Stanley Castleton with DDRM Companies introduced the project team for the Sentiere Hotel/Resort project. The team was organized by Alan Layton. The team consists of Allen & Philip, architects, Kent Byland with Split Rock Design, landscape architects, Brett Henke with Kuma Engineering, civil engineers, Hales Engineering, traffic engineers, AGEC, soils and rockfall consultants, Sylvia Sepielli, spa consultant, Blakerslee, Destination Branding group, and Kate Norris Design, interior designers and Compass North Industries, Coordinated Boat Design. The name "Sentiere" is a combination of two French words which mean "Pathway on Earth." The site in Padre Canyon is a special place where they believe that both man and nature provided a confluence of elements that provide figurative and literal pathways. The project team recognizes and accepts the stewardship that goes along with working on this property. The applicants provided a PowerPoint and a summary book for the project (available upon request at Ivins City offices). This is a full service hotel/resort consisting of a Hotel Central building with a lobby area, retail, food and beverage outlets, a trail gathering area, two (2) swimming pools, a meeting space, fitness center, restaurant, and a Sanctuary area housing a water-based Spa and approximately nine (9) spa suites.
There will also be two (2) types of hotel Casitas, both of which will be required to be placed in the hotel rental pool even if privately owned, a walk-out two story type that was referred to in the Presentation Materials as "CASITA A" that will be on the interior of the Project in areas with slope and a single story type that was referred to in the Presentation Materials as "CASITA B" that will be along and adjacent to Tuacahn Drive between the ends of the project. There will also be the "Sentierre Suites", the "Tuacahn Suites" pool and privately owned single family residential "Villas" that will be optional for the private owners to put their unit into the hotel rental pool. The Villas also consist of two types presented as "VILLA A" and "VILLA B" in the Presentation Materials. All will likely be a walk-out two story type residential unit. The applicant requested the actual mix of Casita units and private Villas be allowed to vary by up to 15%. It was represented that the applicant would provide some parking spaces for the hiking/biking public to use.
The Presentation Materials contained additional detail about the Project, including the following: an overview of the Project; background of the Design Team and the Design Process; the unique location of the Project; description and Illustrative Site Plan for the Project; description and breakdown of the resort hotel buildings and parking; illustrated Information Plan showing the location of all referenced resort hotel buildings and accesses; Boundary Plan showing the boundaries of the Project, its vicinity to Tuacahn and its location along Tuacahn Drive; description of trails and a Trail Plan, both within and outside the Project; Tortoise Fence Plan, including conceptual designs of a concrete stormwater channel with and without tortoise fencing on top; Stormwater Plan showing where the stormwater channels will be located along the Stormwater Drain Plan; illustrated plan of access, linkages and parking within the Project; projections for Traffic and Parking; Grading and Soils; Conceptual Grading Plan; Preliminary Erosion Control Plan; Utilities Plan for water, sewer, power, telephone, cable and gas; Conceptual Fire Protection Plan and discussion regarding the same; discussion regarding landscaping within the Project, together with illustrations showing Landscape Areas, Conceptual Landscape Plan and Plant List; a discussion and photographs depicting colors and materials to be used; elevations for both types of Casitas and Villas, as well as elevations for Hotel Central.
Mark Philp, architect from Scottsdale, introduced the design of the project, samples of rocks, sandstone, dirt, etc. that were gathered and the colors scanned to create the pallet for the colors and materials for the site. As a Resort Hotel the center site will house registration, conservatory, restaurant, meeting facilities, etc. The site will include casitas and residential homes as a part of the overall Resort Hotel as well as a spa sanctuary. The total square footage at buildout is approximately 290,000 square feet. He explained the use diagram of the hotel and explained that the walking paths in the complex engages the entire site and connects to the trails and roads.
Kent Byland with Split Rock Design explained in detail the trail design for the project and noted that everything indicated in yellow are dirt paths (for hikers), purple trails are paved and connects to the main trail and is a future extension of the ten (10') foot paved trail as it takes off Tuacahn Drive and Snow Canyon Drive. This is a major addition to the city's trail system. All the trails are open to the public and there will be plenty of parking to access the trails. They are promoting a general map of trails for the entire area in Washington County both on paved and hiking trails. The main trail in and out of the resort area will have natural landscaping and perhaps artistic pieces along the walk. They are working with the Red Cliff Desert Reserve on one of the trails to get it officially on the trails system. The blue color will be the equestrian trail and they are proposing that on the east side of Tuacahn Drive across from the Project site. Also, the 42 acres of this project have been cleared of tortoises and tortise fencing is in place. Because of mitigation with rockfall and runoff there will be different fence types of which he showed and explained.
Wayne Rogers with AGEC Engineering commented on the surface soils which have some collapsible soils which will settle when it gets wet. Those can be compacted or over excavated or treated in a method that would be stable for buildings. This is traditional with most soils in the area.
Chair Loris inquired about how deep would it be over excavated.
Wayne Rogers stated between 5 -10 feet. As we go up the hillside the bedrock is shallow, then it's sand and then silt which is typical. They are still working on refining the study closer to the road. The second thing identified is the rockfall hazard. They refer to the Utah Geological Map as part of their evaluation. This site was identified as having rock fall potential. Some modeling was done using the Colorado Rockfall Simulation Program. The program is used with federal highways, state land and roads. They are proposing a rockfall barrier fence. Different companies do the barriers and design. A Geobrugg demonstration video demonstration was shown about this type of barrier.
Chair Loris mentioned that the barriers he has seen are not that pretty.
Wayne Rogers explained that they will be coated with the right color, etc. using ankers instead of cables, vertical pile and fencing. They are working with the company that can come up with the most safest and most attractive design. This rockfall design is ongoing.
Brett Henke with Kuma Engineering stated that the #1 goal was to capture the upstream flow and prevent it from running through the site. Approximately 2/3 of the site can be routed to the north and into the detention. The cross section showed sedimentation basins to filter out much of the sediment. The filtered water would then be routed into the internal storm drain or to existing storm drains under Tuacahn Drive.
Chair Loris inquired if they were looking at sub grade detention basins?
Brett Henke stated no. The detention is more sedimentation rather than detention. Chuck Gillette suggested that we get as much of the flow as quickly as they can into the detention basin. His requirement is that they don't send a lot of silt with it.
Chair Loris inquired if he wanted to just channel it into the wash and there is no detention.
Brett Henke stated that is correct. If we can maintain existing flows in the culverts that come across then onsite detention would not be required.
Chair Loris inquired about the pipe sizes being large (36") and if it is to get the silt out.
Brett Henke stated the pipe sizing is conceptual. There are a couple of locations where the slope drops down in the 1% range which determines the pipe size. Pipes will be designed large enough to be maintained. He gave some specifics regarding the channel. The basins are large enough for a 100 year event and would have to be cleaned out after storms.
Commissioner Anderson asked about the onsite increased flows and asked if this detention will take care of this.
Brett Henke stated that's correct. These things will be finalized in the final construction plans. As long as we maintain historic flows in the colverts that cross Tuacahn Drive then it won't require onsite detention. We cannot impact the State Park with any higher flows.
He gave them an overview of access, linkages and parking plan. The main access will be thirty feet (30') and the others will be twenty-four feet (24') and where there is a hydrant it will be increased to twenty-six feet (26') per the fire code. Management will control the parking in the access areas. The accesses will have gutters but no curb and no access will be greater than a 10% slope.
Commissioner Anderson asked if the whole site will be graded down.
Brett Henke stated the site will be graded and restored and re vegetate with the existing plants. The goal is to make it look like it hasn't been graded completely. The sewer will be a conventional gravity sewer and a typical water system. Gas lines will be installed along Tuacahn Drive.
Commissioner Anderson asked how wide Tuacahn Drive is.
Brett Henke stated that it is 60' or 66' and part of the right-of-way has the trail. Tuacahn does not need to be widen.
Commissioner Anderson inquired if there is any secondary water in that area.
Brett Henke stated no. The existing tank has enough water to meet the demand and they are working with the City and Tuacahn about future expansions.
Kent Byland gave an overview on the erosion control, landscaping, and the rockfall. They can get the color for the fence materials and make it look good as well as the detention pond. Sentierre will be asthetically pleasing. 80% of the plants will be from the Mojave Desert area and will be colorful. There will be hundreds of 36" to 40" box trees and have instant maturity. There will be just less than 900,000 square feet of landscaped areas.
Commissioner Anderson asked if the outer areas will be creosotes.
Kent Byland stated creosotes are on the plant list. He explained where the plants would go on the project and the plants that grow best. The main tree will be Desert Willow. There will be several indigious plants. The retention walls will be tied into the architecture of the homes. Approximately 5000 tons of red rock will be brought in for landscaping.
Commissioner Anderson commented he likes to see the buildings grounded and not lifted out of the earth. If they want to be part of the earth like the name Sentierre is, then bring it down and the walls around it will bring the project down. It needs to be part of the earth instead of floating above it.
Mark Philip explained the diagram on Fire Protection showing the placement of the hydrants, etc. They can reach any area and still meet the 150' lengths. Also, it's a fully sprinklered project. He showed areial views and the entrance to Sentierre and explained the process of greeting guests and the amenties (see the summary) on the property. They look at views and view corridors toward the mountain between the two-story units and redesigned the units.
Commissioner Anderson asked about the lighting around the buildings and the lighting for the walkways
Mark Philip explained that they will design the building and lighting with downward lighting. As far as the walkways, they recently met with a lighting designer on LED strips with frosted lens that can be driven over. That would eliminate the bollards. They are looking at safety and overall project design. He showed an example of the Sentierre sign and logo for the entrance. He showed in detail the types of materials and colors matching the red rock, dirt and other colors in the area. He felt the colors and materials were in the spirit of the ordinance.
Commissioner Anderson asked if they were going to put any metal caps on the parapets.
Mark Philip stated no.
Commissioner Anderson stated that they have come up with a minimum of 7" so they can do work on the roof in the future.
Mark Philip explained that they want to see the edge without the parapet. He continued his presentation showing the views and beauty of Padre Canyon. He showed the different elevations of the Casita A, B, Villa A, B, and Hotel elevations and the layout of all the buildings and pools on the project.
Chair Loris mentioned that the difference between the upper pool and lower pool elevation is only about 3-4'.
Mark Philip stated that there is only 5' feet between the two.
Chair Loris stated it would be nice to keep it minimialized. The elevation is around 21' to 26' for the highest point of some of the Villas and Casitas. He suggested lowering the buildings and minimialized into the landscape. He inquired as to who the structural engineer is.
Mark Philip stated Cliff Paul of PK and Associates.
Stanley Castleton pointed out that on the building summary one of the things they are proposing is to change density between the Casitas and the Villas depending on how things could vary go up to 15%. It would not change the total square footage of the project. The project is a very upscale hotel and we are pioneering this project. He commented on the lighting and dealing with the windows and most guest compliants is there is not enough lighting. There has to be a balance.
Dale Coulam commented that the applicant wants to slow down the speed of traffic along Tuacahn Drive in front of the project. One possibility that might be considered at a future time is turning over that portion of Tuacahn Drive to this project allowing greater flexibility for traffic calming. That's what the City could do. Of course, there would still be a public access easement so that the public could still drive to Tuacahn while still meeting the fire code
Commissioner Anderson commented that he was in favor of median as a traffic calming device and it helps reduce noise.
Stanley Castleton commented that the traffic between 7:00 - 7:30 am is busy, noisy and the traffic goes fast which would affect their guests' experience. They have discussed this with Tuacahn and they both could provide bus access in and out which helps with traffic calming.
Chair Loris stated that there is the same type of traffic flow when Tuacahn lets out at midnight.
Stanley Castleton stated the traffic goes slower at that time which is more manageable.
Dale Coulam summarized by stating that the purpose of this meeting was to educate the Commission on this project and to see if the Commission is ready to proceed to a Public Hearing. This will be a complex Conditional Use Permit so he is drafting a written list of conditions to mitigate adverse consequences. A document will be presented to the Commission prior to the Public Hearing listing the conditions. The Commission will have the ability to add or modify any conditions and make recommendations to the Council. If there are not a lot of changes to the document, the Commission may be able to make a recommendation after the Public Hearing but, if necessary, the discussion about the conditions could be continued to the next meeting. The Council will have a similar presentation on Thursday.
Commissioner Anderson commented that usually on the Conditional Use Permit we get copies of elevations of buildings. Is this what we are getting besides the list? Usually the elevations relate to grade.
Chair Loris also commented that they usually see phasing. There is nothing in the submittals that say when each phase starts.
Dale Coulam stated that the proposed phasing would be part of that document. We are trying to be pretty comprehensive upfront in the Conditional Use Permit. As a hotel/resort that is all that is required to proceed is a Conditional Use Permit. At some point they will want to sell units to recoop the funds paid out in infrastructure. They cannot sell units until it goes through a subdivision process. The project fits the zoning of Commercial Resort.