At the April 25, 2011, City Council Meeting, Council held the public hearing but delayed action on the variance request from The Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch located at 3212 1st Avenue South.  The applicant has informed our office that it is planning on holding an open house prior to this council meeting.

The Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch (YBGR), located at 3212 1st Avenue South (the former Garfield Elementary School), is proposing a major remodel that will include site improvements. The site lacks the required off-street parking for the present and proposed use.  The proposed site improvements will eliminate more off-street parking. High Plains Architects has submitted a site plan showing the proposed revisions, which are meant to better accommodate the building functions. In order to accomplish the remodel and site revisions, the owner is requesting a variance from Section 6-1203 of the city code requiring off-street parking.

The existing site has approximately 50 parking stalls.  The new plan would have 10 parking stalls on site.  The site development ordinance requires 128 stalls for the proposed use.  Given the nature of the building and its uses, the parking will be needed at different times of the day.  The portions of the building that will be used during the daytime (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) require 77 spaces.  The gym area will be used in the evenings (4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.) and requires 51 stalls.  Note that the parking space calculations show that there is a potential need for up to 128 spaces from 4 pm. to 5 p.m. 

The owner is proposing to provide 10 on-site stalls, 20 leased stalls, and 54 on street stalls to meet the daytime parking demand.  They are proposing to restripe the on-street parking to accomodate back-in angle parking (instead of existing parallel parking) to maximize the number of stalls available.  YBGR has agreed to sign the attached Memorandum of Agreement which requires parking space striping maintenance. 

The requested parking variance would allow all code required parking, except handicapped parking, to be provided on street.  City Code requires property owners to provide all required parking on-site. For this reason, it is very difficult for the Public Works Department to support Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch request for the parking variance. However, Public Works believes that this proposal has mitigating circumstances that should be taken into consideration by the City Council in determining the variance request. The proposed use and reconstruction of the building and site by YBGR will greatly enhance the area and benefit the community.  If the City Council were to approve the requested parking variance, the adjacent ROW is of sufficient width to accommodate the required parking without adversely affecting the neighborhood or traffic movement.

The City Council may:

• Approve the variance. Approving the variance will allow Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch to make the site improvement revisions as proposed.

• Do not approve the variance. If the variance is denied, a redesign of the facility and site will be required to provide the required off-street parking.

There is no direct financial impact to the City. Advertising costs for the public hearing are offset by the variance application fee and the applicant will pay for the street striping and maintenance.

Staff recommends that City Council grant conditional approval of this variance from off-street parking requirements for the property at 3212 1st Avenue South for this proposed use.  If the use of the property changes, the parking requirements will need to be met or a variance will need to be requested based on the new use.