REVIEW COMMENTS
7.A.6
ZONING CODE VARIANCE
(HEIGHT EXCEPTION)
LOWE'S HOME CENTER
DE\tJ!:LOPMENT SERVICES DEPART~NT
MEMORANDUM NO PZ 99-275
Staff Report
Meeting Date: November 23, 1999
File No:
Location.
Owner-
Project:
HTEX 99-001 (Height exception for an additional five (5) feet)
SE corner Woolbright Road and Corporate Drive
Woolbright Partners - Lowe's Home Improvement Center
Lowe's Home Improvement Center
Request:
Request for a height exception from the City's Land Development Regulations, Chapter 2, Zoning,
Section 4 F 1, to allow a five (5) foot increase from the maximum forty-five (45) foot height limit
required within the C-3 Community Commercial zoning district.
BACKGROUND
The subject property is located at the southeast corner of Woolbright Road and Corporate Drive (see Exhibit" A" -
location map) The northern portion of the property, parcell, is currently zoned C-3, Commercial Community; the
southern portion, parcel 3A and a portion of parcel 3H, are zoned PID, Planned Industrial Development. Those
portions zoned PID are currently the subject of a rezoning application to rezone them from PID to C-3, all in
connection with the Lowe's Home Improvement Center project (see CaDS 99-005)
The subject property is currently vacant. Adjacent properties are as follows to the north is Woolbright Road and
Home Depot zoned PCD, Planned Commercial Development; to the south is a vacant portion of the Boynton
Commerce Center PID, to the west is Corporate Drive and an office building zoned C-1, and to east is the S A.L
Railway and 1-95 rights-of-way
The Lowe's Home Improvement Center is proposed to have a peaked entrance feature that would be 49 feet 10 inches
high, or approximately 5 feet above the maximum allowed by city regulations The additional five (5) feet of height is
requested to build a main entrance feature that accommodates its architectural trademark as well as provides
architectural relief to enhance this "big box" project (See Exhibit "B" - Elevations)
ANALYSIS
Land Development Regulations, Chapter 2, zoning, Section 4 F 3, Height Limitations and Exceptions, states that in
considering an application for exception to the district height regulation, the City Commission shall make findings
indicating the proposed exception has been studied and considered in relation to minimum standards, where applicable
Exhibit "c" lists those standards and how the applicant addressed them.
According to the application, with the exception of the main entry feature, the height of the structure is only
approximately thirty-two (32) feet, which is well within the maximum of forty-five (45) feet permitted by Code It is
estimated that twenty (20) lineal feet of the front of the building will exceed the forty-five (45) foot limitation, which is
about four (4) percent (including the garden center area) of the building's length. Given that the entrance is to scale
with the entire project, and given the distance to, and uses of adjacent properties with which the project would be
compared (the industrial park, Home Depot, and a multi-story office building), the additional height of the entrance
feature will not likely appear unusual Lastly, the applIcation represents the minimal necessary to achieve the design
intent of the project, and is not felt by staff to be excessive
RECOMMENDATION
Based on the analysis contained herein, staff recommends that this request for a height exception of 5 feet be approved.
No conditions of approval are recommended, however, any conditions of approval recommended by the Board or
required by the City Commission will be placed in Exhibit "D"
Attachments
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S.\Planning\SHARED\WP\PROJECTS\LOWE'S HOME CENTER\HTEX\HEIGHT EXCEPTION STAFF REP-.doc
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SITE ASSESSMENT APPROVAl..
o I'PPR(J\II;.D EJ(nRIOR fLEW. lIONS~' ORA\/'\,t'f
o ..,fIPRO\"EO f.XTEPtOA El..fW nONS AS NOTED
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EXHIBIT "C"
Basehart ConsultIng, Ine
Planners
333 Southern Boulevard, Suite 200
West Palm Beach, Florida 33405
Phone' (561) 833-3114
Fax: (561) 833-3293
November 15, 1999
Mr Michael Rumpf, Director
Planning & Zoning Department
City of Boynton Beach
100 East Boynton Beach Boulevard
POBox 310
Boynton Beach, Florida 33425
SUBJECT LOWE'S HOME IMPROVEMENT CENTER- ADDITIONAL
JUSTIFICATION FOR APPLICATION FOR BUILDING HEIGHT
EXCEPTION
Dear Mr Rumpf:
Please accept this letter as a supplement to the justification statement that was submitted with or
request for a height exception for the proposed Lowe's Home Improvement center to be located at
the southeast corner of Woolbright Road and Corporate Drive. Although I believe that we
adequately justified our request in our initial application, we did not specifically reference the 9
criteria in Section 4.F.3(a-I) in the Zoning Code. Therefore, we wish to address these criteria, as
follows.
a, The proposed height exception will not have a negative impact on the proposed land use for
the property, or existing or proposed land use(s) on surrounding properties. The requested
exception is only for the entry feature for the proposed building, and only involves 4% of the
building length. Except for the entry feature, the building will be 15' below the height limit
allowed. Further, the location of the entry feature is approximately in the center of the site,
and is a minimum of350' from the nearest property line, and adjacent to a large parking lot.
b The requested height exception is necessary to create a desired focal point for the building
and to achieve an appropriate balance to the appearance of this very large structure. If the
entry feature were any lower, the building would appear squat and not nearly as aesthetically
pleasing. It is important to note that the area of additional height is very small due to the fact
that the design of this area is pitched. Further, the area involved includes no habitable space.
c. The proposed exception will not in any way reduce light and air to adjacent areas. As noted
P3 s
Mr Michael Rumpf
Lowe's Height Exception
November 15, 1999
Page 2.
above, the area of exception is only approximately 20' on a building that has a width of 476',
and is located a minimum of350' from the nearest property line. Further, the subject site is
located adjacent to road right-of-ways on two sides and a vacant property Zoned as a park
on another side. The remaining side of the property is adjacent to a vacant industrial
property, and the area of exception is about 430" from this site.
d. The granting of the requested height exception will not be a deterrent to the development or
improvement of adjacent property in accord with existing codes, in any way Land located
to the north and west is already fully developed and the buildings located thereon are more
than 500' from the proposed area of exception and are located on the opposite side of
intervening roadways. The adjacent parcel to the south is vacant and is part of an approved
PID development. The building that will be located on this parcel will be in excess of 500'
from the proposed area of exception. Land located to the east of the subject site is vacant,
Zoned "Park" and is separated from the proposed area of exception by the proposed Lowe's
building and a railroad right-of-way This adjacent site is also in excess of 500' from the area
of exception,
e. The proposed height exception will not have any impact on property values for surrounding
properties. Since the proposed exception will not have a physical impact or a negative visual
impact on these properties, there will be no impact on value. However, the introduction of
the proposed Lowe's facility to the area will bring business opportunity to the surrounding
commercial uses, which should in turn improve property values.
f. There are no residential dwelling units in the immediate area of the subject property, so the
requested height exception can not have any impact on living conditions in the neighborhood.
However, even if adjacent property was developed residentially, there would be no negative
impact from the height exception because the area of exception is so minor and located so far
from the property lines.
g. The approval of the requested height exception will not grant a special privilege to the
applicant, as opposed to the public welfare. The sole purpose of the requested exception is
to improve the appearance of the building and create a focal point for the customer entrance
area. The area of exception is extremely small and contains no habitable floor area.
h, We believe that the original justification statement and the justification contained in this letter
provides sufficient evidence to support the requested waiver
I. We are requesting that the Planning & Development Board review the subject Height
Exception request and make a recommendation of approval for same to the City Council.
p~ <.9
Mr Michael Rumpf
Lowe's Height Exception
November 15, 1999
Page 3
As noted above, we request that you consider the justification contained in this letter along with the
justification that we included with our request initially, in doing your review and recommendation for
this issue. If you desire any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you
for your attention to this matter
Very truly yours,
~~(~~
Robert E. Basehart, AICP
President
f3i)
EXHIBIT "D"
CondItIOns of Approval
Project name Lowe's Home Improvement Center
FIle number. HTEX 99-001 (heIght exception for an additIOnal five (5) feet)
Reference HeIght exceotIOn letter dated October 21 1999
.
I DEPARTMENTS INCLUDE REJECT
PUBLIC WORKS
Comments. None
UTILITIES
Comments None
FIRE
Comments. None
POLICE
Comments None
ENGINEERING DIVISION
Comments. None
BUILDING DIVISION
Comments. None
PARKS AND RECREATION
Comments None
FORESTER/ENVIRONMENT ALIST
Comments None
PLANNING AND ZONING
Comments None
ADDITIONAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD CONDITIONS
1 To be determmed.
ADDITIONAL CITY COMMISSION CONDITIONS
2, To be determined.
MWR.dim
S:IPLANNINGlSHAREDlWPIPROJECTSILOWE'S HOME CENTERIHTEXlCOND. OF APPR 11-23 P&D.DOC
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