Commission approves Ross Givens office building MOP, grants green-space waiver

The Planning and Zoning Commission on Sept. 4 approved SD 25.15, the Ross Givens Office Building multiple-occupancy project, and separately granted the applicant’s request for a green-space waiver that allows the landscaped area adjacent to Nichols Avenue to count as natural green space under the subdivision rules.

Staff described the site as a half-acre parcel in the M-1 (light industrial) district on Nichols Avenue that proposes a four-unit office building with 20 parking spaces (18 required). The project uses bioretention swales for stormwater treatment and provides landscape buffering along Nichols Avenue; staff supported a waiver requested to allow the 20-foot landscaped buffer adjacent to the right-of-way to be counted toward the property’s green-space requirement because the small site and frontage constraints otherwise made compliance impractical.

Staff recommended approval of the waiver and the MOP with the condition that an operations-and-maintenance (O&M) plan be recorded to reflect stormwater drainage and maintenance responsibilities. Residents who spoke raised questions about night lighting, potential nighttime noise if uses change, and stormwater impacts; engineers said the design incorporates bioretention media and plantings and that the photometric (lighting) plan meets city requirements for minimizing off-site light.

A commissioner moved to grant the green-space waiver; the motion passed by voice vote. The commission then voted to approve SD 25.15 subject to staff’s condition that the applicant record an O&M plan reflecting drainage and maintenance requirements. The motions passed with no recorded opposition.

Next steps: applicant must record the O&M plan and comply with the submitted photometric and landscape plans; staff indicated those documents will be part of the final MOP file and building-permit review.