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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 12-03-191 Carmel Plan Commission COMMERCIAL COMMITTEE Tuesday, December 3, 2019 Department Report 1. WITHDRAWN Docket No. 19080009 DP/ADLS: Schafer Powder Coating – Bldg. Expansion 2. Docket No. 18070013 ADLS Amend: Pennwood Professional Park – Revision The applicant seeks site plan and design approval to modify a previously approved building from 3 stories to 2 stories. The site is located at approximately 11505 N. Pennsylvania Street and is about 3.76 acres in size. It is zoned B-5/Business and is located within the West Homeplace Commercial Corridor, High Intensity Overlay Zone. Filed by Kevin Buchheit of Krieg Devault on behalf of the owner, SCB Home Office, LLC. Project Overview: The Petitioner has previous approval under this same docket number for a three story office building. While the Plan Commission approved this project and variance for the design of the building to vary from Overlay requirements, the project never got off the ground. The owner has re-looked at what is feasible and would like to do a two story instead of a three story building. To the north is an office building for the Police and Fireman’s Insurance Association, zoned B-5 and within the West Home Place Commercial Corridor – High Intensity Area. Directly south are the other two Pennwood office buildings, also zoned B-5 and in the West Home Place Commercial Corridor – High Intensity Area. To the west are the three Penn Mark office buildings, zoned MC/Meridian Corridor. To the east are single family residential homes, zoned R-1. Please see the Petitioner’s Information packet for more details. Site History: This site has been through three previous approvals and building designs. The first was in 2007 under Docket No. 06070008 DP/ADLS. Then in 2016, a new building was proposed under Docket No. 16080012 DP/ADLS. The third time was Docket No. 18070013 ADLS Amend and Docket No. 18070014 V. The general building size and location, overall site design are substantially similar to previous approvals, thus we are keeping the same docket number and just revising the files. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Standards this project MEETS: West Home Place Commercial Corridor: • Building Height: 45’ allowed, 33’6” proposed (41’ to the top of the elevator shafts) • Front Yard Setback: minimum 5’allowed, about 195’ proposed • Side Yard Setback: minimum 10’ allowed, about 93’ proposed • Rear Yard Setback: 15’ next to existing residence, 150’ proposed • Building Orientation: must face Pennsylvania Street • Architectural design • Pedestrian facilities: connection from Pennsylvania provided to front door • Bufferyards: 10’ wide next to residential, about 50’ proposed • Parking standards: interconnected to adjacent sites • Parking amount: 1 space per 250 sq. ft. of floor area required = 107 spaces, 109 spaces provided Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Standards NOT MET, therefore adjustments are required: • Bicycle parking: Minimum 4 spaces required, none shown • Site lighting: limited to 15’ tall poles if within 90’ of residential properties (25’ max pole height otherwise), no lighting provided for review • Dumpster enclosure must match building design, Plans not provided for review • UDO Section 3.17.A.1.b. – Vehicular entrances: secondary entrances shall not be through residential areas, entrance off of Washington Blvd. proposed West Home Place Commercial Corridor – High Intensity Area Overlay Zone: The West Home Place Commercial Corridor is in place to create appropriate site design and architectural transitions between US 31 and the residential areas to the east. The buildings in this corridor will act as a buffer from the more intensive building heights and uses in the US 31 Corridor. One of the standards in the overlay zone states that “All buildings shall be designed with respect to the general character of the US 31 Corridor and, particularly, with due 2 consideration to buildings located on lots that abut the subject property.” The proposed height reduction will help to compliment and respect the character of the surrounding buildings, being both residential structures and single and two story office buildings. Previous Variances Granted: • Docket No. 18070014 V: UDO SECTION 3.06.B.3.f.: “All buildings shall be designed with respect to the general character of the US 31 Corridor and, particularly, with due consideration to buildings located on lots that abut the subject property.” (This variance was heard and approved by the Plan Commission at the October 16, 2018 meeting.) • Docket No. 16120010 V – ZO Ch. 23E.07.C: No parking allowed in front yard required & parking shall be screened; parking in front yard requested. (This variance was heard and approved at the January 23, 2017 BZA meeting.) Site Plan, Parking and Engineering: The overall site plan is laid out in roughly the same way as the 2018 approved plan; however in this version the building footprint is slightly larger and the parking in the front yard is reduced. Access into the site is still from the shared entry point off of Pennsylvania St. and the access road to the Police & Fireman’s Insurance building to the north is maintained. The location of this access road pushes the building to the back of the site. There is also a storm sewer running diagonally across the front of the property that the Petitioner would like to avoid impacting if at all possible. This placement of the building and associated parking located in front of the building required a variance, as no parking is allowed in the Front Yard. This variance request was heard and approved at the January 23, 2017 BZA meeting. Parking required for this building is calculated under the General Office category, which requires one space for every 250 sq. ft. of floor area. There is 26,710 sq. ft. of floor area, so that would require 107 parking spaces. 109 spaces are provided, five of which are ADA accessible. The parking is located around the building to the west, north and east. A new vehicular entrance is proposed at the northeast corner of the site, connecting to Washington Blvd. While the Dept. is normally supportive of additional connectivity, the West Homeplace Commercial Corridor does not allow for secondary entrances to be through residential areas. A variance will be needed to approve this entrance. The previously approved plan just had an access easement in this area, but with no improvements proposed. Regarding detention and stormwater, there is a large pond to the south of this building that this project will tie into. A new Engineer is working on the plan and does not propose for the pond to be expanded, as was proposed in the previous petition. The developer continues to work with the City Engineer’s office on plan approval. Active Transportation: There is an existing multi-use path on Pennsylvania Street, and one new sidewalk will be constructed to connect it to the new building and the existing development to the south. Sidewalks will be provided all around the new building and will lead up to the entrances. Bike parking is not shown on the plan, and needs to be added to be compliant with the UDO. Architectural Design: The building will be constructed of the following primary materials – cast stone, architectural metal panels, glass, and brick. Laminate rainscreen material will be used as an accent. Using three of these materials meets one of the requirements of the West Home Place Commercial Corridor. Other requirements are for entrances to be clearly defined and to have consistent architectural style all around. The entrances are defined by a gray metal canopy and the overall building design is essentially reversed from the north to the south facades. The west end of the south façade will be the cast stone material and the east end will be brick with the rainscreen accent. This is reversed on the north façade. The west and east ends of the building will be a combination of cast stone panels (tan), brick (almost black), and glass. The increased use of stone and brick on the building facades will complement the existing red brick buildings in the Pennwood development to the south, as well as the other office buildings surrounding the site. Rooftop equipment will be screened through light colored metal panels. Lighting: Site lighting has not yet been provided for review. The Petitioner is waiting on plan revisions and will provide them to staff as soon as they are available. 3 Landscaping: Building base, street trees and parking lot perimeter landscaping will be provided. There is a good stand of trees along the east property line, which provide a good buffer between the commercial and residential areas. These trees will be preserved, as well as supplemented to fill in any gaps to complete the buffer. The Urban Forester is currently reviewing the proposed plan. Signage: There is an existing ground sign in the center median of the entrance to the development that says “Pennwood.” This will remain as the identifying sign for the overall development. The application states that two wall signs and one ground sign would be proposed to face Pennsylvania Street, however, no plans are shown with these sign locations. If this is a multi- tenant office building, two walls signs would be allowed to face Pennsylvania Street. The Petitioner has stated they will return to the Dept. for administrative ADLS Amendment approval of the sign plan for this building. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns: 1. Vehicular entrance to Washington Blvd. removed and/or Variance sought 2. Bike parking needs to be added to the site plan 3. Dumpster enclosure design needed 4. Site lighting details needed 5. Urban Forester approval needed Recommendation: The Department of Community Services recommends the Plan Commission votes to Approve this item this evening, subject to finalizing outstanding review comments with DOCS Staff.