jx events studio - planning commission packet

8/10/2019 JX Events Studio - Planning Commission Packet

1/12

PLANNINGCOMMISSION

MEETINGDATE: November 12, 2014

Parking Commission:

October 23, 2014

Planning Commission: October 8 ,

2014

CASE

NO.:

SUP

2014-

31

APPLICANT:

Judd Sather

REQUEST:

Special Use

Permit to

operate

an

event

center

at 124

Main Sreet

South

ZONING: CBD -

Central Business COMPPLANDISTRICT: DMU-Downtown

Mxed Use

PREPARED

BY:

Abbi

Jo Wittman, City

Planner

BACKGROUND

At th e Planning

Commission'

s last

regularly -

scheduled

meeting,

th e

Commission

tabled an

application from

Judd

Sather for th e

creation of

J X Events

Venue,

a two-

story

events center

to

be located at 120- 124 Main

Street

South. At

that meeting

th e

Commission

continued the public

hearing, requesting th e following materials be

submitted by

th e applicant:

1.

An

accessible exits

and

route

plan depicting

access

to

accessible parking

spaces;

and

2.

A

parking

plan depicting

th e alternative

parking provisions

determined to

be

acceptable

by

the

Downtown

Parking

Commission;

and

3.

An

event security

plan; and

4.

Soundproofing details developed by a professional engineer that

specializes

in sound

transmsson.

Since

th e

Commission' s meeting in

October, th e

applicant ha s submitted an

event

security

plan

as

well

as soundproofing details which

have

been

determined

to

be

sufficient

by City staff.

Since

the

original application

submission the

appl icant ha s reduced the total

occupancy

of the

venue

to 630 people. This

would be

achieved

by

utilizing

fixed

seating

in half of each of

th e

floor

areas not designated as storage, office, restrooms,

or

kitchen. This reduces the total

parking requirement to

211

parking spaces. The existing uses require45 spaces, leaving

a

deficit

of

166 parking spaces.

Th e

applicant

met

with th e

Downtown

Parking

Commission

DTPC) on October 23

to

discuss alternative provisions

to

the deficit of 166 parking spaces for

this

venue. In a 3- 3 vote, with

on e member

abstaining due to a conflict of

interest,

th e D T PC did

not approve

a

parking

plan.

Since

that meeting, the appl icant

has

proposed utilizing

valet

services

with loading zones dedicated

on

Chestnut

Street

n ea r th e

intersection

with

Main

as

well as

on

Union

Alley. This

proposal ha s

not

been reviewed by

th e DTPC.


2/12

Th e applicant h as a lso

proposed

the

creation

of

a

main entrance off

of

Union

Alley

in th e

first

phase (

the first story) of th e venue. A

main

entrance

in

this location, with an

interior

elevator,

would provide for an accessible entrance with

access to

a single accessible on -

street

parking

space

Th e

nearest

public parking on an

accessible route

is located approximately on e and

a

half blocks (

500 feet)

away

to th e surface

lot #

16, below the

armory,

and two

blocks (

600 feet)

away

to th e

parking

ramp.

Th e

Main

Street

entrance

is

also

an

accessible

route

but

there

is

no

parking or loading in this location. Lot #6 , at th e pedestr ian plaza,

is

approximately 450' away.

u =

c

A

First phase event

center

Theproposed use is

surrounding

uses.

APPLICABLE

GUIDELINES

AND

REGULATIONS

Section 31- 325

indicates that

assembly

halls

in

theCentral Business District

require

a

Special Use

Permt.

Section

31-

207 establishes the reviewstandards

for Special

Use

Permits:

1) Theproposed

structureor

use

conforms to the

requirements

and

the

intent

of this chapter, and of

th e

comprehensve

plan,

reevant

area

plans andother

lawful

regulations.

allowed within the subject zoning district, if it is found

compatible

with

Comprehensive Plan Chapter 6, Local

Economy,

indicates an objective of

supporting

business

expansion

in

the

downtown

commercial

district.

This would be

achieved

through

the following

implementation

actions: [

e ]

ncourage

small,

locally

owned,

businesses

particularly

in

th e

Downton and [

p]

romote

office and service

jo b

locations

in

and around the

downtown."

Comprehensive

Plan

Chapter 7 , Economic

Development, indicates

a

goal of promoting and

maintaining th e downtown as

a

central

focus

for community,

econom ic and

cultural

activity

as

tourismhas

allowed the

Sillwater downtown to

avoid thevacant buildings and

physical

decline seen

in

other

traditional

downtowns.

While

th e

events center may help support these

goals,

objectives

and

implementation actions,

the

event

center use of two

storefronts

will prohibit futureretail use in these

units.

While there

is no ordinance requiring

th e

first floor

to

remain commercial, th e

use

of an events center is at

odds with the

Comprehensive

Pan'

s guidance.TheComprehensive

Pan

indicates an

estimate

20,

00 0

square

feet

of n ew

retail

space

could

be

supported by

2020.

The loss

of

7,

000

square

feet

of

retail space

o n th is

block

of

Main

Street

could

have

a potentially

adverse effect

to

th e City' s

goal of " increase[ ing]

th e

ta x base and

providing

economic growth for Stillwater."

Oher

Lawful Regulations

In review of

th e

request

with

City staff, th e following items

were

determined

to be

some i tems

of

concern:

CPC

11-

12-14 (SUP/ 2014-31)

Continued Public Hearing

120-124 Main Sreet South

Page 2 of 4


3/12

ADA compliancy (

including accessible routes and distance

to

accessible

s p a c e s ) : ADA

compliancy and

building

exiting

ca n

be achieved with

significant

upgrades and

improvements

to

th e

structure. Building Official

Shilts,

as

well

as

Assistant

Fire

Chief

Ballis,

have

conducted

site

inspections

and determned

plans

will need to

be submtted

to

show

proof

of

th e

applicant'

s

ability

to m ee t

current

code

standards.

A

condition

of

approval

would

include

the

appl icant

shall secure all

required

approvals from

the

City'

s

Building Official

and Fire

Marshall, as well as

Washington

County

Health Department,

prior to operating the event

center.

This includes, but

is not limited

to, installing

required exiting and meeting

ADA

requirements.

Parking

and

Traffic (

including, b ut n ot limited

to,

the inability

to stop

in front of the

business

on

Main

Street a s

the South

100 block ofMain

Street

has no parking or stopp ing

provisions

to

accommodatefor

drive and turn lanes at the Chestnut and Main intersections): The concerns

of th e impact to

th e

traffic in this location, as well as th e deficit of

parking,

ha s not been

resolved

Event

security

and noise ( including impact to neighboring

residences):

Updated security and

soundproofing details have been provided.

2 Any

additional

conditions

necessary

for

th e

public interest

have been

imposed

or use

and/ or

structurewll

not constitute

a nuisance

or be

detrimental

to

the

public

welfareof

the

community.

The

focus of

this

reviewstandard

is

whether

the

proposed

use can operate

in its proposed

location without negatively

impacting surrounding uses, or

the general neighborhood.

In

October staff indicated if issues of security, soundproofing, accessibility as well as parking

could

be

resolved, staff

could

determine

necessary

conditions

for

a

recommendation

of

approval. However, issues regarding parking

and

traffic safe ty have

not

been resolved

with a satisfactory level of detail.

ALTERNATIVES

AND

RECOMMENDATION

1.

Approve

the Special Use

Permit

request with

or

without

conditions.

If the

Commssionwould like

to

approve the Special Use

Permt with conditions, staff

would recommend the following:

a. No greater

than

3,500

square

feet of the first

floor

would beutilized

as

rentable areas for events or event

functions

for a

total

occupancy of no

greater

than

367

persons.

O

the

total

rentable

area,

no

less

than

1 ,

750

square feet

must

be

permanently

fixed

table seating. A total of 1 , 750 square feet

may be

dedicated to flexible

seating.

b.

No

greater

than 2,500

square feet

of th e second floor may be utilized as

rentable area for

events

or

event

functions for a maximum

occupancy

of 263

persons.

O the

total

rentable

area,

no less than

1 ,

250 square feet must be

permanently fixed

table

seating.

A

total of 1 ,

250

square feet may

be

dedicated

to

flexible seating.

CPC

11-

12-14 (SUP/ 2014-31)



Page 3

of4


4/12

c.

Prior to

th e

operating of

an

event

center, the

applicant shall secure all

required approvals

from

the

Stillwater

Building Department,

Stillwater

Fire

Department and

Washington

County Health

Department.

d.

The applicant

shall

implement th e

soundproofing plan,

as

submitted

with

the

Planning Commission'

s November

11, 2014, meeting packet.

e.

The

event venue

shall

a d he re to

the

event

security plan,

as

submitted

with

th e Planning Commission'

s

November 11,

2014,

meeting packet.

f.

All existing

an d

future trash receptacles

shall

be stored

inside

the

building at all

times with

the

exception of

the d ay of

trash

collection.

g.

Prior to the commencement of any

exterior

work, including

th e

installation

of

lighting

and signage, a

Design

Review permit

shall be

submitted and

approved

by

the Heritage

Preservation

Commission prior to th e issuance of a building permit

for this project.

i.

Any conditions attached to the Design

Permit

issued by th e Heritage

Preservation

Commission for th is addit ion

are incorporated

by

reference

into

this

Special Use

Permt.

h.

Th e

applicant

must propose

a

detailed

parking an d drop- off/

pick-

up

plan that

is

found

acceptable to th e City Council. Any required parking mitigation fees or

other conditions required

by the

City Council must be

included

in

the

applicant' s

Zoning Permit.

i.

The

applicant shall

secure all required

approvals

from

th e

City' s Building

Official and Fire Marshall, as well as Washington County Health Department,

prior to operating the event

center.

2.

Determne

that

theproposed events

center

is not consistent with

the

Special

UsePermit

provisions

or

th e

Comprehensive

P la n a nd

deny th e

Special

U se Permit.

3.

Table the

application

by

extending

the

60 -

day dead line

to

1 /

17/

2015

and request the

applicant develop

a

plan to alleviate traffic safety

concerns

as well as an alternative

to th e parking provisions

that

is found to be acceptable to th e Downtown

Parking

Commission and/ or City Council.

As

there

are still parking and traffic

safety concerns

with th e

proposed

events center, staff

recommends

the

Planning

Commission deny SUP/ 2014-

31

for JX

Events Venue

or

table

the

application

by extend ing

the 60 -

day

deadline to

1 / 17 / 2015.

ATTACHMENTS

Site

Location Map

Applicant Revised

Narrative

FirstFloor Pan

Second Floor Pan

Soundproofing

Estimate

CPC

11-

12-14 (SUP/ 2014-31)



Page4 of 4


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6/12

Planning

Commission

supplemental information for JX

Event

Venue

November 1 ,

2014

Dear

Planning

Commission,

We

are

exci ted to bring more people to

th e

north

end of

Stillwater, a s well

as an d

to bring th e parking

ramp to h igher profitability

with

the proposed

opening of J X

Event

Venue. We have worked hard with

architect Mark Balay and

building

official Cindy Shi ltz

to

modify

the

floor

plan

so

th e

maximum

capacity

would be reduced

to 367 people on the

lower level

and reduced to

2 6 3 people on the

upper

level fo r

a

total

of 6 3 0 total maximum occupants. This

reduction

was d one by

adding bigger

bathrooms, kitchens, storage areas, and fixed

seating.

Phase

One ( 120/

122

South Main) Phase

Two (

124

South Main)

Z

0

6

CR

8

N

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4


7/12

It has been determined p er

building

code

that

an elevator would be

required

for accessibility

a t th e

Union Alley

entrance.

This would require that

we

would be asking for

the

special

use

permit for both

phase one and phase

two.

The upper level (which has been vacant for

25+

years)

would

be built out

as the budget

allows

over one to

two

years, and the elevator

would

be limited to

lower

level and

the

Union Alley

grade level.

An event

venue

provides

business to

many other

local businesses. Following is

a list of

all

of

th e local

businesses

that

have

been

contracted by clients

of

Th e

Loft

at Studio

J (

2 14

Main

Street

South):

Famous Dave s, Green

Mill,

The Green Room, LOLO, Marx, Lake Elmo Inn, Hanson's Liquor, Oaks Wine

Spirits, Buttercream ofStillwater, Sara' s Tipsy

Pies,

Quickfire Pizza,

Stillwater Trolley, Our

Shop,

Camrose

Hill, and countless other vendors including hotels, B &

B' s , musicians, DJs, florists, makeup

artists and

hair stylists.

For comparison purposes, 95%

of

our current events at The Loft

at

Studio J are seated wedding

dinners

and

receptions wth

an

average

of

54%

of

max

occupancy (

17 5 average

guests

with

3 2 7

max

occupancy).

W e have 2 5 of th e 31 Saturdays booked already in

April -

October of 2015. 2 3 of

th e

2 5

events

are

weddings.

W e are asking that

the

parking and planning

commission

grant

a variance

wherewe offer valet

services

to th e parking ramp and other public lots if needed. The Parking

Commission

voted

3- 3

on th e

question

to mitigate

8 6

permits

for

phase

one

only. At

that

time,

it

was

n ot k no w n that the elevator would be

necessary.

Below

is additional information requested

by

city staff

including

a security

plan,

soundproofing

plan,

parking

plan, and

map ofaccessible entrances.

Parking Plan -

JX

Events (Event Venue)

The

parking

ramp is on e

block

from th e p r op o se d e ve nt venue. The

Parking

Commission was

concerned

that

we

could

not

guarantee that

guests

would park

in the

ramp.

Since

that meeting,

we

came

up

with

the

valet

idea

that would

guarantee

that

cars

would

ge t

to

the

ramp

and

pay the

fee,

which would profit th e city

more

than mitigation. Also as an

event

center,

we

have

the

luxury of

communicating

with

a bride exactly wherewe want her

guests

to park. After

one

year of operation of

The Loft at Studio

J (

214 Main

Street South),

parking

ha s

not

been an issue

with very

little

complaints.

We offer shuttle services through

th e

Stillwater Trolley

that

has only been

contracted

about 5 %

of

the

time for

clients

that are

most

concerned about parking

issues.

Parking is largely a perceived issue, so I took some timeto

check

out the use of th e ramp over the last

couple of weeks

during

peak times. The first check was 2 p m on

Saturday,

October 18. It was

a

beautiful autumn

day

in

town

with hundreds of people

walking

around

and

we

had

a wedding at

Th e

Loft as well as

other venues.

It

wa s about th e

time guests

would show up for a wedding. I noted that

5

of

the

6

accessible

parking

spaces

within

on e

block

of

12 0

and

12 2

M a in S tre et

were

open

an d

the

parking

ramp

was

only

about 1 0 %

occuped

Th e

next

check was another beautiful fall

day on Saturday , October

25 an d

at

fpm

th e

ramp was

about

10%

full,

at

2pm it was about

20%

full,

and at

6pm it

was

50% full. There were weddings

at

The

Lowell

Inn, Water Street Inn, T h e G ra nd , and The Loft at Studio J . This means that

there were

still

over 100 parking spaces available

in

th e

ramp

at a peak time

when

all

those

wedding guests were at

the venues. Many

people

have commented that

th e

only time the ramp is

full

is the

fourth

of

July.


8/12

Adding

phase

2 to th e Special Use Permit

would

increase

th e

parking

mitigation

to

1 6 6

spaces. At $10

per space that

is $ 1 ,

660 per month that

is

not

feasible

in our business

plan. Wth the

valet idea,

two

or three

spaces

in Union Alley or Chestnut St reet would be leased

to

allow for

the

valet service. This

valet service could be s ha re d a m on g

other

businesses as well.

The

parking

commission also

had

concerns with no stopping /

loading near

the

front entrances.

This

would be alleviated with

the

creation

of the main entrance

on

Union

Alley.

When the

bridge closes in

2 0 1 6 , there may be added

drop-

off areas on

Main

Street and/

or

Chestnut in

the

yellow

curb

area ( see

below).

Accessible Entrance # 1 x

N ew fining for eevator(

ix

x - Accessible Entrance #2

Events

x - Accessible Entrance #3

Pr0Qosed(

f : , ,

r

J

A- Nfr

r

FUTURE

PLAZA?

Moreparking

and/

or city-wide valeta

1--

We are

op en to a

reduction

in

the

amount

of

occupants

by ordinance to

make

this project

work

PRECEDENT: Th e Loft at Studio J is mitigating 12 parking spaces for a

max

occupant load of

327.

Here is a list

of the parking

lots nearest

to the proposed

J X Event Venue.

Public Lots (Total of459 spaces):

Parking

Ram p: 218 spaces

plus

6

Handicapped

Teddy

Bear

Park: 88

spaces

plus

4

Handicapped

Courthouse Memorial Lot:

71 spaces

plus 4 Handicapped

Lower

Courthouse Lot:

82 spaces

plus

2

Handicapped

Private Lots (Total

of 103

spaces

and

would

need to

be privately contracted):

Cub Lot: 51 spaces

plus 3

Handicapped

US

Bank:

22-38 spaces

Chestnut Building: 2 0- 4 0

spaces

Shorty'

s : 7 - 1 0 spaces


9/12

Security

Plan -

JX Events (

Event

Venue)

W e spokewith

Nate

Meredith

from

the

Stillwater Police Department a nd cam e

up with

this

security

plan

together:

1.

Security Cameras with DVR recording (

4

downstairs, 2 -

4

upstairs)

a.

Viewable on monitors at host office and on mobile devices

2.

Security

personnel

onsite (

On e

security

person

per 2 5 0

guests)

a.

Training to

keep

out

non -

invited

guests

and

keep

all

drinks

inside

building

a t a ll

three exits

b.

Call

police

in

case

of emergency

c.

Have

enough

staff onsite for on e security person per exit

3.

Keep gift tableadjacent to building host office

4.

Have

bartenders serving

alcohol be trained a nd h av e

their ow n liquor

liability insurance

5.

Put in

writing

to clients

that

loading /

unloading is

not

to

happen on th e

curb in front

of event

center, but

in

Union Alley or

parking

on Chestnut

Soundproofing plan -

JX

Events (Event Venue)

W e conducted a sound

test

on November

3

and

heard

no

sound transfer

at neighboring business The

T -

Shirt Factory. Music could be heard in the off ices above theproposed venue. These businesses

above

will normally be

closed during

event hours, but th e

following

measures will be ta k en to stay

within

city

noise ordinances.

1. Carpet /

Acoustic tiles on North

and South

walls providing

maximum sound

dampening

a.

This

will minimize

sound echo within the

event

venue,

and

virtually eliminatesound

transmission to neighboring businesses (

adjacent

and above)

that will

generally

not be

open

during event hours

2.

Sound tiles

on

ceiling (

2x4'

tiles spaced evenly every

8')

to eliminate sound transmission

to

second floor

3.

Blown insulation in

second

floor

per

fire

code

to eliminate

sound

transmission

to between

floors

4.

Monitor

bass

levels wth DJ s and bands, which is

the sound

that travels

the most.

5.

Double 5 / 8

layer of

sheetrock

in ceiling

between

lower

level

and apartment in Northwest

corner that will

be

partof

the

venue lease.

6. Vendor -

ATS Acoustics -

wwwatsacoustics.

com(See

attachedquotes)

Thank you for considering

our

proposal to breathe life

into

this historic building. It is

exciting to

have

thepossibility of

a

largeenough event center to attracthigh-end events and fundraisers

that

would

normally stay in St. Paul or Minneapolis.

JX

Event Venue could also host craft fairs and the like that

Stillwater

residents

currently

only

can

enjoy

during

the summer.

Use

of

th e

space

for

citywide

events

could even be part of th e parking mitigation. This venue would be an upgrade from The Loft at Studio

J in three ways:

first floor access,

larger, an d

c loser to parking.

A

year-round,

first

class event

space

would

be

a benefit for

many

businesses in town an d bring th e city's parking ramp investment to

higher profitability.

Judd

Sather

Owner,The Loft at Studio J -

214 Main Street South

Judd@ studiojphoto.

com,

651-342-

1476


10/12

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ACOUSTCS

Just

Listen,

Quote

Number:

86595-

8371

Date:

October

27, 2014

Valid through:

November

26, 2014

Your

contact: Heather

Phone: 866-787-7881

Fax: 815-364-0242

15 W Main St, Box 260

Piper

City,

IL ,

60959

[email protected]

wwwatsacoustics.com

Your Quote

from ATS Acoustics

Dear

Judd

Sather,

Thank

yo u

for the opportunity to

provide this quote. If yo u have any qu estions or ad di tiona l

r eq u i re m e nt s p l ea s e do n't hesitate

to

contact

me. I

ll

be h a ppy to help in

an y way I

can.

Thanks

Heather

Sales Representative

ATS Acoustics

Items Quoted

Description

Unit Price

Quantity

Extended

ATS Acoustic

Pane - 24 x

48

x 2

Color:

Black

Fire

Rating:

A ST M E 8 4 C la ss A

Desired edge profile: Beveled

57. 20 214 panels $

12,

240.

80

Subtotal $

12,240.80

Shipping

to 55082

via LTL Freight $

1 , 093.

52

Total Before Dscount $ 13,

334.

32

Discount

Saves

You $

500.

00

Total $

12,834. 32

Hardware

is

included

in this

quote

If customer requires a lift gate service, Conway

w il l c h ar ge

an

additional $

9 0 .00 ,

which

will

be

a dd ed to th e s hip p in g cost.

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