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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 04-13-20 3 CARMEL BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS | HEARING OFFICER DEPARTMENT REPORT APRIL 13, 2020 (V) Geico – North Parking Lot Expansion. The applicant seeks the following development standards variance approvals: 3. Docket No. 20020002 V UDO Section 2.4 Minimum front yard, 30’ for arterial and collector street for parking, 5’ proposed along Illinois St. 4. Docket No. 20020003 V UDO Section 2.4 Minimum front yard, 20’ for local street for surface parking, 5’ on 103rd and Superior Streets proposed. The site is located at 101 W.103rd St. and is zoned MC/Meridian Corridor. Filed by Timothy Ochs of Ice Miller LLP. General Info & Analysis: Due to an increase in the number of employees at this location, the Petitioner requests approval for additional parking spaces. The City recently (2015) reconstructed the intersection of Illinois and 103rd Streets, eliminating the round-a-bout. The Petitioner is working with the City to acquire this unused right of way for development of additional needed parking for their office building. To the north is the previous St. V incent Health building, also zoned MC; to the west across Illinois is the Springmill Medical Clinic, zoned B-3/B-1/B-6; and to the east is the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, zoned MC. Please see the Petitioner’s information packet for more info. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Article 2.4 states the following for the MC zone: Minimum Front Yard Setback – 30' required for Arterial and Collector Street for Parking Areas (5' proposed on Illinois St.). Also, UDO Article 2.4 states the following: Minimum Front Yard Setback for Parking Areas – 20' for Local Street surface parking (5' proposed on both 103rd and Superior Streets). Site Plan and Parking: The Petitioner will construct 216 new parking spaces. The new parking area will be a continuation of the existing parking lot, so no new connections to the adjacent streets are needed. The site has 3 public street frontages, therefore 3 front yards. They are able to meet the bufferyard requirements for landscaping, as well as providing sidewalks, but they are not able to meet the full front yard setbacks for surface parking. There are currently 619 parking spaces on the overall Geico site. 49 spaces need to be restriped, some of which are currently ADA spaces that will be reallocated as regular spaces, bringing the count down to 560. When the new 216 spaces are added (including those 49), the site will have 776 parking spaces total. These spaces combined with the 631 spaces to the east of the building, bring the total to 1,407 spaces. The MC District requires 1 space per 350 sq. ft. of floor area for an office building. This office building is approximately 329,000 sq. ft., requiring about 940 parking spaces. The overall lot coverage for the entire 12.06-acre Geico site is 78.8%; the maximum allowed is 80%. Landscaping: The new landscaping plan has been reviewed and approved by the Urban Forester. Street trees, bushes, and interior planting for the parking lot islands are proposed. Three of the parking lot islands will be rain gardens and landscaped with native plantings for effective water filtr ation. Based on comments from the Plan Commission Commercial Committee, the Urban Forester has recommended the Petitioner find other locations on site to plant the 15 trees that were not accounted for in the original landscape plan. The Petitioner will work with the City Forester on appropriate locations for these new trees that are within close proximity to this site. A landscaping plan is being submitted. There are 57 trees that will be removed, and 57 new trees will be planted. 42 of those trees will be planted on site, and 15 will be planted on the eastern edge of the property closest to Meridian Street. The shape and size of the parcel in conjunction with the location of the existing building creates the practical difficulty or hardship. Without the variances, the parcel could not be practically used for a parking lot expansion because not nearly enough spaces could be added. Engineering: 4 Underground stormwater detention is proposed for this parking lot. The site is bisected by an easement, so there will be two separate chambers for detention. Rain gardens are also provided in order to help provide stormwater quality measures, to help clean the water prior to entering the underground chambers. Active Transportation: The existing multi-use path at the northwest corner of Illinois and 103rd Streets will remain. New path has been added to the extent of the new parking area along Illinois Street. This path will turn to provide a connection to the front door of the building, as was requested by Staff. The path along Superior Street will be relocated closer to the street in order for more new parking spaces to be reconstructed. It will be an 8’ wide path to match existing. Lighting: Four new parking lot pole lights will be installed in this new parking area. The photometric plan has been submitted and it meets the maximum 0.3 foot-candle requirement at the property lines. The lights will be installed at 30’6” tall and will be LED lights. Plan Commission Conditions: Plan Commission Docket No. 20010014 ADLS Amendment was approved with the following conditions at their March 3 Commercial Committee meeting: • Final approval from the Carmel Engineering Department, • Final approval of revised landscape plan to include 15 additional trees to be planted around the property , • Approval of related variances by the Board of Zoning Appeals. The Petitioner addressed all but two planning/zoning review comments (see below); however, the Planning Dept. supports this variance request. a) Please provide a filled out Notice of the Public Hearing form/template (found in Variance application). b) Please provide proof of notice, such as the Publisher’s Affidavit from the newspaper, once you receive it. Petitioner’s Findings of Fact: Please refer to the petitioner’s Findings of Facts included in their info packet. Recommendation: The Dept. of Community Services recommends positive consideration of Docket Nos. 20020002-3 V, with the condition of addressing the two remaining review comments.