3/21/2013
Honorable Mayor and Councilors
City Manager
City Attorney
Clerk of Council
Subject: (EXCP-2-13-1410) Special Exception Use request to operate an Ambulance Service
in a Neighborhood Commercial Zoning District located at 3554 Hilton Avenue.
Alia Mezayek/Muscogee Ambulance has submitted an application for the Special
Exception Use cited above. The property is located in a NC (Neighborhood
Commercial) zoning district. The site for the proposed ambulance service is
approximately 0.334 acres. The applicant has submitted a site plan, which is
attached. The purpose of the Special Exception Use is to permit an ambulance
service in a Neighborhood Commercial zoning district:
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Access. - Is or will the type of street providing access to the use be adequate to serve the proposed special exception use?
Hilton Avenue is classified as a four (4) lanes undivided arterial that will
provide adequate access for the proposed use. The driveway/access entering the
site meets the access requirements in order to accommodate the flow of traffic
during the hours of service for the use.
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Traffic and Pedestrian Safety. - Is or will access into and out of the property be adequate to provide for traffic and pedestrian safety, the anticipated volume of traffic flow, and access by emergency vehicles?
The site allows ingress/egress to an arterial road, which maintains adequate
flow of traffic to and from the subject property. The proposed use will utilize
the existing off-street parking.
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Adequacy of Public Facilities. - Are or will public facilities such as schools, water or sewer utilities, and police or fire protection be adequate to serve the special exception use?
Services such as water, sewer, utilities, police, and fire protection will be
adequate and serve the proposed use at this location. Furthermore, there will
be no impact on neighboring schools in the immediate area.
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Protection from Adverse Affects. - Are or will refuse, service, parking and loading areas on the property be located or screened to protect other properties in the area from such adverse effects as noise, light, glare or odor?
Off-street parking will be utilized on-site. Thirteen (13) parking spaces
shall be provided for the operation of the ambulance service as approved by the
Traffic Engineering Department. The site shall include a Category C buffer
along all property lines bordered by the RMF1/SFR3/SFR1 zoning districts. The
3 options under Category C are: 1) 20 feet with a certain amount of canopy
trees, under story trees, and shrubs / ornamental grasses per 100 linear feet.
2) 10 feet with a certain amount of shrubs / ornamental grasses per 100 linear
feet and a wood fence or masonry wall. 3) 30 feet undisturbed natural buffer.
Drainage for off-street parking shall comply with the requirements of the UDO.
External dumpsters/compactors and lighting are addressed in the UDO. Noise
impacts are addressed in the City Code.
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Hours of Operation. - Will the hours and manner of operation of the special exception use have no adverse effects on other properties in the area?
The hours of operation for this use will not have an adverse impact on the
neighboring properties in the area. The hours of operation will be 12 hours
then they will go to a 24 hours operation. There will be a total of 7
employees, including 3 office staff members. There will be two ambulances
operating out of this location, a maximum of (6) operating ambulances are
allowed on site at any time as established in section 3.2.3.1 of the UDO.
Business activities will be mostly administrative.
The applicant has indicated that since it is a non-emergency ambulance service
there will not be any ambulance lights or sirens run coming to or from the
subject property at anytime.
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Compatibility. - Will the height, size or location of the buildings or structures on the property be compatible with the height, size, character or location of buildings or other structures on neighboring properties?
The existing structure will house the ambulance services on the site and
utilize onsite parking. The existing structure on the property is compatible
with existing structures in the immediately vicinity.
Council District: District 8 (McDaniel)
Twenty One (21) property owners within 300 feet of the property have been
notified by mail of the proposed Special Exception Use. To date, the Planning
Department has two comments in opposition to this request. Their comments were
in regards to the proximity to the Columbus Fall Line Trace, traffic in the
area, possible noise and disruptive lights of ambulances, and detraction from
the efforts to revitalize midtown.
Additional Information: A traffic analysis report was not generated for this
special exception request due that the applicant is not changing the zoning,
acreage, and square footage. Moreover, there is no change in traffic patterns
from the current use to the proposed use; therefore, it is not anticipated that
this proposed use will have impact on traffic
There are three conditions being proposed under this request. The recommended
conditions are as follows: 1) Buffers shall be required along all public
right-of-way, including the Fall Line Trace, subject to the approval of the
City Arborist and Inspections and Code Department. 2) There shall be no
emergency lights and sirens used until the ambulance reaches Warm Springs Road
and Edgewood Road/Cherokee Avenue. 3) Idling shall not exceed 15 minutes for
any ambulances in service at the subject property.
The Planning Advisory Commission recommended conditional approval at the March
20, 2013 meeting.
The Planning Department recommends that the Council conditionally approves the
use because the application for a Special Exception use meets the criteria for
approval.