Planning commission approves Cedar Tree site plan, grants most variances and rejects sidewalk buyout

The city planning commission approved the site plan for Cedar Tree, a 326.4-acre nonresidential development on Lebanon Road in Ward 6, and granted most of the variances the applicant sought while denying a payment-in-lieu of sidewalks request, commissioners decided at the meeting.

Staff told the commission the applicant submitted a development agreement tied to trail connectivity and that the draft agreement must be approved before final site-plan approval. The city—s planning staff also noted the applicant requested payment in lieu of constructing 6,288 linear feet of sidewalks; under that request the fee due would have been $302,208. Staff recommended denial of the payment-in-lieu request and recommended approval of variances 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 while recommending denial of variances 2 and 4.

Joshua Denton, representative for the applicant Exeter 109 Lebanon LLC, said the team had worked with staff on a development agreement and on connectivity, and that the request for some variances was driven by industrial building functions such as truck docks. "We have done that. We dealt with the Highway 70 connector ... and we have come to an agreement on that," Denton said, adding the applicant had provided internal walking trails and proposed a donation to support off-site trail connections to Cara Bend Park.

Phil Moorhead, councilman for Ward 6, said he supported staff—s recommended approvals and asked the commission to deny the remaining variance requests. "I completely support staff's comments in allowing five of the seven variances and would ask that if you approve this project that you do it subject to staff's comments and deny those last few variances," Moorhead said.

The commission voted on a motion to approve the plan subject to staff recommendations (which included denying the payment-in-lieu request and denying variances 2 and 4). A subsequent amendment to that motion, offered on the floor, altered the treatment of variance 4 (building transparency for the east sides of Buildings B and D) and the amendment passed. The final motion as amended passed. The commission therefore approved the site plan subject to staff conditions, granted variances 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, and denied variance 2 and the payment-in-lieu request.

Staff noted additional procedural steps before final approval: a new preliminary plat and a final plat must be submitted that dedicate required public services shown on the plan, and the development agreement concerning trail connectivity must be executed.

The approved and denied variances described in the staff report included: driveway widths (variance 1; staff recommended approval because industrial truck turning needs produced 20 driveways exceeding the 35-foot maximum at the property line); foundation plantings on Buildings B and D (variance 2; staff recommended denial as a design choice); foundation plantings on Building A north side (variance 3; staff recommended approval due to three road frontages constituting a hardship); building transparencies for Buildings B and D east facades (variance 4; staff recommended denial but the commission granted this variance by amendment); building transparency on Building A north side (variance 5; staff recommended approval due to three road frontages); building articulation on Building A north side (variance 6; staff recommended approval); and providing a single 15-foot trail on one side of the main north-south road instead of two 5-foot sidewalks (variance 7; staff recommended approval as an improvement connecting to a larger trail system).

No final plat has been submitted; staff said a new preliminary plat and final plat will be required before final site-plan approval. The developer team included ownership representatives and engineers; the city's legal department has reviewed a draft development agreement the staff said will be required to finalize off-site trail commitments.

The commission—s action consolidates the variances and conditions that will govern the project's next steps; the development agreement and required platting must be completed before the city can grant final site-plan approval.