Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 12-17-197 CARMEL PLAN COMMISSION DEPARTMENT REPORT DECEMBER 17, 2019 1. Docket No. 19080006 PP: Smokey Row Road & Monon Primary Plat (aka North End) The applicant seeks site plan and primary plat approval for a new mixed use development on 27.84 acres, which will include apartments, townhomes, condominiums, single-family homes, an urban farm and some retail and office. The site is located on the north side of Smokey Row Road, between the Monon Greenway and Meridian Street and is zoned UR/Urban Residential and P1/Park and Recreation within the Monon Overlay. Filed by Rebecca McGuckin of Old Town Companies, LLC. *Updates to the Dept. Report are written in blue Project Overview: This petitioner seeks a primary plat to create a new mixed use development with apartments, townhomes, condominiums, single-family homes and some office and retail. An ADLS review for the buildings will be submitted later, in different phases. A Use Variance will be required for the Single-family homes and the Farm use, which the petitioner is applying for and will be heard before the BZA, along with several other variances. Currently the site is zoned UR/Urban Residential with a small part also zoned P-1/Park. Surrounding the property is US 31 to the north and west, the Monon Greenway and single family homes to the east, and Smokey Row Rd. to the south. On the south side of Smokey Row Rd. are residential uses consisting of townhouses, 2 estate lots, and a senior living community. Please see the petitioner’s information package for more information. UDO Standards this project MEETS: 1. Permitted Uses: Apartments, Condos, Townhomes, Commercial 2. Maximum Building height, 3 and 5 stories proposed 3. 0 ft. Minimum Front Yard Setback 4. 12.1% Minimum Open Space, 19.7% provided 5. 10 ft. path along Smokey Row Rd. 6. No Maximum Number of Principal Buildings 7. Minimum Parking UDO Standards NOT MET, therefore a Variance or Waiver is required: 1. UDO 2.17: Permitted Uses: Single-family detached use requested. Applied for. 2. UDO 2.17: Permitted Uses: Farm with roadside sales structure requested. Applied for. 3. UDO 2.17: Permitted Uses, Restaurant requested. Applied for. 4. UDO 2.17: Permitted Uses, Private Recreational Facility requested. Applied for. 5. UDO 2.18: Maximum front setback for buildings. Max. 10 to 20 ft. setback allowed. Applied for. 6. UDO 2.18: Minimum front setback for surface parking. 50 ft. min. setback. 0 ft. shown. Applied for. 7. UDO 2.18: Maximum Rear Setbacks, Single Family Dwellings. 20’ max. allowed, 25’ requested. Applied for. 8. UDO 5.71.B: Floor Limitations, Commercial uses requested on 3 floors, not just on 1st and 2nd. Applied for. 9. UDO 6.09, 6.12, and 6.15: Minimum ROW width and cross section. Narrower streets and no sidewalks and street trees requested in some areas. Applied for. 10. UDO 6.09, 6.12, and 6.15: Minimum perimeter landscaping. No perimeter landscaping requested along Smokey Row Rd. and reduced landscaping requested along US 31. Applied for. 11. UDO 7.10: 50 ft. wide buffer required along a wetland, 10 ft. requested. Applied for. 12. UDO 7.10: 25 ft. wide buffer required along a stream, 0 ft. requested. Applied for. Site Analysis: Primary Plat, Site Plan, Engineering: This site is zoned UR/Urban Residential, which supports urban dwellings within walking distance to commercial and activity nodes. While predominantly a residential district, complementary mixed-use is permitted on the ground floors. The primary plat consists of 73 lots consisting of 4 apartment buildings, 5 condo buildings, 46 townhomes, 10 single-family lots, 5 commercial/retail/office buildings, amenity buildings, and an urban farm. The drainage will be handled through a master planned system consisting of dry detention basins and some underground storage. The minimum parking requirements are met through on street parking, private parking garages, and first floor parking garages for the apartments. Because this site is zoned Urban Residential, the need for parking will not be as high as this district is meant to emphasize pedestrian and bicycle accessibility. There will be 2 main vehicular entrances off of Smokey Row Rd. Smokey Row Rd. will be improved to a boulevard with a 10 ft. path along the north side. A new roundabout is planned at the intersection of Smokey Row Rd. and Rohrer Rd. at 8 the southwest corner of the project. This will be the only road that leads back to the condo buildings and 2 large apartment buildings. An additional street connection to serve this northeast corner was requested, but the petitioner has explained this will be unfeasible. The rest of the site has good connectivity, but many of the proposed streets do not meet the City’s minimum right-of-way widths or street cross sections. The petitioner is still working with the City Engineer on the street designs and some waivers have been requested to accommodate some of the unique streets proposed. Active Transportation: Sidewalks and paths are shown throughout the development; however there are some additional areas where sidewalks should be provided. The City street standards require sidewalks on both sides of a street, and if this cannot be accommodated then a waiver will need to be requested. A 10’ wide asphalt path will be installed along Smokey Row Rd. This path will almost connect all the way to the Monon, however there is a small missing segment just east of this project. The petitioner has stated that the City will construct this as a part of the Smokey Row Rd. improvement project. There is also a direct connection to the Monon proposed in the northeast corner of the project. Staff has requested that a greenway be built through this site as an extension of the Hagan Burke Trail. The petitioner has agreed to build a 10 ft. path along Rohrer Road down to the roundabout. Architectural Design: This development is only requesting primary plat approval at this time. However, the architecture will be reviewed with future phases and an ADLS package will need to be submitted to the Plan Commission for review. Lighting: Street lights are proposed along the streets and at major intersections. Further building lighting will be reviewed at the ADLS phase for each building. Landscaping: Open space is scattered throughout the development in the form of open common areas, dry detention basins, and multi-use paths. A total of about 5.22 acres or 18.8% of the site will be open space, with an additional 5.22 acres left open for the urban farm and floodplain area. The Urban Forester is still working with the petitioner on minor changes to the landscape plans, but is comfortable with the current design. Detailed landscape plans will be required for each phase when an ADLS application is submitted. The petitioner has requested a waiver for landscaping along US 31, but staff has asked if some of the required landscaping could be planted in the right-of-way of US 31 since there is not much room on site. Signage: The petitioner will submit signage details with future ADLS submittals. October 15 Plan Commission meeting recap: The Petitioner presented a general overview of the project which they are now calling North End. Several nearby neighbors spoke and had questions or concerns about the project. The main concerns included the impact on traffic, which they find is especially busy when students are trying to get to the high school in the morning; density compared to the surrounding area; what the new design will be for Smokey Row Rd.; and the roundabout and how it will impact existing properties. The urban farm and amount of open space was viewed positively. The Petitioner anticipates that the new roundabout that will be built by the City will help with traffic and will funnel people from the development to US 31. Some items brought up by the Plan Commission included the timing of the street improvement and roundabout construction, allowing a full cut for Kensington Place, the location of the commercial across from Kensington Place, the long term plan for the Urban Farm if it is no longer a farm, and showing the Hagan Burke Trail on the site. It was forwarded to the Residential Committee meeting, with the full Plan Commission having final voting authority. November 7 Residential Committee meeting recap: The Petitioner provided handouts at the meeting to address some comments and went over the requested variances and use variances that will be heard by the BZA. The additional street connection to the northeast requested by cannot be accommodated due to the grade change in that area, desire to save more trees, and the existing stream. They will extend the Hagan Burke Trail to go south into Meadowlark Park. Signage for the commercial would be sensitive to the existing residential properties across Smokey Row Rd. The City is building and designing the improvements for Smokey Row Rd, and the petitioner is providing the needed right-of-way to accommodate this. The Committee asked about a path on Street H and the petitioner would prefer to put it along Rohrer Rd. from the Monon to the round-a-bout. Traffic was discussed and the petitioner stated that because of the high school, traffic levels are a C- twice a day and this development will only make it a C-/D+. Additional requests from the committee included the types of curbing proposed, a cross section of Smokey Row Rd. at Kensington Place, a sidewalk in front of lots 60-62, and if there is a lawn area between the parking and the sidewalk along Rohrer so that cars don’t overhang into the sidewalk area. 9 December 3, Residential Committee meeting recap: The petitioner presented updates to the plan. The Council adopted this area as a TIF allocation area to help build the round-a-bout and rebuild Smokey Row Rd. Petitioner has received IHCDA approval to have affordable/accessible apartments for 20% of the units. The Hagan Burke Trail location was moved to run along Rohrer Rd and the cross section will either be street, path tree lawn, or street tree lawn path. Some other paths were shown as crushed stone. The Committee was concerned about the crushed stone so the petitioner agreed to determine the material at a later date. Commitments were presented, a traffic analysis was provided, and a concept for the parcel by the urban farm was shown. The Committee asked for an exhibit to more clearly show where sidewalks will be 5 ft. and where they will be 6 ft. Committee voted 3-0 to send the project back to Plan Commission with a Favorable Recommendation. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns: 1. Please work with David Littlejohn, the Active Transportation Coordinator, on a greenway extension of the Hagan Burke Trail. Petitioner has agreed to, but the final details are still being tweaked. 2. Please move the dumpster by building 66 so that it is not so visible from a public street. Petitioner agreed to address this at the ADLS stage, but it is still shown on the plans. 3. The Engineering Department is not comfortable with the current water preservation easement reductions and would like these increased where possible so that the whole easement is not reduced to the minimum. 4. All changes made so far will need to be updated on the Primary Plat documents and uploaded to ProjectDox. Recommendation: If all comments/concerns can be addressed, the Department of Community Services recommends the Plan Commission votes to Approve this item this evening, subject to Engineering Dept. approvals.