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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes COM 03-30-21 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