Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Housing Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission moves to recommend Park Avenue Apartments concept plan and parking in-lieu fee
Summary
The Leonardtown planning commission reviewed a concept plan to add a second story and three apartments at Park Avenue, heard application details and parking concerns, and moved to recommend concept approval and that the town council review a $1,200-per-space in-lieu fee for four missing spaces (total $4,800).
The Leonardtown Planning and Zoning Commission moved to recommend concept approval for the Park Avenue Apartments project and asked the town council to consider an in-lieu payment for required parking.
Planning staff described a two-building site with a proposed second story on the rear building that would create three apartment units. The project limits of construction are 3,125 square feet with about 119 square feet of soil disturbance; because that disturbance is under 5,000 square feet, staff said county stormwater and soil-conservation review are not required. Staff recommended concept approval and recommended the commission forward the applicant's request for an in-lieu fee for missing parking to the town council.
Justin Chesseldine, management agent with Benchmark Properties, said the owner has struggled to attract commercial tenants to the rear space and that converting it to apartments would "fit good" and "continue to help support the businesses here in town." He asked the commission to approve the concept plan so the applicant can move to architectural review.
Commissioners and staff discussed parking availability and the town's fee schedule. The project requires six off-street parking spaces but has only two on-site; the applicant requested payment under Resolution 6-20 at $1,200 per missing space, which staff said totals $4,800. Chair (Speaker 1) noted the fee-in-lieu schedule dates to a 2004 parking study and said, "I think that it needs to be updated for sure." Commissioners debated issuing parking permits to apartments that rely on nearby public parking and emphasized that the in-lieu mechanism was intended to fund future parking infrastructure.
Staff also noted a construction-staging stipulation discussed with the applicant's engineer, Sonny Guy, that the plan should avoid adversely affecting tenants behind Suite Bag and that two eastern parking spaces would be used as a laydown area during construction. The commission was told the building will require sprinklers and water-meter adjustments in final design and that the applicant must return for architectural approval.
A commissioner read a motion to approve the concept site design for Case No. 104-06D (Park Avenue Apartments), to recommend the in-lieu fee request to town council, and to recommend that residents be issued parking permits consistent with Resolution 6-20. The transcript records the motion language but does not include a roll-call vote in the provided excerpt. Following discussion, staff said the applicant will return for architectural review.
Next steps: the commission's recommendation and the in-lieu fee request will go to the town council for consideration; the applicant will return for architectural review before any final building permit is issued.
