Throw out the DSP and let the subsidies begin!
Design professional and native Woodlander Chris Holt presented these comparisons during the Jan. 18 council meeting. Chase Bank was not required to submit a perspective view of their plans as were previous applicants for the City Center Lofts project (left) or the Tovar Building (top right). The proposed building only covers 13% of the lot, whereas the city's commercial zoning code requires 60%-100% at that site.
Building is too small according to commercial zoning code, city planner lies about lot status
From the Woodland Record:
At Tuesday night's Woodland City Council meeting, local award-winning architect Bill McCandless stood up to support David Wilkinson's appeal of the planning commission's approval of the Chase Bank building design for 304 Main Street. McCandless pointed out many glaring inconsistencies between the bank's proposed design and the Downtown Specific Plan and he suggested that council should just throw away the document if it is not followed.
Lifelong Woodlander Chris Holt also presented his opinion as a design professional. He pointed out the disparity in building sizes between the small Chase elevations and the monumental architectural renderings of two other building designs that were previously approved for that intersection. Chase did not provide a three-dimensional rendering as was required by the two previous applicants. The proposed Chase footprint is only 13% of the lot (87% is dedicated to parking and driveway) that is supposed to be massed as the western gateway to the historic downtown according to the DSP. According to the city's zoning code, commercial lot coverage is required to be 60% to 100% for parcels that front on Main Street between Fourth and Walnut Streets
Council members Martie Dote, Skip Davies and Art Pimentel did not agree with McCandless (an accomplished professional who is very experienced with the DSP) or Holt (an architectural license candidate with a strong interest in the historic downtown) - but they lauded the interpretations set forth by the city's in-house planner and denied the appeal.
Read more at WoodlandRecord.com.
Posts
6 comments:
Hi Dino,
This post may be related or not.
Just wanted to thank who ever got us the new lamposts in front of our store.
The City under Kirkwood said they could not upgrade my lamp post until they upgraded the underground utilities. I was promised new lamposts back in 2000. I have complained about the old ones for many years.
I finally got and am grateful for the new ones in a few weeks ago and they look so much nicer than the old rusted green ones.
It is nice to finally have our end of town included in the downtown upgrades.
Thank you to whom ever at the City finally accomplished this, as it looks so much nicer.
Brenda Cedarblade
Brenda,
I believe those were the byproduct of the SACOG grant in anticipation of the new courthouse going up across Freeman Park. The city applied for a grant with SACOG listing Petrovich as a partner in a $24 million plan for a Third and Main multiplex and a parking facility right next door to your building. Did you know about that?
The City promised me lights long before the courthouse / movie deal.
I do not know where the money came from; but it is just nice to have the new lights like the rest of the downtown and continuity; in my lifetime.
I have not heard about a parking garage in this neck of the woods since the court house moved across the street. There is supposed to be enough on site parking.
Brenda Cedarblade
You mean the city didn't let you know about their plan to construct a parking facility right next door to you? What a surprise : )
And actually, now that I'm looking at the map again, it appears your property is part of the proposed parking/retail facility.
You probably missed this WR article then:
http://woodlandrecord.com/petrovichs-million-main-third-multiplex-plan-escapes-rdas-grip-cit-p1544-1.htm
I do not think this is current??? I thought the garage was a by gone deal as there was enough parking for the court house and the parking would be onsite. Building a parking garage at our site location does not make much sense.
As I recall in the old DSP my building became the fountain.
I just scanned the article briefly and will read it later.
The garage project everyone knew about (because of the WR) was supposed to go on the south side of Court St. between Third and Fourth - across Dead Cat Alley from Petrovich's multiplex and across Court St. from the planned site of the courthouse.
That aside, the SACOG grant application was dated September 2, 2009, about the same time the city knew that the garage project would be dead.
"Rumors that the garage project is dead began to surface after the September 15 Woodland City Council meeting. There was no legal opportunity for the council to discuss the courthouse project that evening - since the closed session item for that meeting could only include negotiations for price and terms of property - but perhaps individual conversations with court representatives coincidentally came to a head sometime that day. The Woodland Record has heard from four reliable sources that the garage project will not move forward."
Courthouse garage project stalls, may be dead
Sept. 23 (posted at WR and WJ that day, story updated on Sept. 24 at WR
http://woodlandrecord.com/courthouse-garage-project-stalls-may-be-dead-p885-1.htm
"On August 17, 2009, the State Public Works Board (PWB) authorized site selection for the Yolo County Courthouse project at the preferred location of the 3.75-acre block bordered by Main Street, Lincoln Avenue, Fifth Street, and Sixth Street. This action allows the State to proceed with the environmental review under CEQA for the courthouse project."
Downtown Garage Project officially dead
http://woodlandrecord.com/downtown-garage-project-officially-dead-p904-1.htm
Do you see what happened here? The AOC chose another location for its courthouse. During Aug. and Sept. the city scrambled because they also knew what the parking study would reveal - that downtown did not need a parking structure.
So they suddenly switched gears with the SACOG grant and unbeknownst to you, added your property as part of this new parking scheme that would help Petrovich's multiplex project. They knew the Court St. parking structure would disappear so they submitted this plan that included your property so they could fool SACOG into giving them money.
Post a Comment