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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 06-02-204 Carmel Plan Commission RESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE Tuesday, June 2, 2020 Department Report 2. Docket No. 19120008 PUD: 146th and Monon PUD Rezone The applicant seeks approval to rezone 1.26 acres to PUD/Planned Unit Development in order to develop 15 townhomes. The site is located along the south side of 146th St. between the Monon and Rolling Hill Dr. It is zoned R-1/Residential within the Monon Overlay Natural Section. Filed by Jim Shinaver of Nelson and Frankenberger on behalf of Estridge Development Management, LLC. *Updates to the Dept. Report are written in blue Project Overview: The Petitioner proposes to rezone the subject property to a PUD classification to allow for the construction of 15 residential townhome units. The site is located right along 146th Street and the Monon. The land surrounding this property is all single family residential. Please see the Petitioner’s Information packet for more details. Comprehensive Plan Analysis: The Carmel Clay Comprehensive Plan’s Land Classification Plan Map delineates this area as Suburban Residential. Suburban Residential is described as providing housing opportunities for people who desire moderately dense subdivision living. This would normally be single-family detached residential only with one-story encouraged and a maximum of two stories. The proposed townhome development would fall under the classification of Attached Residential, which is considered a Conditional Fit next to Suburban Residential. Conditional fits are appropriate when the more inte nse development is installed with sensitivity to the adjacent land classification. We also look to the City Wide and West and North Central Carmel Policies and Objectives in the Comp Plan. Some objectives that stand out include: - Be very sensitive to connectivity and transitions between adjacent areas. Discourage unplanned or harsh contrasts in height, building orientation, character, land use, and density. If there exists contrast, utilize multiple design principles to soften transitions. - Continue to encourage a variety of housing options to meet the needs of the marketplace. - Subdivision connectivity and transitions between proposed developments and existing subdivisions should be scrutinized to a greater degree in West Carmel. - Encourage pedestrian scale and walkability in new developments, infill and/or redevelopment. - Promote compact urban form with densities that support multi-modal transportation. The above goals support this rezone if there is sensitivity to adjacent areas and appropriate transitions. Additional Analysis: Site Plan, Parking, Engineering: The proposed townhomes are located at and brought up to 146th Street with 6 units facing 146th St, 5 units facing the Monon and 4 facing rolling Hill Drive. The units in each building are staggered t o provide variation in the façade and streetscape. The entrance to the townhomes will be off Rolling Hill Drive and all of the townhomes will be rear loaded so the garages won’t face the street. There will be designated spots for guest parking as well as some units will have room behind the garages for additional parking. The site plan now shows 30 guest parking spaces. The onsite detention is planned through underground detention. Active Transportation: Pedestrian connectivity will be provided by increasing the path along 146th St. to 10 ft. wide and adding a sidewalk along Rolling Hill Drive. There is also a sidewalk internal to the site that connects people from 146th St. south to the guest parking. Short term bicycle parking is also provided a long the internal sidewalk. Architectural Design: The architecture for the townhomes is custom architecture with high quality materials and design elements. The main building materials are red brick with smooth fiber cement panels and smooth fiber cement lap siding. 100% of the first floor of the dwelling facing a street or the Monon Trail will be brick and/or stone, except for bay windows. After reviewing the rear elevations of the townhomes, the Dept. would like the PUD to require 100% of the first floor of the dwelling on all sides to be brick and/or stone. There are numerous windows on the elevations which help break up the facades and adds architectural interest. The PUD requires that the townhomes be built in substantial compliance with the Archit ectural Character Imagery, so that what has been presented so far is what will be built. An ADLS approval will also be required to approve the final design of the townhomes. From the street, the townhomes will only be 2.5 stories to help transition from 146th St. to the single-family homes along Rolling Hill Dr. 5 Lighting: The proposed lighting will be architectural lighting on the building or ground-mounted architectural, display, and decorative lighting from concealed, low level fixtures. Pole mounted lighting fixtures are prohibited in the PUD to reduce the light levels of the site and be sensitive to the surrounding area. Landscaping: Foundation plantings and street tress will be required. A 15 ft. bufferyard is proposed along the Monon and the south perimeter, except for the area where the guest parking is located, which will only be 9.5 ft. The petitioner has added landscaping to the common area south of the entry drive to help screen the views of the rears of the townhomes from the street and the neighbors to the east. Signage: No signage is proposed at this time, but the PUD would allow for only one ground sign along the 146 th St. frontage. April 21, 2020 Public Hearing Recap: The Petitioner went over the proposed project, site plan, and architectural images. There were a lot of letters submitted from nearby residents that were not in favor of the project and one letter in support. Some of the main concerns included that traffic will increase at the intersection at 146th St, there is a lot of water flowing during heavy rains in the creek further south in the neighborhood, the townhomes are a stark difference from the surrounding single family homes, and there is a future expansion of Clay Terrace planned which will increase traffic on 146 th St. The Plan Commission members thought the architecture was attractive, but asked questions about the drainage for the area, number of parking spaces, trash removal, tree preservation along the Monon, the size of the front stoops, and where the mailboxes and A/C units would be located. They also requested a member of the Carmel Engineering Dept. attend the Committee meeting. The Plan Commission forwarded this item to the Residential Committee meeting on May 5 th, with the full Plan Commission having final voting authority. May 5, 2020 Residential Committee Recap: The petitioner presented: a site plan showing the location of a decel lane along 146th St. if one were to be required in the future, a site plan showing the distances to the adjacent homes, and images of the existing landscaping. The Carmel Engineering Dept. and the Hamilton County Highway Dept. both attended the meeting and presented their expertise on the drainage and traffic. The project will be required to adhere to the detention requirements in the City’s Storm Water Technical Standards manual. The manual requires the detention of on-site runoff, up to the 100 year storm event. It requires the property to release the same, if not less runoff, than it currently does, in the 10 and 100 year storm events. Carmel Engineering was concerned that a decel lane could increase speeds along 146th St. as cars will not have to slow down for the cars turning into the neighborhood because those cars would no longer be in the main travel lanes. The County Highway Dept. doesn’t see a pattern of accidents in this location at this time and would not require a decel lane for just this project. This project would not be adding a significant amount of trips to the A.M./P.M. peak traffic. The Committee voiced concerns about the number of parking spaces, parking behind garages, trash pick-up, and the number of units proposed on this site. The Committee also asked to see the proposed fence design and t he size of the stoops. The Committee continued this item to the next Residential Committee meeting. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns : The petitioner has addressed many of Staff’s original comments. The final remaining comments include: 1. Require 100% of the first floor to be brick and/or stone on all four sides of the buildings. 2. Please add text to the PUD that would trigger the installation of the land banked parking and that would spell out who would be required to install the parking. How would the installation be financed? 3. Who will be responsible for going through the approval process to prohibit the on -street parking? 4. For the tandem parking spaces behind the garages, please add some wording to the Covenants and Restrictions that would limit their use to the owner of the unit and their guests. Recommendation: If all comments and concerns can be addressed, the Department of Community Services recommends the Committee votes to forward this item back to the Plan Commission with a Favorable Recommendation.