On June 4, 2014, Tanamera Construction submitted a Site Plan Review application for the construction of a new Taco Bell fast food restaurant located at 200 E. Prater Way. The existing Taco Bell restaurant would be razed and a new building constructed.

During staff's review of the proposed project, it was recognized the project site was located within the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Corridor.  Because the building would be demolished to make way for new construction, the TOD design guidelines would be applicable.  The development would be subject to the floor area ratio (FAR), building siting, architectural and other requirements. The proposed development plan did not meet many of these requirements.

As mentioned above, the site is locateded within the TOD Corridor.  The proposed project would qualify as a redevelopment project because the existing structure would be razed and a new structure built.

Staff concluded there were four options and met with the applicant to discuss these alternatives.

1. Meet all requirements in the TOD design manual;
2. Do nothing;
3. Renovate rather than reconstruct; or
4. Amend the TOD Area Plan, rezone the property, and amend the maps in the design manuals.

It would be difficult to meet all the requirements in the TOD design manual.  The building would need to be located along the E. Prater Way frontage, the building would need to be increased in size to meet the 0.5 FAR requirement, and significant architectural changes would be necessary.  The applicant was intending to take advantage of the location of the existing utilities and site improvements.

Neither the applicant nor staff want to “do nothing.”

The applicant considered remodeling the building, however, it was determined to be more costly than to rebuild on the site.  The new building would have slightly different dimensions and would pose some difficulties during construction.  There was much discussion regarding this alternative between staff and the applicant as this was the preferred alternative.  Due to the cost associated with the remodel and construction challenges, the applicant asked if the City would agree to process the necessary amendments to remove the site from the TOD Corridor.

It would be difficult to simply remove this particular parcel, hence; staff would need to consider removing a number of other parcels from the corridor as well.  Because the amendments would affect more than one parcel, staff does not believe it's appropriate for the applicant to incur the expense of processing the amendments.  The proposed amendments include, a master plan amendment, rezone, and possibly a code amendment, and may take considerable staff time.  There may also be a cost for the preparation of legal descriptions and boundary maps to support the rezoning of the properties.

Staff is seeking direction from the City Council about whether to sponsor the necessary amendments to remove the site from the TOD Corridor and incur any costs associated with the amendments.