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302 Yelm Ave Webb City of Yelm Community Development Department 105 Yelm Avenue West Yelm, WA 98597   Pre-Application Meeting November 12, 2014 These comments are preliminary in nature and are not intended to represent final comments and or requirements for the City of Yelm. Until a complete application is made, the Community Development Department can only attempt to inform the applicant of general requirements as they appear in the form presented by the applicant at the time of pre-submission. Proponent: Renee Webb Project Proposal: Convert building to leased office and community space Project Location: 302 Yelm Avenue East Parcel Number: 64420901600 Property Background and Characteristics The property houses the old Masonic Lodge, which is currently utilized as a meeting place for Gordon’s Garden Center as well as the Masonic Lodge. The property is approximately 50 feet by 120 feet and is located at the northeast corner of Yelm Avenue East and 3rd Street Northeast. The building covers most of the property, which does not include any off street parking. The Yelm Food Co-op and Gordon’s Nursery are located immediately east of the property. The property is zoned Central Business District (CBD) which is codified at Chapter 17.24 YMC. The CBD district is intended to provide for an area for high intensity uses or mixtures of uses for general commercial, retail, service and multi-dwelling activities, to promote the special characteristics of the existing downtown Yelm area, and to provide a pedestrian shopping atmosphere. The property is located within the “Old Town District” of the Yelm Design Guidelines. Offices are an allowed use in the Central Business District, subject to site plan review. Critical Areas Critical area maps indicate that the property is located outside of wetlands, flood zones, and high ground water areas. All of Yelm is considered a critical aquifer recharge area. Existing development regulations relating to the control and treatment of stormwater address the potential impacts to this critical area. Development Standards Water The property is located in the city‘s water service area and is currently connected to City water service. It is unclear from the application if additional water connections are required. If the proposed change uses more than 875 cubic feet of water per month, additional water connections are required. All commercial buildings and irrigation systems are required to provide for cross-connection control through the provisions of a back flow prevention device (reduced pressure backflow assembly) installed on the water services. A list of approved devices can be found at Chapter 246-290-490 WAC. The backflow device is required to be installed after the meter and tested by a certified backflow tester. Sewer The proposed site is currently connected to City Sewer and has a 1500 gallon STEP Tank serving the building. The pump system is outdated with a 10 GPM pump. The pump will need to be upgraded to a 20 GPM pump. If additional water connections are required based on water usage, an engineer’s calculation for STEP tank sizing will be required. The City of Yelm sewer department requires a water/hose spigot, connected to a domestic water supply to be located within 50 feet of the furthest STEP tank lid for service and maintenance. It appears that the side sewer clean out may have been covered by a concrete pad for refuse container. If this is the case, the tank clean out will need to be relocated. If any food service is offered onsite, grease protection will need to be installed (ie Grease trap or interceptor) sized according to the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) Chapter 10, section 1015 Fats, Oils, and Grease. Transportation Frontage improvements are required for all new development within the city, including expansions of uses that require a site plan review approval. 3rd Street is considered a local access commercial street and half street improvements would include an 11 foot drive lane, a 7 foot parking lane, curb and gutter, a 6 foot planter strip, and a 5 foot sidewalk. Yelm Avenue is considered an Urban Arterial and includes a center turn lane, an 11’ traffic lane, a 5’ bike lane, 8’ planter strip and 6’ sidewalk. The applicant may request a deferral for all or part of required frontage improvements. Parking The requirements for off-street parking and their design are the minimum, provided that the owner is responsible for providing adequate amounts and arrangement of space for the particular premises even though such space is in excess of the minimum in the code. Chapter 17.72 YMC requires offices to have one parking space for every 300 square feet of gross floor area. Places of assembly require one stall for each 10 occupants based on maximum occupant load. A standard parking stall is 9 feet by 20 feet. Any new parking area and drive aisles require landscaping to include planter islands with a mixture of evergreen and deciduous, trees and shrubs to provide visual relief and shade. The proposed use would require as many as six to eight parking stalls. All parking areas must be surfaced with asphalt or concrete, and shall be striped and landscaped to the standards of the development guidelines. The central business district allows the City to alter parking requirements where off street parking is not feasible. The existing unimproved parking along 3rd Street will not be allowed to continue, and requires improvements to 3rd Street. Frontage improvements on 3rd Street would provide for on street parallel parking. Stormwater Developments with additional impervious surface are required to provide stormwater facilities pursuant to the Stormwater Management Manual for Western Washington. If off street or on street parking is provided, stormwater from these new impervious surfaces would need to be treated and infiltrated. Building Standards The City of Yelm has adopted the International Codes as amended by the State Building Code Council for Building, Fire, Mechanical, Fuel Gas, Existing Building and the Uniform Plumbing Code and the Washington State Energy Code. The Masonic Lodge has been on Yelm’s Historic Register since 1992. The proposed plan indicates that the first floor will remain a community room and the second floor will be an open business floor plan. The proposed floor plan is a partial change of occupancy per Chapter 34 of the IBC. A partial change of occupancy may create a life safety hazard. The Building Official has the discretion to not enforce mandated code requirements that do not constitute a distinct life safety hazard in historic buildings. As a Historic Building the following accessibility standards will be required unless technically infeasible or compliance will detrimentally impact the historic significance of the building: One accessible toilet room and fixtures each is required for men and women. One accessible parking stall is required for every 25 stalls. One van accessible stall is required for each six accessible stalls, provided at least one van accessible stall is provided. An accessible path will be required from all buildings to accessible parking stalls, public ways, and bus stops. Building elevations, site utility screens and refuse pad wall showing compliance with City of Yelm Design Guidelines shall be submitted with the site plan review application. Spaces used for food service business shall be reviewed and approved by the Thurston County Health Department prior to building permit issuance. A Letter of Appropriateness will be required from the Yelm Historic Preservation Commission prior to the issuance of a building permit. A detailed plan shall be submitted to the Building Official to present to the Commissions for approval. Please allow 6 to 8 weeks as the commission meets ten times a year. Building Design Building design should be comfortable at a human scale, and incorporate features such as balconies in upper stories, bay windows, building articulations, covered entries, or upper story setbacks. Perimeter landscaping is required to provide visual relief, and consists of an eight (8) foot planter strip with groupings of evergreen and deciduous trees, and shrubs. The existing building meets all the design standards for the central business district listed above. Site Planning All development for properties fronting on a “Pedestrian Oriented Street” shall include site planning measures to define the street edge, encourage pedestrian access and provide amenities such as transparent window displays, artwork, pedestrian oriented space or other special landscape or building design features. All development for properties not on pedestrian oriented streets shall include site planning measures to create an attractive street edge and accommodate pedestrian access, such as landscape features, and direct pedestrian access from the sidewalk and parking. Perimeter site landscaping consists of a standard eight foot strip with a combination of deciduous and evergreen trees, and shrubs, or a fifteen foot landscape strip to provide a dense site barrier if adjacent to conflicting uses. New development on corner lots at street intersections must enhance the corner with amenities such as a decorative screen wall, substantial landscaping, pedestrian walkways and architectural cover treatments. Pedestrian circulation and amenities shall be provided with all development, such as adequate lighting, safe pathways from sidewalks and parking, weather protection at entries, and special amenities such as window displays or pedestrian scaled signs. All pedestrian paths must comply with the ADA. Service areas and outdoor storage shall be located away from neighboring properties and located behind the building. No refuse container shall be permitted between a street and the front of a building. The refuse area must be large enough to accommodate a dumpster and recycle bin. Refuse areas must be screened with an enclosure of a material and design compatible with the overall architectural theme and landscaped consistent with the required perimeter landscaping. Approval Process Site Plan Review Site plan review and approval is required prior to the use of land or building for the location of any commercial, industrial or public building or activity, or for the conversion of an existing building to a new use. A Site Plan Review application as established by Chapter 17.84 YMC is an administrative review process. The minimum application requirements can be found at Section 17.84.060 YMC and are listed on the application form. A notice of application is mailed to all property owners within 300 feet of the site. The Site Plan Review Committee approves a site plan review application if the proposed development meets the improvement and development standards of the Zoning Code and Development Guidelines. The site plan review committee’s decision on a site plan review application may be appealed to the Hearing Examiner, who would hold an open record hearing on the issue. The Examiner’s decision can be appealed to the City Council, which would hold a closed record hearing and determine if the decision was supported by substantial evidence or contrary to law. A site plan review approval typically contains conditions of approval that the applicant must complete prior to receiving a building permit. Upon satisfactory completion of all conditions of land use approval, the applicant can submit building plans for approval. Civil Plan Review Process Civil Plan review generally takes place after a land use approval. The Yelm Development Guidelines contain application requirements and standard details for all infrastructure requirements. Civil plans would be required for frontage improvements to 3rd Street NE and for any new off street parking. Building Permit Process Building plans may be submitted after site plan review approval, along with civil engineering plans, although they will not be reviewed until the civil plans have undergone at least one review cycle. A complete application includes the building permit application cover sheet along with: Five sets of plans, one of which may be half scale Two sets of engineering calculations, energy calculations, and specifications A photometric site lighting plan will be required as part of the civil plan submission. OR a complete set of all plans in Adobe Acrobat portable document format may be submitted via thumb drive. Prior to permit issuance two complete revised plan sets will be required for approval. Integrated sprinkler and fire alarm system permits may be deferred. Building permit review typically takes 8 to 12 weeks. Fees & Charges Site Plan Review $350.00 + $50 per 1,000 sq. ft. of gross floor area Civil Plan Review Billed on a cost recovery basis Building Plan Review Based on 1997 UBC fee Schedule Building Permit Based on 1997 UBC fee Schedule Sewer Connection Fee $6,394 per ERU Sewer Inspection Fee $145.00 per ERU Water Connection Fee $5,903.59 per ERU Water Meter Fee Based on meter size Transportation Facilities Charge $1,612.00 per peak PM trip The Transportation Facility Charge (TFC) is per new PM peak trip generated by the development. The code provides a default table that the applicant can use to determine the number of new PM trips generated by a proposal. Offices generate 3.68 new PM peak hour trips per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area. A credit should be given for the previous use of a place of assembly. The TFC for the proposed office space of 1,800 square feet would be $10,677.89. The space used as gathering space is not required to pay TFC charges, as there is no change of use for that portion of the building.