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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 10-18-222 CARMEL PLAN COMMISSION DEPARTMENT REPORT OCTOBER 18, 2022 1. Docket No. PZ-2022-00169 DP/ADLS: Chick-Fil-A – US 421. The applicant seeks site plan and design approval for a new restaurant with drive thru on 1.97 acres. The site is located at 9965 N. Michigan Rd. (previous location of Red Robin), part of W. Carmel Marketplace, Block F. It is zoned B-2 and is in the US 421 Overlay District. Filed by Joe Vavrina of HR Green, on behalf of Chick-Fil-A. Project Overview: The Petitioner proposes a new restaurant with dine in and drive thru options. All surrounding properties are part of the US 421 Overlay zone. To the west across Michigan Road are I-1 zoned properties – RCI and Olive Garden Italian Restaurant. Immediately north and sharing vehicular access is the PPG Paint store, zoned B-3. East and southeast are multi-tenant retail buildings (PetCo, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Home Depot, etc.) part of the West Carmel Marketplace commercial subdivision. They are zoned B-2 and B-3. South across 99th Street is another multi-tenant retail building, zoned B-2 and B-3 (Jimmy John’s, Supercuts, etc.). Please see the Petitioner’s Information packet for more details. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Standards this project MEETS: US 421 Overlay Zone: • Permitted use: Restaurant with walk up/drive-thru • Architectural Design Theme: complementary to Italianate style • Min. Building Height: 20’ allowed, 21’5” proposed • Façade design: base, middle, and top provided • Building materials chosen – 2 colors of brick, glass, metal coping, storefront aluminum • 30’ greenbelt required & remaining as existing • Minimum site acreage for DP: 3 acres required; 1.97 acres existing (approved through previous project – Red Robin: Docket No. 06090029 DP/ADLS) • Vehicular parking: 62 spaces required (1 space per 80 sq. ft. of floor area); 80 spaces provided • Drive thru stacking: 10 spaces required, 46 proposed • Min. front yard: 30’, 106’ proposed (west) • Minimum rear yard: 15’ required, 56’ proposed (north) • Minimum side yard (main building): 15’ required, 51’ proposed (east) • Min. side yard (accessory canopy): 5’ required, 12.5’ proposed • Connecting access to parcel to north and private road to east provided • Minimum gross floor area: 2,500 sq. ft. required; 4,930 sq. ft. provided • Trash Enclosure is architecturally compatible with principal building B-2/Business: • Minimum Lot Area: 7,000 sq. ft. required; 1.97 acres (85,813.2 sq. ft.) provided • Min. Lot width: 50’ required, 336’ provided • Maximum Building Height: 35’ allowed, 23’0.5” proposed • Maximum Lot Coverage: 90% allowed, 69.4% proposed • Bicycle parking: 4 spaces required and provided • Ground sign height: 6’ proposed & allowed • Ground and menu board sign locations: 5’ minimum setback from ROW required and proposed UDO Standards NOT MET, therefore a changes must be made, or variances requested: • UDO Section 3.88.D. 8’ offsets required for facades greater than 90’ in width, at intervals of 60’; 4’ provided • UDO Section 3.88.F. Building entrance: not defined and articulated • UDO Section 3.88.H.: Metal or aluminum awnings are prohibited • UDO Section 3.92.C. - Lighting plan does not meet 0.3 footcandle maximum at property lines • UDO Section 3.95.F.: Drive Thru location: Must be located to the rear of the parcel, Site has two public street frontages and one private street frontage, therefore, this requirement cannot be met • UDO Section 5.19.F.3.: Foundation plantings required, none provided • UDO Section 5.28.E.4.: Wheel stops required when less than 10’ sidewalk width provided adjacent to parking spaces; 6’ proposed (west) • UDO Section 5.39.E.5.: Signage – Wall signs cannot obscure architectural details, non-compliant as proposed • UDO Section 5.39.H.2.a.: Signage – Number: 4 proposed, 2 allowed 3 Site Plan, Parking, and Engineering: The Petitioner seeks approval for the Development Plan and ADLS for a new restaurant with drive thru. This site is currently home to a Red Robin restaurant, approved originally in 2006 (Docket No. 06090029 DP/ADLS). Existing access to the site will be maintained from the north via the PPG paint store property and the east from Walnut Creek Drive, a private street. This location is essentially on a peninsula with two public street frontages and one private street frontage. Due to multiple front yards, they are not able to meet the screening and location requirement for the drive thru. A variance approval for the location of the drive thru being visible from the front yard/adjacent streets will be required. 80 parking spaces are provided, when 62 are required. Restaurants with drive thru require one space per 80 sq. ft. of floor area. The drive thru will be a double lane with room for 46 cars to stack. The site is also large enough to have a bypass lane for interior circulation for those patrons not going through the drive thru. The plan meets lot coverage requirements at 69.4%, when 90% coverage is allowed per the B-2 zone. Drainage for this site is coordinated through master-planned detention for the West Carmel Marketplace commercial subdivision. The Petitioner continues to work through project details with the Carmel Engineering Dept. Active Transportation: Sidewalks are currently installed along Michigan Road and 99th Street. The Petitioner will install a new sidewalk connection from Michigan Road to the front door of the restaurant (west). An existing sidewalk connection will remain from 99th Street to the front door of the building. However, additional work (striping) is needed to identify the path through the parking lot. Sidewalks are provided all around the building. In order to gain parking spaces and drive aisle maneuverability, the Petitioner has chosen to forego building base plantings, which will require a variance. The sidewalk on the west side of the building is 6’ wide. Due to parking spaces adjacent to the sidewalk, wheel stops are required to ensure enough room for pedestrians. If the sidewalk could be increased to 10’ wide, wheel stops would not be required. The Petitioner does not wish to install wheel stops due to concerns over trip hazards. A variance will be required to not install the wheel stops. Due to the high volume of drive thru customers, employees will often be outside walking from car to car taking orders. Therefore, additional hardscape areas for pedestrians are required immediately adjacent to the drive thru lanes, rather than landscaping. The Urban Forester has agreed to allow stone “mulch” in these areas. Two bicycle racks (four spaces) are provided adjacent to (and within 50’) of the front door. This meets UDO requirements. Architectural Design: The architect has designed the building to be complementary to the Italianate architectural style. Some of these features include the enhanced brick detailing around cornice of the building and the symmetrical form of the building and window placement. The building will be constructed of two colors of brick – red and tan. The design includes a distinct base, middle, and top, with soldier course and rowlock brick accents. Cornice elements are constructed of metal coping. The height of the building ranges from 22’3” to 24’6.5”. Additional windows have been added on the south façade to enhance pedestrian scale details and are shown in white. Petitioner, does this mean these are proposed to be spandrel glass/faux windows? One of these new windows appears to open to a hallway per the floor plan – Petitioner, please change this to be real glass. Metal awnings/canopies are proposed over the windows, which is not allowed in the US 421 Overlay. A Variance will be required for the awning material. The US 421 Overlay also requires entrances to be defined and articulated by architectural elements. While the height of the building is increased in this area, it does not stand out from the rest of the building. Please continue to make the entrance a true focal element of the building. Another design element the US 421 Overlay focuses on is avoiding long, monotonous, uninterrupted walls on buildings. There is a requirement for 8’ offsets on facades over 90’ long. The Petitioner has proposed a 4’ offset on the north and the south facades but is requesting a variance to not meet 8’. The Petitioner has adjusted the vehicle canopy designs and has made good progress. However, there is still more work to be done. The brick columns should be extended to meet the roof structure, not stop short and have an exposed beam. The canopy roof also does not appear to be in scale in with columns below it. It should be taller and perhaps have more ornamentation. Underneath the canopy there will be heaters and fans to enhance the comfort of employees during all seasons. 4 The dumpster enclosure is generally located at the southeast corner of the site, with the drive thru lanes separating it from the perimeter landscaping areas. It will be constructed of brick to match the building. Lighting: Decorative wall sconces will be provided all around the building (16 in total). The proposed awnings/canopies over the doors have down lights built into them. This is generally good, except that metal awnings/canopies are not allowed in the US 421 Overlay zone. Petitioner, please plan to provide a different light source over the doors. Six down lights are proposed within the south drive thru canopy and eight down lights are proposed within the north canopy. Two security style down-lights are proposed over the trash dumpsters. Petitioner, please provide more info on why these lights are needed at the trash enclosure. There is also a flood light proposed on the building – Petitioner, is this meant to illuminate the flagpole? If so, please provide a different, more concealed light source for the flagpole. The parking lot will be lit by 5 pole lights placed around the site at 24’ tall, which meets the maximum height allowed for pole lights. However, the photometric plan is not yet in compliance with the maximum 0.3 footcandle limit at the property lines. Additional work needs to be done to adjust lighting locations or provide shields to keep the lighting on the site. Landscaping: The site has existing mature landscaping in the greenbelt and around the south perimeter. The Petitioner plans to leave these existing landscaping areas as they are planted today. The Urban Forester had comments regarding tree species, tree protection fencing, and ensuring the new plan matches the previously approved plan. The Petitioner will continue to work through review comments with the Urban Forester. Signage: This site is located on two public streets; therefore, two main identification signs are allowed. (Additional signs are allowed for the drive thru menu boards.) Three wall signs and one ground sign are proposed. This proposal will require a variance for the number of signs. The proposed ground sign is 6’ tall and 40 sq. ft., which meets the size and height requirements for a ground sign. The design is also complaint with a base and delineated cornice. Regarding the number of wall signs, the Dept. recommends one wall sign facing south, as this will be over the front door to the restaurant and the most visible to the motoring public. The Department is not supportive of the additional wall signs facing west and east. Currently, the design of the wall signs exceeds the height requirements set by the architectural details (brick work and color) of the building, thus, requiring a variance. Up to 70% of the height and 85% of the width of the spandrel panel (defined architectural area) is allowed as the sign square footage. Staff would like to continue working with the Petitioner on design modifications to the façade, in order to provide an appropriate space for the wall sign to be placed. Updated signage drawings will also need to be provided, to show changes in the brick work of the façade. The menu board signs are 20 sq. ft. each, with one provided for each drive thru lane. Up to three menu boards are allowed for drive thrus with two lanes. Up to 30 sq. ft. per menu board is allowed for drive thrus with two lanes. The location of the menu boards is in line with the drive thru and shielded from view, as is required in the UDO. Directional signage is allowed as long as it is 3’ tall and 3 sq. ft. or less in area. Please note that all signage is subject to additional review for size compliance with the UDO and will require sign permits prior to installation. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns: Comments are noted in bold text throughout the report. Staff will continue to work with the Petitioner through Project Dox to address comments of all TAC members, as well as any concerns from the Plan Commission or public comments made at the upcoming public hearing. Recommendation: The Department of Community Services recommends the Plan Commission sends this item to the Commercial Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, for further review and discussion.