Planning 2013-08-22 COMPLETE AGENDA PACKET

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c)Public buildings and structures should be consistent with the established neighborhood character; The project is an expansion of the existing use, and is consistent with the warehouse retail and industrial nature of the surrounding neighborhood. d)Compatibility of vehicular pedestrian circulation patterns and loading facilities in terms of safety, efficiency and convenience should be encouraged; Though the fueling facility is on the same parcel as the Costco Optical facility, a landscape area is proposed to separate the fueling facility from the optical center and help channelize traffic coming in to the fueling facility. The existing site design includes a combined entry point to the fueling station and the Costco employee parking area. The employee parking area is within 100 feet of the existing canopy, and people walking to their parked cars must currently walk within the same area where vehicles are waiting in line for gas or where vehicles are turning in to the fueling station from Costco Drive. The new curbed landscape area serves to channelize traffic into the fueling facility and to provide a barrier between pedestrians within the employee parking area and vehicles turning in to and waiting within the fueling facility. e)Compatibility of on-site vehicular circulation with street circulation should be encouraged. Vehicle access to the fueling facility is from Costco Drive on the north side of the project site. There are currently two entry driveways to the Costco Optical facility along Costco Drive; (1) the main entry-only entrance to the optical facility to the west of the fueling facility, and (2) the entry driveway to the fueling facility. The new site design will close off access to the employee parking area from the fueling facility area. Vehicles will be able to exit the optical facility using either the exit at the southwest side of the Costco Optical site connecting to the th Home Depot property and on to S 180 Street, or the exit-only exit to Sperry Drive located at the southeastern corner of the project site which is combined with fueling facility exit. The existing site design includes a parking area in close vicinity to the access driveway to the fueling facility. Cars parked in this area make vehicular circulation difficult when the fueling facility is busy and vehicle waiting lines are long. Additionally, employees who park in this area and walk either to the sidewalk along Costco Drive or the entrance to the optical facility are potentially at risk/in conflict with vehicles turning from Costco Drive into the fueling facility. The vehicle queuing area is proposed to be expanded from approximately 80 feet in length to approximately 125 feet. The removal and reconfiguration of parking areas to accommodate the expansion of the vehicle queuing area along with the addition of the curbed landscape area acts to both channelize traffic, improve vehicle circulation, and provide protection to vehicles and pedestrians maneuvering within the employee parking areas. 3. Landscaping and Site Treatment. a)Where existing topographic patterns contribute to beauty and utility of a development, they should be recognized, preserved and enhanced; The existing site topography is flat and is planned to remain the same as part of this project. b)Grades of walks, parking spaces, terraces and other paved areas should promote safety and provide an inviting and stable appearance; The site topography will remain flat in grade. The new curbed landscape area includes a row of trees, along with shrubs and groundcover which will help promote an inviting entry into the fueling facility while at the same time promoting safety by keeping the entry point to the fueling facility where there is a high volume of vehicular activity away from pedestrians and slower-moving vehicles within the employee parking area. c)Landscape treatment should enhance architectural features, strengthen vistas and important axis, and provide shade; The new landscape strip area is six feet wide in the section which runs north-south, and approximately five feet wide in the section running east-west. The original plan included Acer rubrum ‘Red Sunset’ Maple trees, which need a lot of space and present the risk of having their roots grow out resulting in the pavement lifting. The JR Page 5 of 11 08/14/2013 H:\Design Review\Costco Gas Station\SR_L13-038 Costco Fueiling Facility Expansion.docx 11