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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1.05 Review of StandardsARTICLE 7: STANDARDS DIVISION 1. GENERAL APPROVAL STANDARDS. The following standards apply to all proposed Land Use Changes, including divisions of land, unless elsewhere in this Code a use is explicitly exempt from one or more standards. 7-101. ZONE DISTRICT USE REGULATIONS. The property is zoned rural. 7-102. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENTS. The comprehensive plan designates the area as Residential Medium High. 7-103. COMPATIBILITY. The building will function dually as a ranch building and community facility. The agricultural nature of the parcel and adjacent lands will remain intact. Events will be held during mainly spring, summer and early fall months when agricultural equipment is in use on the ranch. We foresee the future possibility of 48 total events per season, with an average guest count of 136. 7-104. SOURCE OF WATER. All water will be delivered for this site. Potable drinking water will be delivered by Thirsty Water Company (a state certified company) in their Water Buffalo: a 1235 gallon trailer with spigots for filling water containers on site. This number of gallons is more than sufficient for the allowed occupancy of our facility. Potable water for hand washing and flushing the toilets in our vault and haul system will also be delivered by the Thirsty Company. This water will be stored and pumped from onsite tanks, approximately 3000 gallons. Ali water being potable eliminates health safety concerns surrounding the water source. 7-105. CENTRAL WATER DISTRIBUTION AND WASTEWATER SYSTEMS. After deliberation and consultation with our County Planner we decided on a vault and haul waste water system. We chose this system because we felt it is less impactful and best fit for our purposes. We are utilizing permanent flushing toilet facilities, hand washing sinks in each and a sink in the caterer service area for sanitation purposes. These amenities will drain into buried onsite, cement tank (approximately 2000 gallons). The final storage capacity will be determined by our engineer. We have a preliminary contract with United Site Services to pump the tanks at a minimum of once per week. 7-106. PUBLIC UTILITIES. The only public utility used at this site will be trash removal. We have a preliminary contract with Waste Management for a 2 -yard dumpster to be emptied weekly during the proposed season of operation. We are using gas -powered electric generators, in an enclosed, insulated trailer for necessary electricity. This will control any noise and fumes from the generators. 7-107. ACCESS AND ROADWAYS. The access to this property is an existing roadway. We will obtain the necessary driveway permit and pay the $75 dollar fee. We have met with Wyatt Keesbery of Garfield County Road and Bridge and have a certified traffic study which indicates our access is adequate with no additional accel/decel lanes. We are required to broaden the apron where the road connects to County Road 237 and install a stop sign. We have met and held a site visit with Orrin Moon, Colorado River Fire Rescue, Fire Marshall. His requirement in this unique site is widening designated sections of the road to 16 feet to accommodate all emergency vehicles along with a standard 6' wide vehicle. He referenced the standard is usually 20', but deemed that unnecessary in this instance due to the dual use of the property and the intermittent and seasonal use of the proposed community facility. We will also have 10'x40' pull outs every 400 feet for emergency situations. He also requires proper road base and gravel on the existing and expanded access. The road will access the parking area and also continue with the same specifications in a circle drive to and from the actual building. All barrow ditches are in place or will be reconstructed when widening the road and all culverts are in place. 7-108. USE OF LAND SUBJECT TO NATURAL HAZARDS. Due to the physical nature of this site there are no rocks, snow, mud or landslide issues. This can be substantiated by our topographic study and topographic map of the roadway and the site. The site does not lie within the 100 year flood plain. 7-109. FIRE PROTECTION. As stated above we have met and conducted a site visit with Orrin Moon, Fire Marshall, Colorado River Fire Rescue. We will continue to work with him throughout the building process of our dual use agricultural building. We have a working outline of a fire plan that includes: removing all dead or downed trees within 100', limbing-up trees to a height of 3'-4', removing any dying trees that they will tag for removal, using clumping and spacing strategies for the remaining pinyon and juniper trees that are at least 25' from the building, and mowing or grazing surface vegetation within 100' of the building. The goal of this plan is to remove the continuous line of fiammables. The building will have the necessary man -doors to meet A3 Code Specifications per our engineer's recommendation. All exit doors will be marked with lit/battery-powered exit signs and there will be fire extinguishers within 75' of any person in the building. Solar lights will be used to light the exterior pathways. We plan to extend the existing buried irrigation line to the site to supply an onsite source of water for fire protection. DIVISION 2. GENERAL RESOURCE PROTECTION STANDARDS. The following resource protection standards apply to all proposed Land Use Changes, including divisions of land unless elsewhere in this Code a use is explicitly exempt from 1 or more standards. 7-201. AGRICULTURAL LANDS. The use of our agricultural building for the purposes of the special use permit will have no adverse effect on our agricultural production. The building is located on a nonproductive, un- irrigated juniper/pinyon knob. The road in its' entirety skirts the productive agricultural land. The entire layout was planned to not interfere with ranch operations and there are no agricultural neighbors within 300' of the site. We personally own all land within 300' of the site and all boundary fences are in place. We will be constructing a fence around the building site itself to isolate any activities associated with events. We will not be allowing any outside pets or animals as indicated in our contracts. There are no onsite irrigation ditches or maintenance rights -of -ways on the site. 7-202. WILDLIFE HABITAT AREAS. We have been in contact with Brian Gray, District Wildlife Manager, Rifle North. As per his letter he had no necessary recommendations. He states: "Overall, the proposed development will not seriously impact wildlife or vegetation in the area." He specifically notes that the site does not contain any critical habitat for wildlife, so the impacts to wildlife in the area will be insignificant. 7-203. PROTECTION OF WATERBODIES. There are no water bodies on this property. 7-204 DRAINAGE AND EROSION. We have a grading and drainage statement stamped by a certified engineer. His findings from the topographic analysis combined with the nature of the site, show that drainage and erosion are not an issue. Drainage from this facility will not adversely affect the existing use of the property or any neighboring properties. The drainage now and in the future goes directly into Grass Valley Reservoir. Our access road and parking area are graveled, thus not diverting or changing existing drainage. Due to the seasonal use of this facility, we will not be storing or applying salt or sand. All parking areas are more than 100 feet from the reservoir. Our engineer is preparing an erosion control plan for the actual construction of the agricultural building. 7-205. ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY. The use of this site as a community gathering facility will not cause air quality issues. We plan to use portable 50 amp gas -powered electric generators. The generators will be housed in an enclosed/insulated trailer to control noise and fumes. The parking areas and pathways will be lit with solar -powered lights, with no environmental impact. No hazardous materials will be stored onsite, and our vault and haul waste management system is outside the 100' limit from a water body. 7-205. WILDFIRE HAZARDS. This property is a pinyon/juniper knob, surrounded on 2.5 sides by Grass Valley Reservoir and the other 1.5 sides by irrigated hay fields. It does not directly connect to any Targe wooded areas or public lands. The adjacent property is also an irrigated hay field. We are however in communication with Orrin Moon to enact proper fire mitigation and tree spacing. 7-207. NATURAL AND GEOLOGIC HAZARDS. As seen on the USGS topographic map and our topographic survey, there are no natural and geologic hazards present on this site. There is no slope development associated with this project. 7-208. RECLAMATION Any activity related to this permit will not create any areas that will require reclamation. This is not applicable to our application. DIVISION 3. SITE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS. Unless a use is explicitly identified elsewhere in this Code as being exempt from 1 or more standards, the following standards shall apply to all uses, divisions of land and PUDs. Single- family dwelling units, are specifically exempt from these Division 3 standards. 7-301. COMPATIBLE DESIGN. There are no adjacent use properties, other than existing agricultural properties. The design of the building is an agricultural/machine storage building. The barn is compatible with the existing nature of existing properties. Our natural tree line surrounding the building will act as a buffer for vision and noise. Dust will be controlled on the access and parking when necessary by spray rig water application. Our building will be Tess than 22" tall and the color will blend with the natural environment. We will be limiting the hours of use to reduce impact to distant neighbors. All guests and music will be required to be inside the building after 10 p.m. and all events must end at midnight. 7-302. OFF-STREET PARKING AND LOADING STANDARDS. Off street parking does not apply due to the rural nature of our site. The entire site is located on our private property. We do however have a circle drive with a designated area for delivery vehicle parking. Our parking area meets and exceeds the requirements of 1 parking space per 100 square feet of building space. 7-303. LANDSCAPING STANDARDS. Due to the nature of our site plan, location and proposed type of events a landscape architect's landscape plan does not fit our application. The building's main purpose is agricultural and we do not plan to landscape other than construction cleanup, smoothing of the immediate parameter of the foundation and concrete apron, and covering that ground with washed gravel. Outside the building's footprint, it is beautiful just as it is; we are striving for a 100% natural landscape. We do not want to damage or change the surrounding site. We included photos with our comprehensive submittal. 7-304. LIGHTING STANDARDS. The nearest residential house is about a half mile away. This location is perfect for having low impact. Any outdoor lighting on the building will be aimed downward with the exception of the building egress lighting on the paths. Outdoor lighting will be limited to the Christmas light type or solar path lighting. All lighting and activity will be confined to the fenced in area and the parking area. We will abide by the lighting standards and avoid any lighting that could be construed as hazardous or emergency activity. 7-305. SNOW STORAGE STANDARDS. This is not applicable to our application due to the seasonal use of the property. There will be no snow storage on site. 7-306. TRAIL AND WALKWAY STANDARDS. Due to the site location, paths to other community facilities will not exist. All surrounding land is private. The only onsite pathway is from the parking area to the building itself. This pathway will be solar -lit, smooth and safe for walking. The path does not cross a public road or land.