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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 11-05-201 Carmel Plan Commission COMMERCIAL COMMITTEE Thursday, November 5, 2020 Department Report 1. Docket No. PZ-2020-00006 OA: Clay Terrace PUD Amendment The applicant seeks PUD Amendment approval to modify the existing Clay Terrace PUD in order to foster redevelopment of a portion of the site. The site is located generally at the SW corner of 146th Street and US 31. It is zoned Clay Terrace PUD Z-386-02. Filed by Steven Hardin of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP. *Updates to the Dept. Report are in blue. Project Overview: Clay Terrace is a regional shopping center that has been in existence for nearly 20 years. It is on the north border of Carmel and Westfield at 146th Street and US 31. To the west are single-family residential homes in the Rolling Meadows (R-1/Residential) and Stonehenge (R-2/Residential) subdivisions. To the south are additional single-family homes in the Walter’s Plaza (R-2/Residential) and Walter’s Rolling Acres (MC/Meridian Corridor) subdivisions. To the immediate east is US 31 and across US 31 is the Lowe’s retail development. It is zoned PUD. North of 146th Street is the Greyhound Plaza shopping development in Westfield. Please see the Petitioner’s Information packet for more details. Comprehensive Plan Analysis: The Clay Terrace PUD area is called out as a Regional Vitality Node in the Comprehensive Plan (Comp. Plan). The current zoning classification is PUD and has been in effect for nearly 20 years. It is reached by most people by car; but is also well designed in that pedestrians are a priority and feel safe walking outside from shop to shop. Retail, service, hotel, entertainment, and restaurant are called out in the Comp. Plan as primary uses for Regional Vitality Nodes. Residential is stated to be appropriate if master planned into the development. The owner has recognized the need to expand into these other uses to ensure the viability of this center, and want to do so in a logical, planned way. Residential density would be limited to 16 units per acre under the Comp. Plan. Multi-family has always been an allowed use in the PUD, it just has not been built yet. Staff is in full support of incorporating multi-family into the development. Regarding height, the Comp. Plan states three story max or up to eight stories if in the US 31 overlay. This PUD is no longer in the US 31 Overlay, but that overlay area typically extended west and east to the next road, such as Illinois Street or Pennsylvania Street. In this case, it would have extended to about where Clay Terrace Boulevard is located. Thus, the proposal for up to 100’ height next to US 31 and east of Clay Terrace Blvd. is on par with Comp. Plan recommendations. Additional Analysis: PUD New Uses proposed to be allowed: • Attached housing (such as townhomes) • General office now includes co-working spaces • Health and Fitness Facility • Restaurant may include a drive through pick up window • Outdoor sales no longer restricted to temporary • Farmer’s Market • Outdoor entertainment • Recreational Facility, Commercial Indoor • Food Truck • Daycare and Before and After School childcare • Day pet care (not overnight like a kennel) • Craft distillery/winery/brewery • Kiosks and other similar structures – either permanent or temporary PUD Excluded Primary Uses (meaning not allowed) being changed: • Miniature golf that is now specified as outdoor and permanent – is not allowed • Movie theatre outdoor that is now specified as permanent – is not allowed • Roadside sales stand is now removed from the excluded list, to allow things such as Food Trucks and Kiosks that may be located throughout the property. • Stand-alone restaurants with walk up and/or drive thru ordering and pick up windows • has been modified to only prohibit drive thru ordering (in order to allow for a pre-placed online order pick up) 2 Site Plan/Concept Plan: Changes are proposed to Clay Terrace Blvd. Instead of two travel lanes in each direction, and a center median/turn lane, there would be one lane for each travel direction between the two existing round-a-bouts. No changes are proposed to the number of lanes or flow of the entrances at the north and south ends of the site. The purpose of the reduction is to slow traffic and to reduce the space between buildings, creating a more intimate experience for patrons. Parallel parking would be installed along the northbound lane and the pull in parking would remain adjacent to the southbound lane. The Comp. Plan classifies Clay Terrace Blvd. as an Arterial Street, which is specified in the Thoroughfare Plan as having 100’ of Right-of-way (ROW). The current ROW of Clay Terrace Blvd. is about 125’, so a reduction would be in line with the Thoroughfare Plan. Parking: Parking requirements for a site with so many different uses will require finesse. Surface parking and a parking structure are proposed in the concept plan. The PUD has been modified to now list standards for parking for Residential, Office, Hotel, and all other commercial uses. But it still calls for the shared parking study to be completed and that will also determine the final number of required spaces. After evaluating the parking study and going over the proposed requirements, the Department is satisfied with the overall number of parking spaces proposed. If new development occurs in the future, a new parking study will have to be completed to see how many additional spaces are needed. The parking garage for the south end of the site is also proposed to be built so that it can be expanded in the future if needed. Engineering: Due to the location of utilities (such as water, stormwater, and sewer lines) under the northbound traffic lanes, the buildings cannot be placed over those. The plan is to leave those lines where they are, and have that be the new sidewalk, outdoor seating area and bike lane area. Active Transportation: Pedestrian connectivity and accessibility are still major priorities for Clay Terrace. Large, enhanced sidewalks are proposed as part of this new plan for redevelopment. A dedicated 10’ bicycle lane is proposed as part of the new streetscape improvements. Short term and long-term bicycle parking are included in the PUD language. Architectural Design: Character or Precedent imagery has been proposed to show the style of architecture proposed for the new buildings. In the future, the Petitioner also plans to remodel the existing buildings and give them a more modern style to connect them visually to the new buildings that will be constructed. New maximum building heights are proposed, going from 65’ to 100’ adjacent to US 31. Buildings more than 300’ away from the western property line are proposed to go from 55’ to 70’. Buildings closer than 300’ to the western property line and 120’ of the south property line are proposed to remain at 45’ tall now. For reference, 300’ is located at about the front (NE corner) of Dick’s sporting goods. The Dick’s building as well as the other two-story buildings are about 40’ tall to the top of the parapet. Lighting: Lighting standards remain the same to keep the requirements of 0.3 footcandles adjacent to commercial areas and 0.1 footcandles adjacent to single family residential areas. Landscaping: Street trees, general landscaping, and buffers are still included in this PUD update. The Petitioner is working with the Urban Forester on these details, especially regarding tree preservation. Signage: Staff has worked hard with the petitioner to come to an agreement for the sign section of the PUD. The proposed signage mirrors the sign standards within the Carmel UDO. The PUD now includes signage for the proposed buildings uses, as well as directories, placemaking sculptures, trail markers, and a large center identification sign along US 31. A sign package will be submitted at a later date for the placemaking sculptures and directory signage. In addition, any signage that faces west towards the residential neighborhood must utilize reverse-lit/halo which is a less intrusive style of illumination. Lastly, an ADLS Amendment is no longer required for a tenant façade change. This was previously required and caused additional unnecessary fees. Overall Staff believes the proposed signage is reasonable and will adequately serve the development. 3 September 15, 2020 Public Hearing Recap: The Petitioner gave an overview of the project, talking about changes in retail and office and what is the best plan to reposition the center for future success. The width of Clay Terrace Blvd. will be adjusted to create the a more intimate feel. A current business owner in Clay Terrace expressed concern about parking and a nearby resident spoke on behalf of neighbors and listed their top priorities for the Petitioner and PC to consider. Those were: building heights, noise, light trespass, and traffic. The neighbors were thankful the Petitioner has involved them in the process from the beginning. Plan Commission members thought this is a great project, but also brought up concerns for the Petitioner to work on. Those are: third entrance into the site, parking (uses and their needs, number of spaces proposed in garage, number of spaces removed/replaced, etc.), net change in retail, pedestrian movement through the site, building heights, great parking garage design is essential, kiosk regulation, better bike parking locations, and amenity area details. It was sent to the Commercial Committee on October 6 and will return to the full PC for a final recommendation onto City Council. October 6 Commercial Committee recap: The Petitioner went through changes to the ordinance, questions from the department report, and their meetings with neighbors. They agreed to walk the buffer areas and place in evergreens or other trees where gaps existed. They also agreed to work on noise mitigation for events to reduce noise and impact on neighbors. They agreed to only allow back lit signage to face west and to put in a curb along 146th Street to help reduce the number of U-turns into the northwestern entrance. Their Engineer and Jeremy Kashman spoke regarding traffic and recent road improvements in the area such as US 31 improvements and Lowe’s Way (now connecting to Range Line Road). The current Clay Terrace Blvd. right-of- way is 160’. The Petitioner is proposing to bring the right-of-way down to about 120’, which will provide for larger sidewalks and parallel parking. Height restrictions from the south property line were increased to 120’ (instead of 100’), the reduction in the minimum building setback adjacent to US 31 was to facilitate increased parking on the west side, and the landscaping clause allowing the PC authority to approve items other than the standards in the PUD was removed. Committee members requested for the buffer area to be cleaned up as far as removing dead trees and allowing room for new growth to occur, to make sure that all pedestrian and bike path options remain available, traffic data is provided, and how parallel roadways will work and help manage traffic. The item was continued to the Thursday, November 5 Commercial Committee meeting. Updates since Committee: • Parking study proposal evaluated and supported by Staff. • Bike parking section updated and concerns addressed. • Signage section revised and concerns addressed. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns: The remaining items we are working with the Petitioner on are the following: 1. Adding character images to the PUD of parking garage screening 2. Cleaning up parking requirement language in the PUD so it isn’t confusing regarding the dimensional standards versus the shared parking study 3. Determining the final minimum right-of-way width for the new Clay Terrace Blvd. 4. Missing segment of path/bike lane from the southern round-a-bout going south to the US 31 off ramp to Range Line Rd./Clay Terrace Blvd. We expect to have these items finalized by the meeting night and will provide an update to the Committee members then. Recommendation: After all concerns are addressed, the Department of Community Services recommends the Commercial Committee forwards this item back to the full Plan Commission with a Favorable Recommendation onto City Council.