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Home My WebLink AboutPZ WS Item 01 - Commuter Rail Station Area PlanningMEMO TO: FROM: MEETING DATE: SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION: P74',NRING AND ZONING• • BRUNO RUMBELOW,MANAGER SCOTT WILLIAMS, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIRECTO+�-� MARCH 17, 2015 Planning and Zoning Commission to discuss strategy for commuter rail station area planning, and take any necessary action. In 2009, the City of Grapevine purchased the property owned by American Locker Group, located at the northeast corner of South Main Street and East Dallas Road, forthe purpose of developing a station and parking for the upcoming TexRail commuter rail service. In 2011, several workshops and a public input meeting were held regarding design elements that might be incorporated in this facility (meeting notes attached). However, due to delays in the Federal New Starts program, the project was delayed, and there was no more formal discussion regarding the rail station or station area planning. The project has now been released for engineering design, and rail service is expected to begin in 2018. Council held a workshop on January 20, 2015, and agreed that the Planning and Zoning Commission would work on planning issues for the appropriate area around the station, while Council would focus initially on planning for the station itself. Staff would like input and direction on the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendations for the scope of the project, as well as any specific zoning/overlays/design guidelines, etc. We would hope that following this meeting, we would at least have a good idea about the possible boundaries for the station area planning project. Maps will be provided showing some possible general boundaries you may wish to consider, as well as maps and aerials showing zoning, future land use, and larger scale views of specific sites. 3/6/2015 8:18:02 AM WK031715 Main Street Commuter Rail Depot Discussion CouncilCity • • 2011May 16, These Notes are based upon memoranda from Tim Baldwin, AICD,, Steer, Davies, Gleave and from Tony Sosebee, PE, Huitt Zollars, Inc. Introduction This memorandum summarizes the discussions during the initial downtown station design workshop with City Council on Monday, May 16, 2011. The discussions followed after reviewing a PowerPoint presentation by Tim Baldwin, AICP, with the firm of Steer, Davies, Gleaver in which he discussed key elements of station design and examples from other cities. Summary of Comments Building Scale and Integration The station building should be proportional to the surrounding area, probably no more than two stories in height. Building Design Themes The building should include elements of the City's farming/agricultural heritage, including cast stone elements, similar to other buildings downtown. The station should retain the historic flavor of downtown with heritage architecture. Building Design Details The station building should reflect the traditional Grapevine style of red brick, and possibly include columns in its design. The canopy design for the Little Rock River Cities Transit Center is one that could fit in Grapevine. A police substation would fit in well in a facility of this type and could serve the community well at this location. The central park or plaza fronting on Main Street is especially important, primarily to provide good sight -lines for the Vintage Railroad depot on Main. The central plaza could also be a community facility, possibly including elements such as a performance stage. The station could include some type of food or restaurant facility (one suggestion: a sno-cone stand). The facility should include bicycle facilities (including goon integration, t•,/ith nearby bicycle paths). Public storage lockers were suggested to allow visitors to stood luggage after arriving on the train. A clock tower (common at many other facilities around the country) may not be needed or advisable given the tower at the Convention and Visitors Bureau building. Residential development in the station building is not desired. However, commercial/office development in the building would seem to be a good fit. The facility could have a retail component of some type. The station could include a museum of some type to promote local tourism and heritage. Other Issues Learn from the design of other depots and stations in other cities and survey books, photos, and the Internet to accumulate example designs. (Skagway, AK Station) Before focusing on the details of the design, decide on the overall vision for the facility — with the major question being, should this facility be a 'destination' in addition to a transit facility? The facility should add to the City's overall parking supply, providing parking for special events. A structured parking facility may ultimately be advisable (with one suggestion being an underground parking facility). Any parking facility at the station should be designed with historic architecture themes to blend into the local community. There should be a pro -active outreach program to the local citizens to get their input into the station design. such as a design workshop or charrette. The City's 4(B) Economic Development Board members should be consulted about potential elements to include in the station's design. Council saw the need for land planning for a Zoning District or overlay on / around the station site, but this needs to be discussed in a, -later meeting and that the public needs to be involved in that process. Transit Oriented Development (TOD) discussion: • Establish streets as places. They have to be human scale with landscaping, walks, patios, lighting, etc. so that they have "life". • Manage parking on the station site and around the area, especially along streets. • An analysis should be considered for Market Potential of surrounding land. There are many under-utilized tracts which developers will buy up and develop as the rail station becomes more of a reality. Having a unified plan in place to guide such development patterns is an important issue for consideration. • Earlier analysis by URS provided a rough Framework Plan 500 additional DU (townhornes, condos, mulit-family} New retail Infill uses (mixture) Maximum sensitivity to external users. Develop a TOD Overlay or district with a regulatory framework and the adoption of form based codes and design standards. An example has been provided in the TOD guidebook 4 Consider land banking for vacant and/or underdeveloped parcels. Next steps At the conclusion of the meeting, staff noted two specific actions to take as'next steps': Holding a public design workshop to solicit local citizens' views on the design of the station and its amenities; and Holding a follow-up workshop with Council to explore transit -oriented development / station area planning ideas and issues for the area surrounding the station. 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