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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-30-21 01411 City of C MA- Carmel Plan Commission COMMERCIAL COMMITTEE Tuesday, March 30, 2021 Meeting Agenda Location: Virtual Meeting(Zoom) Members Present: Alan Potasnik(Committee Chairman),Nick Kestner,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-2021-00033 ADLS Amend: Jiffy Lube Store 3692—Mural/Public Art. The applicant seeks ADLS Amendment approval to install a mural on the north elevation of the building. The site is located at 10390 N. Michigan Rd. It is zoned I-1/Industrial and is located within the US 421 — Michigan Road overlay district. Filed by the owner Steve Sanner. Petitioners: Julia Moore(Arts Council of Indianapolis)&Lonnie Hinkle(Jiffy Lube): Julia Moore: • I assist with the Jiffy Lube mural program. The program has received many positive comments in the four years it has operated.It has won a national arts and business partnership award from Americans for the Arts. The murals are high quality,and we are happy to be in Carmel. • All artists are allowed to paint whatever subject they choose,as long as the subject does not relate to cars or Jiffy Lube's business.It is pure expression for the community. We have selected the Hamilton County artist;Nekoda Witsken. She is known for her brightly colored murals with positive themes. • The subject mural is about radiating positive energy and sharing one's light.The images reflect people sharing their lights and deliberately promotes inclusivity.For example, a dark-skinned woman with a headscarf is present so that Nekoda can celebrate people whose voices, images,and light is rarely paid attention to. There are flowers,symbolic of positive attributes;Daylilies represent sacrifice for others and sunflowers gather light.This will be a positive mural for Cannel. • The mural will be painted on two panels attached to the building,prior to painting. The panels are standard signage material. It is a plastic core with thin sheets of white painted aluminum bonding on either side.They will be very securely attached to the building. The artist will use high quality paint that resists weathering and fading. They are rated for outdoor use.The work will be clear coated for durability. The painting will be done live on site starting in late Spring or early Summer. Department Report:Nathan Chavez: • Julia covered most of the details regarding the mural.Currently when one is looking at the mural it is actually on two separate walls.The upper portion of the mural will be on panels that are attached to a frame which will be attached to a wall.This is similar to another Jiffy Lube mural on Keystone Ave. The bottom half of the mural is shaped,and these panels will be attached with screws into mortar joints on the wall. When one looks straight on there is the illusion of cohesiveness,but it will be broken up. • The Department of Community Services(Staff)is in support of this petition. • When a property owner comes through for improvements or additions to a site, Staff also looks to bring the rest of the site into compliance.In this instance there are two cases for compliance.Firstly,adding bike racks to the site is an outstanding comment.The petitioner will need to provide a site plan showing Commercial Committee Minutes 03-30-21 1 proposed bike racks. Secondly,the landscape plan will need to be updated because trees were removed without approval.I believe I mentioned mid-2019 in the Department Report. The petitioner is aware of this as well and is working on a new landscape plan for the Urban Forester's review. • Staff recommends approval tonight,subject to submittal of an updated landscape plan and updated bike rac plan. Committee Comments: Alan Potasnik: • Is this a type of artwork that will be enhanced with age?As time goes on it ages well or will it need continuous maintenance and upkeep?Julia Moore: The typical life of a mural is ten years,then it will need major maintenance.The paint starts to fade and lose adhesion.Jiffy Lube's plan is to rotate the murals and do new murals periodically.We are looking probably around 10 years to change it out.Alan Potasnik: I wanted to know if it was something we need to consider prior to approval, if it will begin looking like an eyesore rather than something we would be grateful to have.Julia Moore: I don't think you need to worry about that. The oldest pieces in the program do have touchups. The oldest piece from 2016 had touchups recently. Lonnie Hinkle: That sounds right.They are very durable,and we have been pleased.Julia Moore: I can say that Jiffy Lube is concerned about upkeep.If within those ten years the mural starts to look bad,they will maintain it. Nick Kestner: • To me this is signage. It is an attraction to the store.It should come under the Sign Standards. It is not little and looks like a billboard.It overpowers the building. • How are we going to control this when the next person in the area wants a billboard on their building? • In the name of art,I don't want us to get involved in review and approval of art. • These outdoor murals sometimes attract graffiti artists.Is this surface easy to clean with graffiti?You see these murals around town with graffiti on them.Julia Moore: The surface will be very easy to clean. Several coats of clearcoat will be installed.Clearcoat creates a surface where one can clean graffiti off whil the paint underneath remains untouched.If you would like,an additional sacrificial coating can be installed. It is basically paraffin wax that is easy to clean graffiti off.We have found that if a site is occupied,there is a lot of activity around it,and the mural seems to be taken care of and is not kept in the dark then those are the ones that attract graffiti a little bit more.We have also found that installing murals on buildings deters people for graffitiing those buildings. Given the site, if there hasn't been graffiti there already then it is less likely that graffiti will be there in the future. We can use the anti-graffiti measures.Nathan Chavez: In the Submitted Packet there is a section that cover maintenance and that the artist can be contacted one year after installation for maintenance,as well as provide a five-year consultation. She is from the region and is close by to make changes. In addition, one of my duties is to drive around Cannel and check to make sure signs and murals are up to code and not defiled.I will then call or send letters to business and property owners.I also receive phone calls and emails from individuals reporting issues around the community.Nick to your first point about art vs signage,that is a tricky subject.With the 2016 Reed v. Town of Gilbert court case, when looking at murals, Staff examines the intent of what is installed on a building.In this instance the intent is to promote art and not the use of the property.To Julia's point, she mentioned the program does not allow artists to utilize cars or anything related to the store in the murals.We also work with artists before submittal and review what is constitutes advertisements compared to art. Kevin Rider: • Nick brought up some good points,at what point will we become the mural police?Who will decide the content?It does draw attention to the building,to say that it does not draw attention to the building is not accurate. That is not me arguing against the mural,but it does promote the building. Let's say they swap out the mural,do they have to come back for approval?Once a mural is there,can it be swapped out for whatever they want?Nathan Chavez: We view this as a change in the façade and any changes triggers an ADLS Amendment which then triggers the Commercial Committee(Committee),Plan Commission (Commission),or administrative review by my office.If the mural is replaced,then they will need to come back for approval. Kevin Rider: For administrative or Committee approval?Nathan Chavez: Committee approval.In other instances, it can be administrative,but I included that as a hypothetical.Kevin Rider: At what point do we become the mural police?What are we going to say'yes' and 'no' to?Will we create Commercial Committee Minutes 03-30-21 2 guidelines?It could get really sticky with the current environment we are living through right now.Nathan Chavez: Currently,the mural police is Staff. Petitioners will present a mural to us and then suggestions are made.Committee's role is final review and approval.This is something I have spoken with Rachel many times about. We have considered different guidelines but have not developed anything concrete.We worked with John Molitor on this in the past and will start working with Paul Reis moving forward. In addition,I am always reading up on legal case law and the changing landscape for murals.It is pretty tricky.I know that isn't really an answer Kevin.Kevin Rider.It is. I am going to ask Paul for his opinion. We approve this mural, it looks great,and then we turn down another one.Are we in a legal battle?That is what I mean by mural police. Why did we turn down another one?Paul Reis: Yeah. I don't believe it is a sign and I can refer back to years ago.Ponderosa had a restaurant in Cannel of the mountains,big blue skies,and clouds. Is that a sign or not?As Nathan mentioned,the Town of Gilbert case deals with sign and copy and what's in there.A mural is art. It is the same as decoration as what is put on the exterior of a building and goes through ADLS.Is it regulated?Yes. Generally,going back to free speech,unless it is provoking violence or obtrusive it is generally protective.It depends.Look at the roundabout sculptures.You may not like them, but one is free to put what they want in there.What I am saying is Kevin, is that murals are art,and they fall under the ADLS and unless they are somehow eliciting violence or are obscene,they are generally protected?Kevin Rider: What if it is promoting the business?Paul Reis: It is a sign.The definition of a Sign is that it is 'used for direction, information, identification or to advertise or promote any business, product,goods,activity,services,or any interest."If I saw that mural, I wouldn't know it was Jiffy Lube any more than if I have balloons or flags on cars.Kevin Rider: This has nothing to do with Jiffy Lube and I feel for them since they are drug into this conversation,but I want to lay some groundwork for the future. Who determines offensive?There are things that artists have done which I have found offensive,but our arts organization gave them money.I would give them money to throw it away.All art including roundabout art is subjective.Half like and half don't like it.Paul Reis: That's a good example. Let's say someone installs artwork as a part of the ADLS application.The Commission looks at it and turns it down. They state,"We feel it is offensive and will not approve it."The petition could then litigate the decision and we enter the slippery slopes of the courts. But the bottom line is that not just any mural can be installed.It is subject to review by the Plan Commission.Rachel Keesling: If you recall back to when Clay Terrace wanted to put a mural on the backside of the Whole Foods building,one of the design criteria we set up with them,was seven or fewer words to make it less like a sign. We can look at those guidelines established there in order to establish greater guidelines for murals. Like Nathan said, it is Staff who reviews to ensure it is not a sign which advertises the business.We then bring it to Commission as a second layer of review. Nathan Chavez: About two years ago I received a proposal from the South Bend Chocolate Company for a mural.They claimed the proposal was a mural,but it simply a sign painted on a building. Alan Potasnik: • I remember when I was on Common Council,receiving phone calls regarding the Ponderosa. Staff sold it as art,but it was not artwork to me because every single Ponderosa had the same thing. I call Ponderosa and they even said it was a sign. But also,on the other hand we had an Italian restaurant with only plantings and vegetation. Is that artwork?My point is,I don't know if we necessarily want to get into legislating that but taking all these on an individual basis seems to be the best way to deal with it. Kevin motions to approve Docket PZ-2021-00033 subject to Landscape Plan approval and an updated bike rack plan,Alan seconds,motion passes 4-0. Kevin Rider: Petitioner sorry you had to get caught up in all of the dialogue.Julia Moore: There are valid questions. I am public art administrator and am on the national public art network council of Americans for the Arts. I have colleagues all over the country dealing with the exact same issue.If you ever want example ordinance of what other cities have done,I can share Indianapolis's,Portland's,and Seattle's mural ordinance language. Commercial Committee Minutes 03-30-21 3 2. Docket No. PZ-2021-00011 DP/ADLS: Yellow Dog Veterinary Clinic at Legacy. 3. Docket No. PZ-2021-00018 V: Maximum Front Yard Setback 15',54.3' requested. The applicant seeks site plan, design, and variance approval for a new veterinary office. The site is located at approximately 7325 E. 146th Street between Community Drive and Beallsville Drive. It is zoned PUD (Legacy Z-501-07.)Filed by Ashton Fritz of Fritz Engineering Services, LLC, on behalf of Dr. Stanley of Yellow Dog Veterinary Clinic. Petitioners: Peter Winters(Cooler Design)&Ashton Fritz(Fritz Engineering) Ashton Fritz: • The site is near the southeast corner of 146th St.and Community Dr.It is located within the Legacy PUD, specifically the Village Core District which is subject to commercial building site development standards.It is approximately 500-ft east of Community Dr.between 146th St. and Hopewell Pkwy. The site is one acre, bordered to the east and west by vacant ground and north and south are streets. • The proposed building is 5,600 gross sq. ft. and will provide traditional veterinary services along with pet grooming services. • On site is 26 parking spaces for employees and customers.Access to the site is from the south off of Hopewell Pkwy.along the eastern side of the site. The new drive is designed to be shared with future development to the east.The drive actually straddles the eastern property line.Access is being provided as a stub to future western development. • A maximum building setback of 15-ft. is required.Through coordination with Staff,we determined the orientation is most appropriate along Hopewell Pkwy.There is a 7-ft. landscape easement along Hopewell Pkwy. followed by a 15-ft.utility easement,and just north of that is a master plan storm sewer which runs east to west thereby placing the building 15-ft. from Hopewell Pkwy.not feasible without encroachment into utilities and easements. This brings us to the variance to allow a maximum setback of 54.3-ft. • Pedestrian path to the north and south are proposed.Both connect to the main entrance on the east elevation. • One issue brought up at Commission is for additional wayfinding for the one-way drive on the east side. The one-way drive is northbound traffic and we have added a stop bar,do not enter sign,and additional direction arrow for drivers. • Stormwater management is off-site,part of the master plan Legacy improvements. • We are requesting approval tonight. Department Report: Rachel Keesling: • At Commission only a few items were outstanding and some of them were resolved at the meeting itself. o Firstly,a light that was out along 146th St.Peter Winters mentioned it would be removed. o Secondly,the 0.5 footcandle requirement was mentioned. We are still waiting on the lighting consultant to provide the lighting plan,but we believe with a few minor adjustments they will be able to meet the footcandle requirements at the property lines. o Signage is a little too big,after further discussions it was discovered that the petitioner will use their existing signs on the tenant space at the River Road Shops. They were only a few inches off and Staff can work with the sign company to bring the signs into compliance for this space. o We are waiting on resubmittal on ProjectDox. o Engineering Department approval is also needed. • Staff recommends approval of the petitioner subject to finalizing ProjectDox and outstanding review comments such as landscaping&Engineering. Staff is also supportive of the variance as well. Committee Comments: Alan Potasnik: • In the Department Report there is mention of a Ground sign facing south and a Wall sign facing north. Will this just be a one-sided Ground Sign?Rachel Keesling:No, it will be two-sided.The building faces east and the signage will be perpendicular to the street. On the elevations it looks one-sided,but it is because the building faces east and not south.Alan Potasnik: You mentioned they are being allowed this signage because they have two Street Frontages.Is that two signs for each Street?Rachel Keesling:No,they are allowed one sign per each street.A Ground sign may have two sides and still be considered one sign.Alan Potasnik:As far as calculation of square footage? Rachel Keesling: The same. We just calculate the Commercial Committee Minutes 03-30-21 4 square footage of one side of the sign and that is the size overall.Alan Potasnik: If you are looking at it, it is two signs.Rachel Keesling: It is a two-sided sign.Alan Potasnik:And then the Wall sign proposed faces north.Rachel Keesling: Yes.Alan Potasnik: Is that the building's backside?Rachel Keesling: Yes. Alan Potasnik: They get a sign there and then they get a sign over the door as well?Rachel Keesling: I think that may be a Window sign. They are allowed Window signage as well.Alan Potasnik: Inside the building?Rachel Keesling: If it is on the window it may occupy 30%of the window area. If they wanted an illuminated sign, it would need to be 2-ft.behind the glass.Alan Potasnik: Are there any more signs? Rachel Keesling: I don't think so. • Are there any toxins or bio refuse, specifically where are you getting rid of that?It is not going into the dumpster?Peter Winters: Animal fecal matter?Alan Potasnik: Or animals after they pass on.Peter Winters: Animals are collected and removed by a van and taken elsewhere.Alan Potasnik: What about any type of chemicals that might be used from day-to-day operations of a veterinary clinic?Where do those go?Peter Winters: I am not familiar of any chemicals and will have to refer to the doctor.Alan Potasnik: Like euthanizing chemicals,they would just go into the dumpster?Peter Winters: I believe euthanizing chemicals would go into the dog and then the dog would be removed.Alan Potasnik: What about left-over chemicals?I am worried that because this is not too far from residences,people may have access to the waste.Peter Winters: All the medications are kept in safes inside the facility.If there are issues with waste, I will have the doctor provide an answer.It is not in huge quantities and not their business model. • Is the outdoor dog walking area open to only patients or the whole community?Peter Winters:Just for the patients of the hospital.They are not pets being kept there in the long-term,just pets left there for procedure and then picked up later.There are brief stays,and the animals are always on leashes. • Rachel unless you can tell me otherwise,I don't feel comfortable without knowing about the potentials for disposal of chemicals or bio refuse.I haven't heard anything to assuage my fears that some kids might jump over the regular dumpster area.Rachel Keesling: I imagine that there would be a safe secure service that would come in to dispose of needles, similar to hospitals. I don't think they would just throw it into the dumpster.Peter Winters: There will be containers much like a medial facility that won't end up in a dumpster.Alan Potasnik: What about the chemicals or any blood?Nathan Chavez: Alan I am on the CDC's website and found webpage that discuss veterinary safety and health.There are all sorts of links to chemical safety and proper disposal methods to gases and chemicals.I can email this to you.Kevin Rider: Paul is there any type of law on this for disposal of the refuse?Paul Reis: I would think so.Veterinary science is regulated much like the medial sciences. I think Peter would know in designing the structure. I was involved in a project before and it is not unregulated. The State regulates the veterinarians and the facilities.I cannot give you the chapter and verse,however.Kevin Rider: People drop off unused drugs at pharmacies. Is that a law or just good practice?Paul Reis: I think that is just a state program. The whole point is you don't want any in the sewer system. Kevin Rider:Alan I would be shocked if these chemicals went into the dumpster. I understand your concern. Kevin motions to approve Dockets PZ-2021-00011 &PZ-2021-00018 subject to addressing outstanding ProjectDox&Engineering comments including landscaping and learning how the hazardous waste is disposed of,Jeff seconds,motion passes 4-0. Meeting adjourned at 6:52 PM. / ,144 Nathan Chavez Recording Secretary Alan Potas ik Committee Chairman Commercial Committee Minutes 03-30-21 5