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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 05-07-208 Carmel Plan Commission COMMERCIAL COMMITTEE Thursday, May 7, 2020 Department Report 3. Docket No. PZ-2020-00007 ADLS: Carmel Medical Office The applicant seeks ADLS approval for a new medical office building. The corresponding Development Plan was previously approved under Docket No. 19060018 DP. The building will be 3 stories and 50’ tall. It will have 43,100 sq. ft. and be constructed of brick, stone, and metal. The site is located at 12166 N. Meridian Street, just north of the Ritz Charles. It is zoned MC/Meridian Corridor. Filed by Jeff Shively of Cornerstone Companies, Inc. Project Overview: The Petitioner has submitted the ADLS for the office building portion of this site. This office building will be constructed on the vacant ADT site located north of the Ritz Charles. The Meridian Medical Plaza office buildings are located immediately north of this site, to the west is the Spring Lake Estates neighborhood zoned S-2, and to the east across Meridian Street is the Wagner Reese office building, also zoned MC. Please view the Petitioner’s informational packet for more detail. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Standards this project MEETS: MC/Meridian Corridor: • Permitted Uses – General and Professional office • Minimum Front Yard setback from US 31 for buildings and parking – 50’ required, 69.4’ proposed • Minimum Side Yard (north) – 15’ for principal building required, 61’ proposed • Minimum Rear Yard (west) – 0’ for all buildings and surface parking if cooperative agreement is in place, about 120’ proposed for building, 6’ for parking • Maximum Lot Coverage – 80% allowed, about 67% proposed • Maximum Floor Area – Up to 99,050 sq. ft. allowed, 43,100 sq. ft. proposed (based on number of parking spaces dedicated to the development – UDO Sect. 5.12) • Minimum Building height –3 stories required and proposed • Maximum building height – 8 stories allowed • Number of Parking spaces – 133 spaces plus 150 shared parking spaces with Ritz Charles site for both buildings o Office requires 1 space per 350 sq. ft. – 137 required o Hotel requires 1 space per room and 1 per employee per largest shift (25) – 152 required Article 5: • Bicycle parking – 4 racks provided (8 spaces), 4 spaces required • Trash enclosure is architecturally compatible with principal building UDO Standards NOT MET, therefore adjustments or variance requests are needed: • Docket No. PZ-2020-00052 V, UDO Section 5.19.F.3 – Foundation Plantings on all four sides of building base required, two sides requested. • Docket No. PZ-2020-00053 V, UDO Section 5.39.D.3 – Off Premise Ground Sign requested along Illinois St. • Docket No. PZ-2020-00054 V, UDO Section 5.39.I.2.c.i. – Number of Ground Signs along Illinois St. (Ritz Charles complex); 3 existing, 1 additional requested. These variance requests will be heard at the Tuesday, May 26 BZA Hearing Officer meeting Previous variance approvals granted by BZA (10-28-2019): • Docket No. 19090015 V, UDO Sect. 2.40 – Min. Side Yard (north) – 20’ for surface parking required, 5’ proposed in one area, 30’ proposed in another • Docket No. 19090016 V, UDO Sect. 5.07.D. – At least 2 primary buildings required for wide lot width covering at least 75% of the lot’s width; 1 hotel and 1 office building proposed at about 45% lot width coverage • Docket No. 19090017 V, UDO Sections 2.40 & 5.19.F. - Not meeting the Parking lot setbacks/bufferyards along future shared property line between buildings 9 Site Plan and Parking: The, Petitioner has received previous approval for the site plan and associated parking through Docket No. 19060018 DP. As a refresher, the office building is three stories with 43,100 sq. ft. of floor area proposed. The Petitioner has secured an access agreement with the Ritz Charles to enter the site from Illinois Street to the west. They also propose two street cuts onto the frontage road along Meridian Street (east of the buildings). The MC district requires one space per 350 sq. ft. for office users. 137 parking spaces are needed for the office building. The MC district does allow for off-site parking to count towards the total number of spaces for a site. A shared parking agreement has been reached with the Ritz Charles. Parking requirements are met through 133 parking spaces are proposed for this site, along with the 150 spaces shared through the Ritz Charles parking agreement. Overall lot coverage for the site is 67.3%. The maximum lot coverage percent allowed is 80% per the MC district. Engineering: Two dry detention ponds are proposed along the east edge of this site. The Engineering Dept. has approved these plans. The Petitioner will need to do their final submittals (estimates, bonds, permit applications, etc.) before the storm water management permit can be issued and construction can begin. Fire Department: The Fire Dept. has not been able to finish their review due to needed utility plans. They review utility plans to check for hydrant, FDC (Fire Dept. Connection) and PIV (Post Indicator Valve) locations. An auto-turn exhibit also needs to be submitted for review. Active Transportation: Sidewalks will be provided all around the building, and connections will be made through the middle of the parking lot to provide access to people who may be walking from the Ritz Charles parking lot to the west. Additional connections will be provided to the new hotel to the south, and to the sidewalk that will be installed along the frontage road. We are still waiting for the landscape plan and civil plans (from the original DP which has not been finalized yet – Docket No. 19060018 DP) to show this sidewalk connection on the north side of the building. Bicycle parking spaces are provided at the northwest corner of the building and are within 50’ of the main entrance (located on the west side of the building). Four racks will be installed, which gives eight spaces. One space for each 10,000 sq. ft. is required for office uses, so the proposed four racks meets this requirement. Architectural Design: The proposed building is 3 stories tall and 42’3” to the top of the roof. A minimum of 3 stories and a maximum of 8 stories is allowed in the MC zone. The mechanical units will be screened separate of the parapet wall, and that overall height is 51’3”. The building will be a mixture of limestone, brick, architectural metal panels, and glass. The north façade third story will have an outdoor patio with trellis feature. There will be recessed brick detailing in the columns around the windows. The Meridian Corridor District is a zone that has architectural standards. All facades must be Primary Facades, meaning that they are architecturally significant and properly detailed. Although this building isn’t at an intersection, it does still have multiple Corner Architectural Features, and is well designed from every viewpoint. High quality, durable building materials are required and proposed for this building. Lastly, there are massing requirements for wide lot buildings. A variance was previously granted for this, as the office building and proposed hotel only make up 45% of the frontage, vs. the required 75%. The dumpster enclosure will have all brick walls and a cast stone cap to match the design of the building. Staff is still working on finalizing our review through Project Dox, where we do have some minor remaining comments. For example, a couple of the comments are regarding ensuring coordinated design details in the brickwork and a missing overhang for a south elevation entry. Lighting: This building will be well-lit, with numerous light fixtures on the exterior to accentuate the building design. A nighttime lighting plan has been provided to see what it would look like. Four parking lot pole lights will be installed to account for 10 the parking of both this building, and the future hotel to the south. Petitioner, what is the proposed height of the parking lot pole lights? The photometric plan has been submitted and it meets the 0.3 footcandle requirement at the property lines. Landscaping: The Petitioner has provided extensive building base landscaping on the west and east facades. However, the north and south facades of the building do not have sufficient building base landscaping and thus the request for a variance. It has been docketed as PZ-2020-00052 and is listed above. Subject to this BZA approval, the Urban Forester has approved the remainder of the landscaping plan. Signage: The Petitioner shows general locations on the east and west elevations for wall signage, which would face the two public streets this project fronts – US 31 and Illinois Street. However, the application states that additional signage details will be submitted later for administrative review by DOCS. That is ok, and for the Petitioner’s information, Staff will be looking for the following details for the wall signs: size of the signs, the placement of the signs, how the signs will be installed to the face of the building, and the illumination method. Staff would also ask the Petitioner to consider back lit signs facing west towards the neighborhoods. Regarding the proposed ground sign at Illinois Street that requires a variance, please submit an updated site plan showing where this sign will be placed. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns: Overall, Staff is very impressed with the design of this new office building. There are only a few outstanding items as mentioned above. To summarize: 1. Fire Dept. review items needed 2. Sidewalk connection needed on the north side of the building to be shown on landscape plan 3. Architectural review completed through Project Dox 4. Height of parking lot light poles needed 5. Location of ground signs on site plan Recommendation: After all comments and concerns are addressed, the Department of Community Services recommends the Commercial Committee votes to Approve this item. Otherwise if needed, the item can be continued to the Thursday, June 4, 2020* Commercial Committee meeting. (*Committee date is TBD due to the moved Primary Election Day to June 2 and possible virtual meetings needing two dates – one for Residential and one for Commercial Committee.)