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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 02-02-21 6 Carmel Plan Commission COMMERCIAL COMMITTEE Tuesday, February 2, 2021 Department Report 5. Docket No. PZ-2020-00210 DP Amend/ADLS Amend: Pennwood Office Park. 6. Docket No. PZ-2020-00225 V: Secondary vehicular entrances shall not be through residential areas. Requesting emergency vehicle-only secondary access from Washington Blvd. The applicant seeks site plan, design, and variance approval for three, one-story office buildings to be constructed on 3.76 acres. The site is located at approximately 11505 N. Pennsylvania Street. It is zoned B-5/Business and is located within the West Homeplace Commercial Corridor, High Intensity Overlay Zone. Filed by Kevin Buchheit of Krieg DeVault on behalf of the owner, SCB Home Office, LLC. *Updates to the Dept. Report are in blue. Project Overview: The Petitioner proposes to construct three new one-story buildings that will complete the Pennwood Office development. This site has been through four previous approvals and building designs. The first was in 2007 under Docket No. 06070008 DP/ADLS. Then, an updated design of that two-story building was proposed under Docket No. 16080012 DP/ADLS. In 2018, under Docket No. 18070013 ADLS Amend, a three-story building was proposed and approved. Lastly, in December 2019, the three-story building was reduced to a two-story building. To the north is an office building for the Police and Fireman’s Insurance Association, zoned B-5 and within the West Home Place Commercial Corridor – High Intensity Area. Directly south are the other two Pennwood office buildings, also zoned B-5 and in the West Home Place Commercial Corridor – High Intensity Area. To the west are the three Penn Mark office buildings, zoned MC/Meridian Corridor. To the east are single family residential homes, zoned R-1. Please see the Petitioner’s Information packet for more details. Combined Hearing Information: This petition will be reviewed as part of the “Combo Committee” option, which was enacted to approve development proposals. Instead of the Petitioner going before both the Plan Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), the Plan Commission will act as both bodies to review the entire petition together. This process combines the Plan Commission’s review of the site plan, architectural design, landscaping, signage, etc. with any variances (which do not meet development standards of the UDO) that would have been reviewed by the BZA. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Standards this project MEETS: West Home Place Commercial Corridor: • Building Height: 45’ allowed, 21’ proposed • Front Yard Setback: minimum 5’allowed, about 15’ proposed • Side Yard Setback: minimum 10’ allowed, 115’ proposed south, 10’ proposed north • Rear Yard Setback: 15’ next to existing residence, 47’ proposed • Building Orientation: must face Penn. St. • Pedestrian facilities: connection from Pennsylvania Street to front door required and provided in 3 locations • Architectural design • Bufferyards: 10’ wide next to residential, 30’ proposed • Site lighting: 21’ tall max allowed, 20’ proposed • Parking standards: interconnected to adjacent sites • Parking amount: 1 space per 250 sq. ft. of floor area (27,323 sq. ft.) required = 110 spaces, 115 spaces provided • Bicycle parking: 4 spaces required per building and provided • Dumpster enclosure matches building design Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Standards NOT MET, therefore modifications are required: None Previous Variances Granted: • Docket No. 18070014 V: UDO SECTION 3.06.B.3.f.: “All buildings shall be designed with respect to the general character of the US 31 Corridor and, particularly, with due consideration to buildings located on lots that abut the subject property.” (This variance was heard and approved by the PC at the October 16, 2018 meeting.) • Docket No. 16120010 V – ZO Ch. 23E.07.C: No parking allowed in front yard required & parking shall be screened; parking in front yard requested. (This variance was heard and approved at the Jan. 23, 2017 BZA mtg.) 7 West Home Place Commercial Corridor – High Intensity Area Overlay Zone: The West Home Place Commercial Corridor is in place to create appropriate site design and architectural transitions between US 31 and the residential areas to the east. The buildings in this corridor will act as a buffer from the more intensive building heights and uses in the US 31 Corridor. One of the standards in the overlay zone states that “All buildings shall be designed with respect to the general character of the US 31 Corridor and, particularly, with due consideration to buildings located on lots that abut the subject property.” The proposed height reduction to one story will respect the character of the surrounding buildings, being both residential structures and single- and two -story office buildings. Site Plan, Parking and Engineering: The overall site plan is laid out in roughly the same way as the 2019 approved plan; it just has a new building directly fronting Pennsylvania Street. Access into the site is still from the shared entry point from Pennsylvania Street and the access road to the Police & Fireman’s Insurance building to the north is maintained. This placement of the building and associated parking located in front of the building required a variance, as no parking is allowed in the Front Yard. This variance request was heard and approved at the January 23, 2017 BZA meeting. Parking required for this building is calculated under the General Office category, which requires one space for every 250 sq. ft. of floor area. There is 27,323 sq. ft. of floor area, so that would require 110 parking spaces. 115 spaces are provided, six of which are ADA accessible. The parking is located between the buildings and to the south of Building 1. A new vehicular entrance is proposed at the northeast corner of the site, connecting to Washington Blvd. While the Dept. is normally supportive of additional connectivity, the West Homeplace Commercial Corridor does not allow for secondary entrances to be through residential areas. Thus, a variance has been requested to approve this entrance as an emergency only access. This was requested by the Fire Dept. to be provided. The Department is in support of this access to Washington Blvd. as emergency only. Regarding detention and stormwater, there is a large pond to the south of this building that this project will tie into. The Engineer is working on the plan and does not propose for the pond to be expanded, as was proposed in the previous petition. The developer continues to work with the City Engineer’s office on plan approval. Active Transportation: There is an existing multi-use path on Pennsylvania Street, and two new sidewalks will be constructed to connect it to the new buildings and the existing development to the south. Currently sidewalks are proposed on the south and east faces of Building 1 and on the west and north sides of Buildings 2 and 3. The Petitioner has also added direct pedestrian connections from the front doors facing Pennsylvania to the path along Pennsylvania Street, as required by the UDO. Bike parking will be provided for each building. Two racks, which is four spaces, will be provided. Sidewalk (5’ wide) is also required along Washington Blvd., as it is a public street frontage. However, the Petitioner has decided to contribute to the Non-Reverting Thoroughfare Fund for the cost of the sidewalk, rather than build it now. There are currently no other facilities on Washington Blvd. and it would require the removal of a lot of trees. The Department is supportive of the contribution in lieu of construction at this time. A Plan Commission member had concerns about pedestrian access through the parking lot, because it was three rows deep. The Petitioner added a crosswalk area through the center of the site by removing two parking spaces. The pedestrian access specification mentioned by the PC member is a listed requirement in the Carmel Drive/Range Line Road Overlay, but is a good safety measure for any parking lot throughout the City. Architectural Design: The buildings will be constructed of the following primary materials – cast stone, architectural metal panels, glass, and brick. Using three of these materials meets one of the requirements of the West Home Place Commercial Corridor. Other requirements are for entrances to be clearly defined and to have consistent architectural style all around. The entrances are defined by taller façade treatments. The increased use of stone and brick on the building facades will complement the existing red brick buildings in the Pennwood development to the south, as well as the other office buildings surrounding the site. Rooftop equipment will be screened by the parapet walls. The dumpster enclosure design will be brick surrounds with a stone cap. 8 Lighting: Site lighting is proposed through five parking lot pole lights. They will be LED lights with 90 degree cut off lenses. The photometric plan meets the requirements for 0.3 footcandles at the west and north property lines and the 0.1 footcandle at the east property line. The Petitioner will be adding under soffit lighting, to help illuminate the building façade and provide lighting for pedestrians. Landscaping: Building base, street trees and parking lot perimeter landscaping will be provided. There is a good stand of trees along the east property line, which provide a good buffer between the commercial and residential areas. These trees will be preserved, as well as supplemented to fill in any gaps to complete the buffer. The Urban Forester is currently reviewing the proposed plan revisions. An update will be provided at the Committee meeting. Signage: There is an existing ground sign in the center median of the entrance to the development that says “Pennwood.” This will remain as the identifying sign for the overall development. The elevations show signage facing Pennsylvania for the westernmost building. Additional work will be needed on signage to ensure it complies with the UDO requirements. The Petitioner has stated they will return to the Dept. for administrative ADLS Amendment approval of the sign plan for this building. January 19 Public Hearing Recap: The Petitioner went over the project and discussed the site history. No one from the public submitted letters in favor of or against this project. The Plan Commission had questions regarding pedestrian access through the parking lot, the proposed emergency access along Washington Blvd. – how it will be secured and its location, sidewalk requirements for Washington Blvd., design of the garage building not matching the buildings, and the access drive easements and agreements for use. This was sent to the Commercial Committee with the Committee having final voting authority. All were in favor. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns: 1. Engineering Dept. approval 2. Landscaping plan approval needed Recommendation: The Department of Community Services recommends the Commercial Committee votes to Approve this item this evening subject to Engineering Dept. and Urban Forestry approvals.