CY37-24

Request of Civil Site Group, on behalf of the property owner for a certificate of design compliance for the construction of a new, approximately 5,200 square foot structure in the Highway Gateway Overlay District. The subject property is described as Lot 8, Block 1, River Hills Mall Addition (1896 Adams Street).

The anticipated date of City Council action is September 9, 2024. 
 

The applicant is Civil Site Group, on behalf of the property owner. 

The applicant is requesting a certificate of design compliance for the construction of a new, approximately 5,200 square foot structure in the Highway Gateway Overlay District. The applicant's initial request included a request for a conditional use permit, however after evaluation, the drive-thru area is located such that the standards in the code are achieved and, thus, not requiring a conditional use permit. 

The subject property is located 1896 Adams Street, and is legally described as Lot 8, Block 1, River Hills Mall Addition. 

An existing building located on the site, and is proposed for demolition with the current proposal. 

The property is zoned B-3, Highway Commercial District. 

There are no known environmentally sensitive areas on the site. 

Public utilities currently serve the site, and are proposed to serve the new structures. 

Mankato City Code pertaining to the B-3, Highway Commercial Business District can be found here: https://library.municode.com/mn/mankato/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CH10LAUSZO_PTVCODI_S10.47HICODI

Mankato City Code pertaining to the Highway Gateway Overlay District can be found here: https://library.municode.com/mn/mankato/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=CH10LAUSZO_PTVCODI_S10.48GTGAOVDI

The submission was reviewed by the Site Plan and Traffic Advisory Committee at their August 13, 2024 meeting. Below are the comments as presented, along with the applicant's responses. 

1. Applicant shall fill out a SIU (significant Industrial User) application which is attached. Connection charges will be evaluated upon submittal of SIU. The application shall be submitted as soon as possible.
   CSG RESPONSE: This has been filled out and submitted
2. Location will retain 1896 Adams St. Address.CSG RESPONSE: Noted
3. Applicant shall clarify the intended conditional use request. As reviewed, a conditional use permit may not be necessary if the drive-through area is not located in front of the primary structure.
   CSG RESPONSE: We will rescind our application for a conditional use permit, as there is no drive-through going in front of the primary structure and front lot line.
4. The lighting levels at the property line exceed the Code allowable standard of ½ foot candle. Adjustments will be necessary in order to achieve the City Code standards.
   CSG RESPONSE: An updated photometric plan meeting City Code will be submitted with the building permit set.
5. Exterior finishes allowable in the Highway Gateway Overlay district are as follows. Please provide a drawing that represents the percentage of materials, in particular, the concrete block, on each elevation. CSG RESPONSE: Exterior finishes have been revised, and material percentage calculations have been included on the elevations sheet. Note: the pump house and trash enclosure show CMU as the material, but the final drawings will be revised to be BRK-2 to match the main building and comply with the overlay district material finish standards. 
6. All exterior light fixtures shall achieve Mankato City Code standards including, but not limited to, full-cut, fully shielded fixtures. Lighting cut sheets shall be provided. CSG RESPONSE: Lighting cut sheets will be provided with building permit set.
7. Noise data confirming that the proposed use conforms to Minnesota Rule 7030 standards shall be provided.
   CSG RESPONSE: A full sound study report is included with this submittal.

 

Civil Site Group, on behalf of the property owner, is seeking consideration for a certificate of design compliance for the construction of a new, approximately 5,200 square foot structure in the Highway Gateway Overlay District.

The subject property is located at 1896 Adams Street and is legally described as Lot 8, Block 1, River Hills Mall Addition.

The applicant is seeking a Certificate of Design compliance for the construction of a new structure in the Highway Gateway Overlay District, HGT. The HGT is intended to promote high quality design in Mankato's gateways. The areas included within this district are located at major entryways into the City and are located in commercial and office zoning districts. The design features and standards included in the City's ordinance are not only to create a positive first impression upon entering the City, but also to establish an image and character that is uniquely Mankato's. 

Removals plans submitted by the applicant show the removal of the existing structure on the lot located on the easterly side of River Hills Mall adjacent to Highway 22.

The site plan shows access to the previously platted lot from the mall ring road, a private road. River Hills Mall Realty Holdings, LLC, the mall property owner, has submitted a letter of approval providing their formal consent to the proposed project and site plan as submitted. There are two access points to the subject lot; one access point on the southerly side of the lot for both ingress and egress to this site and one access point on the northerly side of the lot for egress only from the subject site. The site plans depict two car wash drive-thru lanes accessing the car wash structure, along with a by-pass lane for the drive-thru area. The location of the drive-thru conforms to the Highway Gateway Overlay standards. While the original submission included a request for a conditional use permit for the location of the drive-thru, upon further review, the location of the drive-thru conforms to the Code standards without the need for a conditional use permit, as the drive-thru is not located between the building and the primary frontage. 

Proposed construction includes a new, approximately 5,200 square foot car wash building. The main building on the site, which is located on the easterly side of the lot, achieves the Highway Gateway Overlay District setback standards. On interior lots, the minimum front yard building setback shall be fifteen (15) feet and the maximum shall be one hundred and fifty (150) feet from the right-of-way or roadway easement, and as proposed, the setback is 16' from the Highway 22 property line. The proposal also achieves the rear and side yard setbacks of three (3) foot side yard or rear yard setback to an impervious parking or storage surface and a six (6) foot setback to any portion of a building. 

The site contains 19 surface parking lot parking stalls in the new parking lot area, along with sufficient room for 3 stacking stalls in each of the car wash drive-thru lanes, which achieves Mankato City Code parking standards. Mankato City Code section 10.85 outlines that carwash uses shall provide three (3) off-street vehicle stacking spaces per wash stall and one (1) off-street parking space per employee on a major shift. The narrative provided with the submimssion indicates that on the largest shift there will be 3 employees maximum. The narrative indicates that there will be 9 vacuums serving the parking stalls and that the vacuums will be free for use during regular business hours. A slightly larger parking stall is designed to accommodate the vacuums and the vacuums are aligned with one vacuum post serving two parking stalls. Each vacuum has (2) hoses that are attached to a central vacuum system that routes to either the main building or the detached pump house at the southeast corner of the site. Each vacuum station is also equipped with a trash bin, a mat clip for easy vacuuming, and a central blower system to help clean those hard-to-reach places. The color of the exterior vacuum hoses and components will need to achieve the City's franchise coloring standards, and a condition is included herein. 

The City Code allows a maximum ground coverage of 75% and the proposed development achieves the code criteria at 12.6% structure coverage. 

A new, cast in place concrete retaining wall is proposed on the eastern side of the site. The site plans include that the new wall will be tied into the existing wall and the top of the new retaining wall will match the existing wall on both the north and south end of the property. 

In addition to the main carwash building, the applicant's site plan also shows accessory structures including a sales booth, and a pump house structure, each of which achieve the Code setback critiera and the design criteria as having a proposed finish similar to the primary structure. A trash enclosure is shown on the northern side of the site, and the materials are depicted as structural brick to match the primary structure, which is keeping with Mankato City Code. 

The Highway Gateway Overly District building design and construction standards are achieved with the proposal. The proposed building will be constructed of a mixture of brick, cast stone, split face concrete masonry units, CMU, a stucco-like product, EIFS, metal and aluminum storefront window systems. The applicant has submitted the exterior wall material elevation percentages, which confirm that the proposal achieves the allowable 20% maximum usage of each elevation of CMU. Exterior wall coloring achieves the franchise coloring standards as gray is an earth tone color. 

The applicant has submitted a photometric plan that will require slight modifications in order to achieve the City Code requirement of a maximum lighting level at the property line of 1/2 foot candle. A condition is included herein that requires that, in conjunction with the building permit submission, all light fixture cut sheets be provided to demonstrate conformance with Mankato City Code section 10.89 standards, which include, but are not limited to, light fixtures that are full-cut, fully-shielded style, and that a conforming photometric plan shall be provided. 

The applicant has conducted a preliminary noise study for the proposal. The applicant is working on adjustments to the findings in order to achieve Minnesota Rule 7030 noise standards. A condition is included herein that requires that at the time of building permit submission the applicant will provide a noise study that demonstrates conformance to the noise standards in Minnesota Rule 7030. 

The applicant's plans indicated that their snow removal plan entails that all snow will be stored onsite outside the parking lot. When full, a snow removal company will be hired to remove the excess snow from the site. The applicant's plans do not show an off-street loading area, and the applicant has indicated that deliveries will occur at the front door by standard commercial delivery vehicles such as UPS, Fed-Ex, or USPS. The applicant does not anticipate deliveries which would require the use of a semi-truck or a loading dock. 

A landscaping plan has been provided with the submission. The Highway Gateway Overlay standards require that wherever a parking surface faces a street frontage, the parking area shall be screened from the street with a wall, fence or hedge to a minimum of 4', but not more than 8', nor be less than eighty percent opaque. The applicant will be required to demonstrate that this standard is achieved with the height of the proposed retaining wall along with the proposed plantings. In addition, the general landscaping standards including one, six-foot evergreen tree for every 25' lineal feet or parking area, and one, 2.5 include caliper shade tree for every 50 feet of parking area will be required. A condition is included herein that a landscaping plan verifying conformance with Mankato City Code shall be provided at the time of building permit submission. 

The location will be for the operation of Tsunami Express Car Wash, which is allowed in the B-3 zoning district. The applicant's narrative states that regular business hours will be from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily and that there will be attendants on duty for the full duration of the operating hours. Tsunami expects to service 200-400 customers per day, according to the narrative. 

 

Staff respectfully submits the following findings of fact for the requested certificate of design compliance: 

1. The property is located in the Highway Gateway Overlay District and the proposed value of the project exceeds $500,000.
2. The design of building elevations conforms to the guidelines when considered with the proposed approving conditions in the underlying district as the use of brick, CMU, EIFS, glass, and metal accents as a minor part of the overall design conforms to the standards. All sides of the building visible to the public will be treated consistently with quality materials and finishes.

Staff recommends approval of the certificate of design compliance with the following conditions: 

1. At the time of building permit submission, all lighting cut sheets shall be provided. All lighting shall achieve Mankato City Code section 10.89 standards. 
2. At the time of building permit submission, the applicant shall provide a photometric plan that demonstrates conformance with Mankato City Code. 
3. The site shall achieve Mankato City Code franchise coloring standards. This shall include all exterior components including, but not limited to, the exterior vacuum hoses and components. 
4. Bicycle parking stalls shall be provided in conformance with Mankato City Code. 
5. At the time of building permit submission, the applicant shall provide a noise study that demonstrates conformance with Minnesota Rule 7030 noise standards. 
6. A landscaping plan conforming to Mankato City Code shall be provided at the time of building permit submission. 
7. Prior to the fabrication or procurement of signage, the applicant shall submit sign permits for review and approval. All signage shall adhere to the City Code standards.