HomeMy WebLinkAboutDept Report CARMEL BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS
DEPARTMENT REPORT
JUNE 23,2014
1. (SU) College Park Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses,Kingdom Hall.
The applicant seeks the following special use approval for a new place of worship in a business district:
Docket No. 14050007 SU ZO CH 16.02: Special Use: Place of Worship in B-5/Business District
The site is located at 10439 Commerce Drive, and is zoned B-5/Business. Filed by David Shelton of DeFur
Voran, LLP on behalf of Kory Jones with College Park Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses.
•. 14'.,,,,,,1,,,, may; �� -' �j�,���`�'f General Info:
1 , k.,*.{'•. A , `, -, �A). The petitioner requests Special Use
'\ y \'��,- ,-' F % approval to allow a church/place of
•' worship use in the B-5/Business zoning
�.,y� .a ;b district. Per the Use Table in the zoning
h ti, ��, �' ;`: Z ordinance, a church use is looked upon
. r `_„, generally favorably as a-land use in this
.:;).,1' 3� ;}. B-5 zoning district; hence the special use
./ e `/ i\ . \ "F;k; ., •, _�_ requirement and not an excluded use
�� y eJ�- �y`�� ti����n;� ,• z designation. Also, the Comprehensive
�,x� ; /_,v9. . , . •. 4-;.-,.I.�. : Plan lists a church use as best fit next to
fee a z� p};: .ti..• ,,, ,
'`v `,':'0),' 1.;). /1 ?' `Og�'• ,. :-, ','1 office and retail uses.
V F , `;', • • The site is about 2.73 acres in size. To the
e1t *•. � north are offices, to the east/south is a
'' ' - i&A Q .., „ ;°.`-� detention pond and single family homes,
•. ' v, ����d0�•r j�. ..\
\\\ and to the west is retail uses.
• of .ill Please note that this project will also need
to go through Plan Commission DP/
ADLS reviews and approvals for the site plan, architecture, landscaping, lighting and signage.
Please see the petitioner's informational packet for more details.
Analysis:
Church uses require Special Use approval to ensure that the site, design, and surrounding areas are appropriate
for the use. Special Uses are also generally considered favorably. The Department is generally in support of
this Special Use request and thinks that the church land use complements the existing adjacent land uses. One
aspect of the petition, however, causes a concern with the Planning Dept., and is driveway connections to the
north parcel:
Connectivity to north parcel: This subject parcel was originally planned to be a Phase II continuation of the
office building project just to the north, with additional office buildings that would be residential in scale and
appearance. (Please see the proposed 2005 site plan, below, on the next page). That 2005 project was called
Coastal Corporate Center (or West Carmel Center Office Park.) Currently, there is asphalt paving along that
shared property line, with the anticipation that the internal driveways would be connected. Furthermore, if a
church use is approved, then the land uses are also complementary because the peak office hours are different
than the church worship hours. Lastly, it is just good planning to have adjacent sites connect internally where
possible, so that a person does not have to drive out onto a street to get to an abutting site. The Planning Dept.
requests the site plan have vehicular connectivity to the northern parcel.
Petitioner's Findings of Fact:
Please refer to the petitioner's information packet for their Findings of Fact.
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