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Commission recommends revised Hampton Inn plan with 93 rooms; parking easement issue must be resolved
Summary
The commission recommended approval of a revised site plan for a 4-story Hampton Inn and Suites at 942 South Highway Drive, approving a 51-foot building height under site-plan review and imposing conditions that require relocation of parking currently shown in an access easement.
The Fenton Planning and Zoning Commission on May 6 recommended approval of a revised site plan for a Hampton Inn and Suites at 942 South Highway Drive, approving the five-deck design change to a four-story, 93-room hotel and allowing a 51-foot overall roof height under site-plan review despite the 50-foot nominal height limit.
Staff summarized that the petitioner reduced height from a previously approved five-story, 61-foot plan to a four-story building with a slightly larger footprint and a northward shift of roughly 33–35 feet to create more parking behind the building. Amy (staff member) told the commission the plan shows 93 guest rooms and that the building meets required setbacks and buffer areas.
Commissioners focused on a site circulation and easement issue: 20 parking spaces were shown within an existing 24-foot ingress/egress access easement on the west lot line that also serves the adjacent lot to the south. Amy said those spaces are not permitted in the access easement and must be relocated; staff recommended that the plan be revised to show required buffer areas, lot coverage, required parking counts and pavement material details and that no parking spaces be permitted within access easements.
The commission also approved the alternate exterior materials — EIFS, fiber cement board and architectural wood panels — to “maintain market identity,” as staff put it, and allowed the building height in excess of 50 feet pursuant to the cited site-plan review provisions. Staff further required separate land-disturbance, sign, and building permits and said that minimal changes requested by fire or other reviewing agencies could be approved administratively by the community development director.
Sherry Stephens, representing the petitioner, told the commission the revised layout "worked out better for us both monetarily and for site reasons" and confirmed the developer would relocate parking spaces to meet the easement restrictions. The commission voted to recommend approval; recorded affirmative votes included Commissioner Glover, Commissioner Billicki, Vice Chairperson Sheryl, Secretary Deb Abbott, Mayor Morath, Alderman Harrell and Commissioner Nelson.
The recommendation means the prior site-plan approval is rendered null and void and the new conditions will be enforced through subsequent permitting.
