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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes COM 02-02-21City of C �PJOIflHp Carmel Plan Commission COMMERCIAL COMMITTEE Tuesday, February 2, 2021 Meeting Agenda Location: Virtual Meeting (Zoom) Members Present: Alan Potasnik (Committee Chairman), Joshua Kirsh, Kevin Rider, & Jeff Hill. Staff Present: Rachel Keesling (Planning Administrator), Mike Hollibaugh (DOCS Director), & Nathan Chavez (Recording Secretary) Legal Counsel: Paul Reis Time of Meeting: 6:00 PM The Commercial Committee met to review the following items: 1. Docket No. PZ-2021-00002 ADLS Amend: Teacher's Credit Union — Facade and Site Improvements. The applicant seeks design approval for the renovation of the existing Steak N' Shake restaurant into a new credit union. This site is 1.11 acres and is located at 635 E. Carmel Drive. It is zoned B-8 and is not located within any overlay zone. Filed by Sarah Freymuth of The Redmond Company on behalf of Teacher's Credit Union. Petitioners: Sarah Freymuth (Redmond Company), Eric Ohlfs (Redmond Company), Alen Fetahagic (Kimley- Horn), Brandon Demitruk (Teacher's Credit Union), & Matt Emmer (Teacher's Credit Union): Sarah Freymuth: • We are working with Teachers Credit Union (TCU) out of South Bend, IN. They are looking to expand into the Carmel market and have been working on a new prototype. The subject site, 635 E. Carmel Dr. is appropriate for this new store. • Page 1 of the Submitted Packet shows the before and after of the site. The area reflects a lot of the same values and goals that both TCU and the City of Carmel (City) have. • This is a perfect location. It is a retail community and retail area. There are a lot of other financials in the area as well as retail components. It is a great and ideal location on an existing site. The Steak N' Shake is now vacant and will be turned into the new facility. • The client is in the process of purchasing the site because they would like to make a long-term commitment. This site does require renovations to make it appropriate for its new brand they would like to launch in Carmel. It does tell the story of something that is retail driven and less traditional architecture style that goes with the old school financial standards that one would conjure when thinking of a bank. It is not your grandfather's bank. TCU is something that is really striving to be individualistic to its members and offer high technology resources to members. Finding something that responds to the brand is possible with this site by peeling off the current exterior and working with just the building itself. We are getting rid of a lot of the stereotypical design of the restaurant to show their new brand. With that the store opens up and one could see from the outside in like retail. • When you think of a financial you think of something with a big awning and drive thru. That can be overpowering to a site when you see that. Because TCU is looking into high technology, they are incorporating ITMs (interactive teller machine). Two are proposed and are located in the southeast corner of the site. They are much smaller than the bulky drive-thru ATMs. • The site plan is not changing much overall, other than the addition of the two ITMs. They are also adding a night deposit box. The curb needs to be cut back a little, so that vehicles can access it. • On the exterior (page 3), high end material typically found in retail is proposed. TCU will own the building and want something that will last. We are looking at natural stone products and an aluminum siding that looks like wood but will not rot over time. • Signage works very well with the architecture. Commercial Committee Minutes 02-02-21 , • A lot of the fagade will be peeled away and opened with window space. • The awnings help add a line of vision and are useful as well. They do help block some of the sun and exposure. • There are areas where exterior renovation is needed. For instance, we need to create accessible entries, so the ramps need to be redone on the front. There are plantings around the perimeter on the building. Some look a little ragged and will need to be removed. They look like a hurricane hit them. We have been in contact with the Urban Forester and have created a plan that helps fill in those areas that need extra plantings in order to meet the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) landscaping standards. We are reworking the back curb where the drive up is located. Islands are added to protect the ITMs and other vehicles in the lanes. It is mostly all the exterior site work is between the landscaping and the ITMs. • There are two signs proposed on the building and a few wayfinding signs around the site. The signs are on the front (north) and side (east) closest to the parking. They are internally illuminated. The goal is for the interior to provide a soft glow at night and then the signs give it a pop. Wayfinding signage is present at the drive-ins to help with navigation. Signage is minimal. • The ITMs look like ATMs. They have a little bit of light and signage. The signs are slightly smaller because they were a little over the 3 sq. ft. That has been addressed and corrected. The ITMs are respectful of lighting and sound transfer. They are designed to illuminate around the machine itself and is not made to illuminate the entire parking lot. The speakers in these systems really do offer a lot of audio privacy. Normally they don't disturb the neighbor's property. There is limited signage on the back and sides are well. • Page 18 is of an existing machine. The dimensions are a little bit different but overall, they are similar. • Page 20 shows lighting is limited to just the machine. Department Report: Rachel Keesling: • The project meets all applicable standards of the UDO. We have been working with the petitioner to make modifications along the way. • The site plan will remain primarily the same. The ITM lanes will be added to the southeast corner of the site. • The proposal for the building modifications are to remove all the features that make it a Steak N' Shake; the 45-degree angle walls, awnings, etc... They will reface the building with an aluminum siding that looks like wood and stone. There will be canopies over the windows including the rear or south fagade, which was not included in your packet but was agreed to by the petitioner. • Signage will meet all UDO requirements. • The only outstanding item is compliance with the Thoroughfare Plan. We are working with the petitioner on contributing to the Nom-Reverting Thoroughfare Fund for the cost of the improvements rather than building them now. The Department of Community Services (Staff) is supportive of that and will continue to work with the petitioner. • This is an ADLS Amendment only and the Commercial Committee (Committee) has the authority to vote on this tonight. Staff has no outstanding comments, is supportive of the project, and recommends approval subject to finalizing the Thoroughfare Plan compliance and contribution to the Non -Reverting Thoroughfare Fund. Committee Comments: Joshua Kirsh: • The obvious question is will I still be able to get a milkshake and fries in the middle of the night? Kevin Rider: That was going to be my question. Sarah Freymuth: I am so sorry but unfortunately no. Joshua Krish: I am just kidding. This is a very beautiful product. Again, Rachel has probably worked really hard to get this across the finish line and to bring something so wonderful -to the City. And you are recycling an old building. • I might have heard, in a different role I fulfill, comments regarding cut through traffic on this site. I have seen this, people zooming through the site, and am not quite sure why people may be doing it. Especially since the site has been vacant people are carte blanche to cut through there and am not sure if the Engineering Department (Engineering) or anybody else has made comments about this. I was under the impression that there may be a reduction of access or there would be an exit only onto Carmel Dr. Was any consideration made? Rachel Keesling: We did not bring that up with regards to reducing the number of Commercial Committee Minutes 02-02-21 2 access points. I do think if there is a problem with that now, once construction commences and they block everything off, that option won't be available to people. When they reopen, I am hopeful that this would stop when activity on the site resumes. Joshua Kirsh: I agree with that and think it is probably accurate. I might suggest to the petitioner to express to the clients my concerns. If they are finding it to be an issue after opening the site to circle back with Staff or Engineering, to help with enforcement. Sarah Freymuth: Thank you. I have not heard that this is an issue. Can you elaborate a little more? Are they cutting through Keystone over to Carmel Dr.? Or from Carmel Dr. over to Keystone? Joshua Kirsh: I think what happens is people are coming from the round -a -bout to the northeast (Keystone Parkway and Carmel Dr. roundabout) and instead of continuing south along the frontage road to get into the shopping complex there, which has direct access from that frontage road into the shopping complex, I think what happens is they then proceed westbound onto Carmel Dr. and then pull into your site to cut through your site to gain access to that retail site. I know people in the community that are on this call say, "Oh yeah that definitely happens." It is something you would not know occurs unless you've seen it too many times. Alan Potasnik: I am a chronic abuser. I can tell you exactly what the issue is. I did it today as a matter of fact. I received a phone call as I was driving to my office saying, "Get back home." My first turnoff was on Carmel Dr. and the first access I had to turn around, as I usually do, is cutting through the parking lot of Steak N' Shake, there is no other way really. You can't make a U-turn there. Jeff Hill: There is even a sign that says no U- turn. Alan Potasnik: That is the first area really. I am hoping you redo the parking lot and driveway. It is like driving on the moon. Sarah Freymuth: That is a part of the plan. Alan Potasnik: Joshua brings up a legitimate issue here. Joshua Kirsh: There is an issue that will probably be solved as Rachel has outlined. You are going to be long gone Sarah by the time this becomes an issue. If your clients understand the issue and now Staff is aware of the issue, then they can come back and say it continues to be an issue, I am fairly certain that the City's enforcement arm will be happy to resolve the issue. If we are not going to resolve the issue through connectivity or more specifically, to Rachel, if Engineering is fine with it the way it is, then it will not change. In the future, there will be a series of roundabouts between AAA Way and the entrance to the property, which will probably solve some of these problems, but that is not scheduled, planned, or funded at this point. Kevin Rider: I am also a chronic abuser: You used to be able to make a U-tum there and they added a sign to stop this. I think once it reopens a lot of people will stop that behavior. That building is kind of like an eye sore and I like the improvements. Jeff Hill: For a restaurant use, this would make sense. There are 63 parking spaces there and it feels a little overparked. When I look down the street at the National Bank of Indianapolis and Key Bank, they have about 17 spots a piece. Is there an opportunity to green this up by taking out some parking? Sarah Freymuth: We did look into this. We did eliminate all the parking stalls on the south end of the property to make a little more room for the ITMs. When we did look into adding green space it ended up being very costly to do so because we would have to recurb, regutter, and plant and fill. We spoke with the City about this. We have an estimating team to crunch numbers and make an educated decision on whether this was feasible or not. At the time it was determined that it was not feasible at the time. Rachel Keesling: That was something we looked at and wanted to suggest to them. It would have been the whole south row that Staff was hoping to see put back as green space. It is not a requirement and is existing today. I think this building was built in the 1970's. It has been there a long time and probably legal non -conforming based on what was approved back at the time. We did try and for cost reasons they could not do it. Jeff Hill: I get that, and I think of the other times when this group asks, "Are we over parked, are we under parked?" This seems like out shot. Kevin Rider: • Are there any other Engineering comments we may need to make this contingent upon? Alan Potasnik: I think other than subject to the Throughfare Plan approval, that is all I've heard. Rachel Keesling: Correct. And there are general comments that are still out there on ProjectDox. We are not finished with all the reviews. If you would make it subject to finalizing all comments or ProjectDox that would be good. Kevin Rider: And that would include the Throughfare Plan? Rachel Keesling: Yes. Kevin motions to approve Docket PZ-2021-00002 subject to all ProjectDox comments being addressed, Joshua seconds, motion passes 3-1, Hill. Commercial Committee Minutes 02-02-21