This is a special review request to locate a beer and wine license with gaming in a new 3,500 square foot building in a Controlled Industrial (CI) zone, on Lot 3B, Block 2 of Trillium Sub Amended, a 1.431-acre parcel of land generally located at 545 S 18th St West.  The Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing on August 2, 2016, and is forwarding a recommendation of conditional approval and adoption of the findings of the 3 review criteria on a 4-0 vote.

Special Review applications are reviewed using City Code criteria referenced in the Alternatives Analyzed section of this memo. Special Reviews do not require an ordinance for approval, are not zone changes on property; rather, are tied to specific uses that are allowed in a given zoning district but are subject to a review by the City prior to the use being allowed. Special Reviews, unlike zone changes, may be conditioned to mitigate possible impacts from the use on the subject property or surrounding properties.
 

City Council may:

• Approve the request
• Conditionally approve the request
• Deny the request
• Allow the applicant to withdraw the request
• Delay action on the request for up to 30 days

The Planning Division reviewed the request and recommended conditional approval based on the findings of the 3 review criteria. The Zoning Commission concurred with this recommendation. Before a recommendation of approval or conditional approval can be made, each special review request must demonstrate conformance with three primary criteria: 1) the application complies with all parts of the Unified Zoning Regulations, 2) the application is consistent with the objectives and purposes of the Unified Zoning Regulations and the 2008 Growth Policy, and 3) is compatible with surrounding land uses and is otherwise screened and separated from adjacent land to minimize adverse impacts. This application conforms to the first criterion because it is in a district that allows a casino with a beer and wine license and gaming. The proposed building, landscaping and solid waste storage will meet the code requirements for this zone.  New landscaping will be installed around the building and along the street frontage. The property will have access from South 18^th Street West.
 
The proposal is consistent with some goals of the 2008 Growth Policy; encouraging compatible uses and avoiding leapfrog development beyond City services. The proposal also is in line with City's Infill Development Policy as it would utilize a vacant lot already accessible to most City services. The Zoning Commission is recommending conditions for this special review based on the approval criteria for special review uses.
The Zoning Commission recommends the following conditions of approval:

1. The special review is limited to Lot 3B, Block 2, of Amended Plat of Lot 2A, Block 2, Trillium Subdivision, generally located at 545 South 18^th Street West.
2. The special review approval is for the construction of a 3,500 square foot building for a casino with a beer and wine license with gaming. No other use or development configuration is intended or implied by this approval.
3. Any expansion of the proposed building greater than 10 percent of what is shown on the submitted site plan will require an additional special review approval.
4. All exterior lighting, including security lighting, shall have full cut-off shields so no part of the fixture or lens projects below the cut-off shield. The maximum height of any light pole in the outdoor areas shall be 20 feet above grade.
5. No construction or demolition activity will occur before 7 am or after 8 pm daily.
6. New trees shall not be any tree with the scientific genus name of Populus or any of its subspecies including any variety of aspens. Also no Salix (willows), Acer negundo (Box Elder) or Ulmus (Elms). 
7. Any centralized solid waste storage shall be enclosed by a wall on 3 sides and a closing gate or gates. The wall and gates for the solid waste storage shall be similar or complimentary in color to the adjacent buildings and shall be sight-obscuring. The wall and gates shall be tall enough that no part of the interior dumpster(s) are visible from the outside.
8. The site will be developed in substantial conformance with the submitted site plan, including landscaping, parking and building locations.
9. Any outdoor announcement system shall be operated so it is not audible beyond the property lines.
10. The owner is allowed to have background music and un-amplified, live entertainment on the outdoor patio. Amplified, live entertainment is not allowed at any time.
11. These conditions of special review approval shall run with the land described in this authorization and shall apply to all current and subsequent owners, operators, managers, lease holders, heirs and assigns.
12. The proposed development shall comply with all other limitations of Section 27-613 of the Unified Zoning Regulations concerning special review uses, and all other City of Billings regulations and ordinances that apply.

If the special review is approved, the property will develop, which will increase the property's taxable value and help to support the City services that the casino will need.
 

This is a request to allow the construction of a new casing building, with a beer and wine license.  The property is approximately 1.4 acres and is located several hundred feet north of the intersection of King Avenue West and South 18th Street West.  The subject property is surrounded by industrial and other commercial uses.  All surrounding properties are zoned Controlled Industrial, as is the subject property. Directly surrounding the property is CEI Electrical Contractors to the south, Jones Enterprises to the north, the UPS parking yard to the west, and the Albertsons Distribution Center to the east.  Farther south of the subject property is a Charter warehouse. South and west across King Avenue West are Texas Road House, Hu Hot Mongolian Grill and Spring Hill Suites Marriot. Featherlite trailer sales is located east of the Spring Hills Suites Marriot.  South and west of the subject property is an O’Reilly Auto parts warehouse and retail store.   The Copper Creek Casino at 1731 King Avenue West, Suite 1, has been in its current location since 2006, after receiving a special review approval.  The Word of Life Fellowship Church purchased the property, which includes the casino building, in 2011 and remodeled part of one buildings for church purposes. The casino lease expires in June 2017 and will not be renewed.  The new location, which is north of the current operation, will enable the casino to continue providing services to the same neighborhood it has been in since 2006. According to City of Billings zoning code Section 27-612 (a) (1), there must be a 600-foot separation from an eating and drinking establishment with on premise consumption of alcohol and a church, school, or from a public park that contains a children’s play area.  When the Word of Life Fellowship Church moved into the building, there were two eating and drinking establishments within 600 feet of the property line with on premise consumption of alcohol.  Hu Hot Mongolian Grill is about 91.5 feet from the church, property line to property line, and Texas Road house is about 389 feet, property line to property line.  The building that Copper Creek Casino occupies at 1731 King Avenue West, Suite 1, was also purchased by the church and is on the same parcel of land. There is no property line separation between them, but there is approximately 54-feet of parking and drive lane between them.  The three businesses that are required to have a 600-foot separation from the church were all in place before the church purchased its property.  Measuring from the southwest corner of the subject property to the northwest corner of the Word of Life Fellowship Church property, the distance is approximately 284 feet. The City Council may waive the 600' separation requirement by finding that there are physical barriers between the uses.  Those barriers may include an arterial street that separates the properties; a building or buildings obstruct the view between the separate uses; or there is no direct physical access between the two uses.  The proposed casino will sit on the west side of the subject property, near the frontage of South 18th Street West.  The property to the south is occupied by CEI Electrical Contractors.  This business property is enclosed by a chain-link fence with 3 strands of barbed wire along the top of the fence.  There are trucks and heavy equipment parked around the perimeter of the fenced property, which obscures visibility to the south when the equipment is located there.  South of CEI Electrical Contractors, is the main building of the Word of Life Fellowship Church.  The church occupies approximately one third of the building at the southern end, which fronts King Avenue West.  The back two thirds of the building is leased by Charter Communications and is used as warehouse space.  From the church parking area entry from King Avenue West, it is not possible to see the property where the casino will be located.  The church building itself blocks the views north and the wall enclosed outdoor patio on the west side of the church building also blocks views to the north. There are no sidewalks on South 18th Street West from the subject property to the church property.  There are also chain link fences with barbed wire separating the two properties.  These barriers prevent direct physical access between the properties.  Therefore, the special review use  meets two out of the three criteria for waiving the 600-foot separation requirement. The BMCC is more restrictive than the applicable State Law (MCA 16-3-306) requiring a similar separation distance. The City requirement measures the distance from property line to property line and the state requirement measures from entrance door to entrance door, provided both locations are on the same street.

The Zoning Commission conducted a public hearing on August 2, 2016, and received the staff recommendation, testimony from the applicant and agent, Jerry Jones, and the casino Owner, Greg Post.  Both spoke of the new location as being a good location to move to from the existing space at 1737 King Avenue West, Suite 1.  Mr. Jones stated that if the special review is granted the casino would be built and eventually the land would be sold to the casino owner.

Mr. Post spoke in favor of the application, stating the casino and the church are on good terms but that the church would also like the space the casino is in so they will not be renewing the lease. 

There were some questions from the Zoning Commission for the applicant and agent. The Commission asked if  the casino will own the entire lot, if the new casino was going to be the same size as the existing one, and  if the current casino license is for all beverage or just beer and wine?  Mr. Post responded that the casino will own the entire lot. He said the new casino is slightly larger than the existing one but they are not increasing the number of machines. He stated that they plan to continue with the beer and wine license for now but plan in the future to secure al all-beverage license.

Commission Member Boyett  made a motion to recommend conditional approval and adoption of the findings of the 3 criteria for the special review. The motion was seconded by Commission Member Mariska. The motion was approved on a unanimous voice vote (4-0).
 

Consistency with Adopted Policies and Plans is discussed in the Alternatives Analyzed section above.