has provided staff with research reports of the emissions of the proposed cremator, IDNR reviews not absolute numbers but, rather, the impact on ambient air quality. FINDING 4. No public utility or infrastructure improvements will be needed. Existing private natural gas and electric service lines are adequate although an increased meter size might be needed. FINDING 5. The proposed use of the site will not generate excessive traffic, noise, or fumes in the area. The use of the cremator is not a public event and no additional traffic is anticipated. The facility currently draws traffic for viewings and services but no additional traffic is anticipated with the addition of the cremator. FINDING 6. The existing use of the site is allowed within the Highway-Oriented Commercial zoning district with a Special Use Permit. A cremator is a general accessory use to a funeral facility, as noted in the Use Tables of the Ames Municipal Code. Commercial Zone Standards FINDING 7.The applicant notes that the existing funeral home has operated at this location since 2007. The business hours of operation will be from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Sunday through Saturday. These hours are consistent with a commercially zoned area. 3 FINDING 8. The applicant notes that the business currently offers cremation services for clients. These services are performed at facilities an hour away by vehicle. By allowing these services at this location, the applicant can be more responsive to the needs of his clients. Cremation is chosen over fifty percent of the time for final disposition. CONCLUSION: Based on the staff's analysis and the findings above, staff finds that the General Standards of the Ames Municipal Code Section 29.1503(4)(a) and the Commercial Standards of Section 29.1503(4)(c) have been satisfied. ALTERNATIVES: 1 . The Zoning Board of Adjustment can approve the request to amend the Special Use Permit to allow a cremator in the existing funeral home facility at 414 Lincoln Way based upon the findings and conclusions of staff. 2. The Zoning Board of Adjustment can deny this request to amend the Special Use Permit to allow a cremator in the existing funeral home facility at 414 Lincoln Way if the Commission determines that this additional use does not comply with the criteria of Section 29.1503(4). 3. Action on this request can be postponed and referred back to City staff and/or the applicant for additional information. DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION: Based upon the Findings of Fact and Conclusions above, it is the recommendation of the Department of Planning and Housing that the Zoning Board of Adjustment approve Alternative #1 to amend the Special Use Permit to allow a cremator to the existing funeral home facility at 414 Lincoln Way. S:\PLAN_SHR\Council Boards Commission s\ZBA\Special Use Permits\414 Lincoln Way Funeral Home-10-24-12.docx 4 r o r, Subject { ey P Area 00 r. WNUU sN1NAIt R, Y Am Q x '^m r s � r ss � h. Location Map 414 Lincoln Way 0 45 90 180 Feet 5