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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 06-16-20 13 CARMEL PLAN COMMISSION DEPARTMENT REPORT JUNE 16, 2020 4. 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 since the first Plan Commission meeting 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 intense 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 to 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 14 spots for open guest parking and 16 parking spaces behind some garages for guests of those units. Altogether the site plan now shows 30 total guest parking spaces and a land banked area for 3 additional spaces if needed in the future. The onsite detention is planned through underground detention. 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. 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 along 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. 14 100% of the first floor of the dwelling facing a street or the Monon Trail will be brick and/or stone, except for bay windows. The Dept. requested that the PUD to require 100% of the first floor of the dwelling on all sides to be brick and/or stone and the petitioner made this change. 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 Architectural 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. 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. Petitioner also added a fence and evergreen trees to the south buffer which will be planted on the property to the south to help buffer that neighbor. Signage: No signage is proposed at this time, but the PUD would allow for only one ground sign along the 146th 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 146th 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 5th, 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 the size of the stoops. The Committee continued this item to the next Residential Committee meeting. June 2, 2020 Residential Committee Recap: Petitioner presented updates to the project; including adding 14 additional parking spaces as well as 3 land banked spaces, landscaping enhancements, locations for mailbox bank and enclosed community trash area. Petitioner discussed reducing the density but they didn’t think removing a few units would have a measurable or discernable impact. They believe the architecture is one of the benefits of the project and if they remove a unit here or there, then it would open up the views from the perimeter streets into the backs of the buildings. The committee was still concerned about parking, and the petitioner stated that there are 14 guest parking spaces not behind a garage and that the CCRCs will limit parking behind garages to the owner of the unit and their guests. The Committee brought up the continuing concerns of the neighbors regarding drainage and the petitioner stated that the full drainage will be reviewed when the project comes back for the 15 Development Plan review and they could not increase the drainage leaving the site today. Construction traffic, no parking along Rolling Hill Drive, and trash pick-up was also discussed. The Committee voted 3-1 to send the project back to the Plan Commission with a Favorable Recommendation. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns: The petitioner has addressed all of Staff’s comments. Recommendation: The Department of Community Services recommends the Plan Commission votes to send this item to the City Council with a Favorable Recommendation.