CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Pass the Ordinance approving a parking variance for Junior Ninja Warriors on property located at 2012 Corporate Lane, PZC 17-1-041.
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Kasey Evans, AICP
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
The Planning and Zoning Commission considered this matter on June 7, 2017 and voted to recommend approval of the request (Approved 8-0). Staff concurs.
BACKGROUND:
The property is located at the northwest corner of Corporate Lane and Ferry Road, and is zoned ORI (Office Research and Light Industry District). The property is approximately 11 acres and is improved with a 188,333 square foot 1-story industrial building.
DISCUSSION:
The petitioner, Junior Ninja Warriors Chicago LLC, requests approval of a parking variance to reduce the number of required parking spaces in order to operate a fitness facility at 2012 Corporate Lane. The petitioner seeks to occupy an approximately 13,662 square foot tenant space in the middle of the building. A fitness facility is a permitted use in the ORI district. The petitioner intends to operate the business in the evenings Monday through Friday for classes and birthday parties, as well as all day on Saturday and Sunday for open gym and birthday parties.
Per Municipal Code Section 6-9-3 (Schedule of Off-street Parking Facilities) <https://www.municode.com/library/il/naperville/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT6ZORE_CH9OFSTPA_6-9-3SCOFSTPARE> fitness facilities are required to have 4 parking spaces per each 1,000 square feet of gross floor area. At 13,662 square feet, the proposed use would be required to have 55 parking spaces. The total parking requirement for the building’s existing tenant mix, including the proposed Junior Ninja Warriors is 347 parking spaces. The subject property currently has 206 parking spaces.
The petitioner conducted parking counts at the property over a Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, at various times throughout the day from 8:00am to 6:30pm. The peak parking demand on Thursday and Friday occurred at 11am with 121 vehicles in the parking lot (59% of the parking spaces occupied). The peak parking demand on Saturday occurred at noon with 34 vehicles in the parking lot (17% of the parking spaces occupied), and the peak parking demand on Sunday occurred at 11am and noon with 28 vehicles in the parking lot (14% of the parking spaces occupied). During the peak hour of 11am on Thursday and Friday, during which the proposed fitness facility does not anticipate being open, there would be 85 excess parking spaces, which is 30 more than the fitness facility requires.
The existing tenants appear to operate with far less parking than is required by Code and only use roughly half of the parking provided onsite. Therefore, sufficient parking is available to accommodate the parking requirements of the proposed fitness facility. In addition, the existing tenants have peak hours (daytime Monday through Friday) that are complimentary to the hours of the proposed fitness facility (evenings and weekends). The parking counts indicate that the subject property has adequate parking available to accommodate the existing tenant mix and the proposed fitness facility. A condition will be included in the ordinance that requires the petitioner to make adjustments, such as changing hours, number of employees or other business operations, in the event the existing parking on site is insufficient. The petitioner’s responses to the Standards for Granting a Variance are included in the Development Petition. Staff is in general agreement with the petitioner’s Findings and recommends adoption by the Planning and Zoning Commission.
Key Takeaways
§ The petitioner requests approval of a parking variance to reduce the number of required parking spaces to allow a fitness facility at 2012 Corporate Lane.
§ Staff supports the requested variance because the parking counts indicate there is adequate parking available on the property to accommodate the existing tenant mix and the proposed fitness facility.
Planning & Zoning Commission Action
The Planning and Zoning Commission considered this matter at their meeting on June 7, 2017. Following brief discussion, the Planning and Zoning Commission moved to adopt the findings of fact as presented by the petitioner and approve PZC 17-1-041 (approved 8-0). Staff concurs with the Planning and Zoning Commission's recommendation.
FISCAL IMPACT:
N/A