HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter #01 Mark DewartJanuary 11, 2023
Mr. Mike Hollibaugh
Director of Community Services,
City of Carmel
One Civic Square
Carmel, IN 46032
Mr. Hollibaugh,
I have contacted DOCS staff with questions about the January 17 Plan Commission ADLS
hearing on the Tru Hotel project proposed for the site north of the Ritz Charles (PZ-2022-
00238 ADLS: Tru Hotel Carmel). Joe Shestak says there will be no opportunity for the
public to speak at the January 17th hearing.
As you can see in Figure 1 below, the proposed Tru Hotel is across Illinois street from
Spring Lake Estates, a neighborhood of 44 single family homes. Spring Lake Estates is
designated a "Sensitive Residential Area" on page 84 in Part 5 of the Critical Corridors and
Subareas section of the C3 Comprehensive Plan.
Figure 1.
Our neighborhood had the opportunity to comment on the Tru Hotel project at the
September 17, 2019 Plan Commission Hearing (3 years ago). However, in 2019, the only
conceptual visualizations of the proposed Tru Hotel project presented at the hearing or
available in the 19060018 DP: Carmel Hotel & Office Laserfiche files were drawing like the
one shown below in Figure 2 that only show the footprint of the proposed Tru Hotel
building and outlines of the proposed parking area. There was no opportunity for
neighbors to provide detailed comment on the mass of the proposed building, building
height, lighting, or signs since no elevation drawings were provided in 2019 in the
19060018 DP: Carmel Hotel & Office Laserfiche files or shown at the September 17, 2019
Plan Commission hearing.
Figure 2
The details of the proposed Tru Hotel (Figure 3 below) only became available for our
neighborhood to review after January 6, 2023.
Figure 3
This sudden, late awareness that our neighborhood was less than 10 days away from a
crucial hearing on a project that hadn’t moved in 3 years was due to the DOCS decision
that the January 17th ADLS hearing did not require official public notification. Our
neighborhood only found out about the specifics of the Tru Hotel project when the January
17th Plan Commission Agenda was posted on the Carmel Website. This leaves us less than
10 days for neighborhood review and comment.
We think there should be public comment taken at the January 17th ADLS hearing since
our neighbors may not have time to submit written comments on such short notice. If
public comments will not be taken at the January 17th Plan Commission hearing, then
assurances should be given that all of our neighborhoods concerns will be heard and
considered at subsequent BZA Variance hearings and Plan Commission Commercial
Committee hearings.
We think there are signage and other issues with the Tru Hotel project that will require a
variance from the BZA and discussion in the Plan Commission Commercial Committee.
Important details of the Tour Hotel project were not known in 2019 when the Plan
Commission and Commercial Committee’s task was narrowly focused on evaluating the
developer's drawings (Figure 1) that only showed the outlines of two building pads and
the outlines of the associated parking areas. Since there has been no public notification
that a process that started 3 years ago has resumed, only the most diligent citizens are
aware that detailed conceptual visualizations for the Tru Hotel project are now available
for public review and comment. Given the issues raised by our quick review of the recently
released details of the project, the sensitivity of nearby residential areas and the short
amount of time for public review and comment, the Tru Hotel project should not seek or
gain ADLS approval at the January 17, 2023 meeting of the Plan Commission.
Regards,
Mark Dewart
Spring Lake Estates HOA Board Member
12151 Teal Ln
Carmel, IN 46032-9152