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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 04-25-227 of 8 CARMEL BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS | REGULAR MEETING DEPARTMENT REPORT MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2022 (V) Culver’s Restaurant Variances. The applicant seeks the following development standards variance approvals: 7. Docket No. PZ-2022-00040 V UDO Section 5.30 Parking spaces: 70 required; 46 requested. 8. WITHDRAWN- Docket No. PZ-2022-00041 V UDO Section 5.29.B Bicycle parking location: within 50’ of front door required, 76’ to patio door (north) and 120’ to the main entry (west) requested. 9. Docket No. PZ-2022-00042 V UDO Section 2.32 Lot coverage: 60% allowed, 68.3% requested. 10. Docket No. PZ-2022-00043 V UDO Section 5.39.H Signage – Number: 1 allowed, 2 signs requested (wall and ground). The site is located at 431 E. Carmel Dr. It is zoned B8/Business and is not in any overlay zone. Filed by Jim Shinaver of Nelson & Frankenberger LLC on behalf of Bob Goins of K & J Investments XVL, LLC. General Info & Analysis: The Petitioner proposes to construct a new restaurant with drive thru where the Rama Car Wash was previously located on approximately 1.3 acres. Immediately adjacent to the east is Fazoli’s restaurant. To the west is the Flanner and Buchanan Funeral Home. South of the site is the Post Office. These surrounding uses are all zoned B8/Business. North across Carmel Drive is the Hunter’s Glen condominium community, zoned R4/Residential. The site plan, architecture design, landscaping, lighting, and signage is currently being reviewed by the Plan Commission under Docket No. PZ-2022-00001 DP/ADLS. It will be heard at the Plan Commission Commercial Committee meeting on Thursday May 5, 2022 for further review. BZA variances are being sought are for number of parking spaces, lot cover, and signage. Please view the Petitioner’s info packet for more detail on the variance requests. Site Plan, Parking, and Engineering: Access to the site will remain as it is today, shared with the Fazoli’s restaurant to the east. There is also a cross access easement through the Fazoli’s site to AAA Way, which will also remain. Parking will be added along the north property line and in front of the building. Traffic will flow one way around the site to access the drive thru at the back (south) of the site. The drive thru will have two lanes that will funnel into one lane as it approaches the pick-up window. Then it will split off into two areas of pull ahead parking and one through lane for “food runners” to bring out the orders. There are 46 parking spaces proposed on the site. Restaurant with drive thru land uses are required to have one parking space per 80 sq. ft. of floor area. This building requires 70 spaces; therefore, a variance will be required. The Petitioner continues to work with the Engineering Department on stormwater detention and water quality for the site, but there are no major concerns. Architectural Design: The building design has evolved over the course of this project and is now headed down the right track. Proposed building materials are brick, stone, and EIFS (stucco). Stone pilasters now carry evenly throughout the facades. Brick is the primary material in-between these pilasters. The same stone is used as a base around the entire building. Windows are incorporated in the front of the restaurant and faux windows made of EIFS are now proposed on the back part of the building. The Planning Dept. would like to continue working on this design with the PC Commercial Committee and the Petitioner. Instead of EIFS windows, Staff would prefer to see bricked-in faux windows. EIFS is not desired within 8’ of the ground, and it does not make sense to break up a brick façade with EIFS. Other items of concern are the blue awnings that carry over these faux windows on the back half of the building. If they do not serve a function for shading the inside from sun or protection for a pedestrian over a sidewalk, they should not be used. Another item to work on is where the stone carries up in the center portions of the building on each façade, as well as how the pilaster stops short of the cornice line. While an accent wall in generally supported, in this case it blends too much with the pilasters. 8 of 8 The drive thru canopy on the back of the site has the same stone for the columns. The roofline could use a little more work to match the cornice of the building in both coloring and detail. Right now, it is a plain dark gray. The cornice line of the building is tan with accent projections. The new trash enclosure also matches the building with stone pilasters at the corners and brick as the main material. It has a dark gray cap as the “cornice.” BZA Variance Requests: Parking Variance: Restaurant with drive thru land uses are required to have one parking space per 80 sq. ft. of floor area. The zoning ordinance requires this site to have 70 parking spaces, and 46 are requested. This is a variance of 24 parking spaces, or 34.3%. It is important to note that a large portion of the restaurant’s business is actually drive thru orders, and a double stacked drive thru is proposed for queuing of cars at this site to accommodate that need. Lot Coverage Variance: A maximum of 60% lot coverage is proposed, and 68.3% is proposed. This is a variance of 8.3%. The petitioner continues to work with the Carmel Engineering Dept. on addressing all their comments and concerns regarding stormwater quality and detention. That Dept. has no major concerns with the drainage. Signage Variance: Only one main identification sign is allowed for this site since it only faces one public street frontage. Two signs are proposed – one ground sign perpendicular to Carmel Drive and one wall sign facing north towards Carmel Drive. A variance will be required for the total number of signs. The wall sign is 46.7 sq. ft. and is 59% of the height and 50% of the width. (Up to 70% of the spandrel panel height and 85% of the spandrel panel width is allowed.) The ground sign is 6’ tall and 35 sq. ft. in area. It also has manual changeable copy as part of the design, which is allowed. Exempt directional signage will be installed at 3 sq. ft. and 3’ tall as is allowed by the sign ordinance. A pre-sale menu board is shown adjacent to the drive thru canopy. The size is 24.6 sq. ft. The Petitioner addressed planning/zoning review comments. The Planning Dept. supports the variance requests. Findings of Fact: Please refer to the petitioner’s Findings of Facts included in their info packet. Recommendation: The Dept. of Community Services (DOCS) recommends positive consideration of Docket Nos. PZ-2022- 00040 V, -0042 V, and -0043 V, and with adoption of the findings of fact submitted by the Petitioner.