HomeMy WebLinkAbout81- Koening - Driveway CommentsI’m Marcia Koenig, Evan’s wife. I live 3 lots directly south of the proposed Hotel Conference Center at 3164 Oak Bay Road. I am associated with the group “Concerned Neighbors of Oak Bay Road”.
I would like to talk about the Type 3 CUP criteria (c) that the
Permit Application fails to satisfy,
namely that the Hotel Conference Center will have a materially
detrimental impact on a resident’s use of her property.
To determine the impact of the facility-related traffic, you need to consider the time of year when the facility will have the greatest impact, using the maximum number of guest cars that come & go. This traffic impact won’t be evenly distributed over the year, because it will be higher during the peak summer months. Nor will it be uniformly distributed during the day because facility-related traffic will surge whenever guests arrive, about 2 hrs before activities begin, and again about 2 hrs after the end.
SEPA states that the Conference Center will have a total of 31 parking stalls for
guests, 7 workers and a manager. That leaves 23 parking stalls for guests.
That’s the maximum number of cars that all guests are expected to use. Of course, once at the Center, with the parking lot at full capacity, who would really turn away a guest entirely or prevent a guest from parking along the driveway as a last resort? With up to 35 guests, there actually could be as many as 35 non-carpooling guest cars going into and out of the Center, instead of the assumed 23 cars.
This means as many as 35 cars could exit the Hotel Conference Center
during approximately a 2-hour period, after activities end, and later that same day, as many as another 35 cars could enter
during approximately a 2-hour period, before activities begin for the next
group. With guests staying as little as 2 nights at a time, residents on Oak Bay Rd could expect this guest egress and entry to occur as often as every other day, for the entire summer.
Also, please note, this traffic scenario doesn’t include sightseeing trips, workers’ cars,
the manager’s or caretakers’ cars, cars of visiting craft professionals, delivery trucks,
miscellaneous maintenance vehicles & garbage trucks.
Now Oak Bay Rd is only one lane in each direction & the posted speed limit here is 50
mph.
Exhibit 81
Exhibit 81 Page 1048
During the 2-hour arrival period, northbound guests will slow down, and possibly stop before turning into the Conference Center. It would be unclear whether the oncoming traffic will drive by at 50 mph or are guests also, who will turn. So any northbound guest may end up waiting for the traffic to clear before turning, meanwhile holding up all additional northbound traffic behind.
Terri Ross, is a long-time resident, whose driveway is directly opposite the Conference
Center’s driveway. It is her driveway that will be totally blocked every time a
northbound guest, and any traffic behind, slows down or stops, before turning left.
Similarly, when leaving the Center, guests turning left will go right past the front of Terri’s driveway on their way out, and guests turning right when they leave, will hinder Terri’s ability to make a left turn from her driveway. These 2-hour cycles could be repeated twice a day, every other day, for 5 months during the summer. If Pomona Woods is granted the Conditional Use Permit
Application, that’s a huge, materially detrimental impact for one commercial
establishment to impose upon a single resident.
In the DCD Staff Report, the Staff Comment on the Type 3 CUP Approval Criteria states “ There is an expectation that owners of residential property have a right to the peaceful enjoyment of their property…” and states further “ any impact from neighboring property that could affect that use could be considered materially detrimental. ”
Terri’s right to enjoy her property includes the right to freely access and exit her property. Since summer facility-related traffic could have a significant impact on her ability to do so, I request that the following condition be added to the Conditions of Approval, namely that the Pomona Woods driveway entrance be significantly (100’ minimum) moved
down the road from Terri’s driveway. If this isn’t possible for whatever reason, then I
request that the Pomona Woods Conditional Use Permit Application be denied.
Exhibit 81 Page 1049