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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes RES 12-03-19 F Cqq� AO/.' ATNE16 F( ;:1-'h.:':, .....:.:: C I \�/pp , City of Carmel Carmel Plan Commission RESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE December 3, 2019 Meeting Minutes LOCATION: CAUCUS ROOMS CARMEL CITY HALL,2ND FLOOR ONE CIVIC SQUARE CARMEL,IN 46032 Members Present: Susan Westermeier-Chair Nick Kestner Carrie Holle Members Absent: Tom Kegley Staff Present: Alexia Lopez-Planning Administrator Joe Shestak-Administrative Assistant Mike Hollibaugh-Director of DOCS Legal Counsel: John Molitor Meeting Time: 6:00 p.m. 1. Docket No. 19080006 PP: Smokey Row Road &Monon Primary Plat 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 and 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. Filed by Rebecca McGuckin of Old Town Companies, LLC. Petitioner: Justin Moffett,Old Town Companies,LLC. • Since last month's meeting,we have made some adjustments to our site plan • We have a series of waivers requests for PC and variance requests for BZA to enhance the project. These requests will not make the project denser,but make the project better. • Staff asked us not to request a PUD,but instead work with the base zoning and ask for variances and waivers • CC adopted a resolution for TIFF allocation area and allowed us to bond against the assessed value of the commercial and multi-family components of the project to build infrastructure • There are City Engineering plans for the redevelopment of Smokey Row Road,that includes the roundabout • As part of the grant from the State,we would commit to 20%of the housing units to be affordable. We want to integrate the affordable housing throughout the entire development. These units will have the same floor plans. • Traffic was a big discussion at the last meeting • Staff asked for a 12' wide path. The multi-use path will be 10' wide and connect to the Hagan Burke Trail. • The internal sidewalks are a mix of 5' and 6' wide. If there's a risk of a car parking next to a sidewalk curb for angle parking,the sidewalk will be 6' wide • Our development commitments are 1)Single family and townhomes adjacent to Smokey Row shall have a front elevation facing Smokey Row.2)The historic home on property shall be preserved. 3)The historic home on property will be used as an amenity to enhance the cultural experience of neighborhood residents and guests. Uses may include a restaurant,a community gathering/event space,offices that serve the needs of the community, 1 Residential Committee Minutes 12-3-19 or other uses that are compatible with the programming objectives of North End.4)The commercial building adjacent to Smokey Row that are immediately north of Kensington Place(KP)shall be no more than 3 stories in height. 5)All commercial building signage facing Smokey Row shall be installed to minimize the impact of KP such as neon and/or backlit signs designed to illuminate translucent panels. 5)Developer shall make commercially reasonable efforts to work with the State of Indiana to install additional landscape plantings in the greenspace buffer along U.S. 31. • We don't have the legal authority of what can be planted along U.S. 31. Carmel does has an agreement with the State in maintaining the greenspace along U.S. 31. • Presented a cross section. We wanted to show to scale what the office building heights are compared to KP. The commercial use buildings directly across from KP will be 3 stories high. • Per Staff s request,we wanted to show what the eastern portion of the property would look like if it's ever acquired and developed.Presented an exhibit with 9 single family lots. This area is also zoned UR. There's no intention of selling this area. • Presented a traffic report. These are projected traffic counts that will exit and enter this site during AM&PM peak times. The report shows 163 cars exiting the development during AM peak hours. • We can't fix all the traffic problems in this area,but we are working with City Engineering to add some solutions that will help improve it • Approvals for the dumpster locations will be part of the ADLS process Petitioner: Rebecca McGuckin: • We are eligible for tax credits to allow us to develop affordable housing in this project. We are planning on having 48 units available for affordable housing. • Construction will begin in the spring of 2020 Department Report: Alexia Lopez: • The dumpster location will not be included on the site plan since it will be part of the ADLS process • The path has moved between the historical home&amenity center. We will need an updated plan to show this. • Have your commitments drafted as a legal and recorded document before you come before the Plan Commission • I will talk to Staff about a sign package and have the language set for it • Have the site plan show either crushed stone or asphalt for the walking path Committee Comments: Carrie: Who's eligible for the affordable housing? Justin Moffett: Adults with mental and physical disabilities. Anyone is available to apply. We are not just offering the housing. There will be programing and support services that will go along with this on our campus. An example of this type of housing is at Fort Benjamin Harrison. Our development was selected because of the walkability to employment and the urban farm with create employee opportunities. Sue: How does the ADA compliant work for this development? Justin Moffett: All buildings will be ADA compliant. We will have elevators in each building. Nick: What do you mean by affordable? Justin Moffett: It's truly affordable. Rents would be in the$200-$300 a month. We don't set the rates. These are the highest tax credits you can get and they will entirely pay for the construction. There's no long term revenue but we want to serve a need in this community. Sue: Is it a onetime tax credit? Justin: Yes,a onetime upfront tax credit and it will last forever. Sue: Why can't all sidewalks be 6' wide?It would be useful for ADA users. Justin Moffett: It's a matter of available real estate. Sean Downey, Shrewsberry&Associates, LLC. : 5' width is the standard. Alexia: 5' is the City standard for residential sidewalks.Retail and urban areas are 6' wide.Nick: I have a problem with 5' sidewalks in a more congested area such as apartments and office spaces because it forces them to use the street.Justin: I would argue that we will have a 10' wide path in our most congested areas. Carrie: Do you interpret the 5' sidewalks within the development to be heavily traveled? Justin: I do not. Alexia: I don't think they will be dead sidewalks. The local residents will be using them. Justin: If something has to give,I'm willing to change them. We are meeting the 2 Residential Committee Minutes 12-3-19 City standard of 5'. Sue: How difficult is it to change all 5' to 6'? Justin: We can bring this up in the ADLS process.The sidewalk widths will affect our building layouts. Nick: I question the crushed stone path because it's a continuous maintenance issue and it will be hard to use for people in wheelchairs. You can use asphalt instead. Justin Moffett: We thought the crushed stone would be more attractive. We were going for more of a natural look. The grade of the path is not ADA friendly and makes this area not ADA useable. Nick: Talk to the Parks Dept. about their maintenance problems with the crushed stone path at West Park. Justin: I don't know enough information to make a decision today. When we come back for ADLS for the condo section,we would then make that decision for the path type. Alexia: Update the site plan to show either crushed stone,asphalt, or TBD. Sue: Did you commit to no lit signs? Justin Moffett: We are committing to no lit or neon signs. We will have signage, such as blade signs that will use halo and landscape lighting. We will have to meet signage requirements per our ADLS process. Alexia: Can you commit to no cabinet signs,where the light shines through? Justin: We will have Staff let us know what is allowed and we will adjust our verbiage in our commitments regarding the signage. Sue: The traffic is a bigger problem than this project since Smokey Row can't be widened.Alexia: They dedicated their ROW on the north side of Smokey Row so the City of Carmel will make road improvements. Sue: What do you plan to build first? Justin Moffett: Phase 1 of construction will include the single family homes and everything west of that includes the office node. Nick: I can forward this if the path materials and width are not set and can be reviewed and changed during the ADLS process. Alexia: The locations should at least be set. Nick: I agree. Justin Moffett: What's the next step? Alexia: The next step would be the administrative approval of the secondary plat(SP). Justin: We will show the difference between the 5' and 6' path widths. The approval of the SP will allow Shrewsberry to complete the civil drawings so we can start construction in the spring. The 10' path is in our future phase/plans. The townhome pads will be fixed after PC approval. We will provide a clarification to the PC what sidewalks are 5' and 6'. Sue: Alexia mentioned in the Dept. Report, Staff wanted a 12' path. Alexia: David Littlejohn mentioned that the existing Hagen Burke Trail (HBT)is 12' wide. Staff wants to see the HBT extended through this site. Since its 12' wide,we would like it to remain 12' wide throughout this site. Justin: There's no obligation for us to provide a second multi-use path throughout the site. The thoroughfare plan only has the multi-use path along Smokey Row Road.As far as the width, it's unnecessary. As for the location,we were advised by the City to have a path connection that can go through the entire site. The HBT is 12' wide because it's in a naturalistic section of the Monon. The HBT extension through our site is not a naturalistic section because our site is along US 31 and this is an urban residential area. No one is telling us what a 12' path in our site will get us. Carrie: What are you required to do? Justin:Nothing. Nick: 10' will be wide enough because you won't have the same amount of traffic as the Monon Trail. Sue: Do all the buildings have a residential component to them? Justin Moffett: Per the UR standards,that is required. We are seeking a variance through the BZA to have our commercial node to not have a residential look to them. A Motion made by Carrie and seconded by Nick to forward Docket No. 19080006 PP to the full Plan Commission with a favorable recommendation. Approved 3-0,absent Kegley. The meeting adjourned at 7:07 p.m. � L(3A.( t' 1 J Shestak—Recording Secretary Susan Westermeier—Chair 3 Residential Committee Minutes 12-3-19