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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 01-17-23 6 CARMEL PLAN COMMISSION DEPARTMENT REPORT JANUARY 17, 2023 I. New Business 1. Docket No. PZ-2022-00154 DP/ADLS: 116th and Rangeline. The applicant seeks site plan and design approval for a 2-story building on 0.89 acres. The site is located at 1701 E 116th St. The site is zoned B-3 and is in the Rangeline Road Overlay District. Filed by Warren Johnson, Owner. *Updates to the Report are written in blue Project Overview: The Petitioner proposes a new building featuring a single-story bank and two-story office/retail. To the west across Westfield Blvd. is The Corner project, zoned C-1 and currently under construction. Immediately east is the Woodland Business Center, zoned both B-5 and R-1 and is also the only parcel surrounding the subject parcel not part of the Rangeline Road Overlay District. North across 116th Street is the Speedway gas station which is also zoned B-3. Directly south is vacant land, zoned B-3, also owned by the Petitioner. Please see the Petitioner’s Info. packet for more details. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Standards this project MEETS: Range Line Road Overlay Zone: • Permitted uses: financial institution /general office and general retail • Min. Building Height: 26’ allowed, 32’ 11.25” proposed • Building materials chosen –3 types of brick, cast stone, glass, storefront aluminum, aluminum awnings • Maximum footprint: 40,000 sq. ft. allowed; 14,298 sq. ft proposed • Height: 2 occupiable floors required, 2 provided • Minimum height: 26’ required, 32’ 11.25” provided • Trash Enclosure is architecturally compatible with principal building • 12’ sidewalk along Rangeline Road required and provided • 8’ wide sidewalk along 116th Street required and provided • Building Entrance design: Prominent architectural feature and visible from the street B-3/Business: • Minimum Lot Area: 10,000 sq. ft. required; 2.56 acres (111,513.6 sq. ft.) provided • Min. Lot width: 100’ required, 281’ provided • Maximum Building Height: 35’ allowed, 32’ 11.25” proposed • Maximum Lot Coverage: 80% allowed, 34% proposed UDO Standards NOT MET, therefore a changes must be made, or variances requested: • UDO Section 3.72.C. Building Frontage: Not currently occupying the minimum 70% of Rangeline Road frontage required, 43.4% proposed • UDO Section 3.72.D. Building Footprint: Min. 0.5 Floor Area Ratio required; 0.13 Floor Area Ratio proposed • UDO Section 3.75.A. Protection of Existing Trees: 50% of all trees that are 6” DBH or larger and located within the Bufferyard required to be preserved, proposed percentage unknown due to ownership/property limits • UDO Section 5.30 Amount of Parking Spaces: 50 spaces required (1 space per 200 sq. ft. of ground floor area); 47 spaces provided • UDO Section 5.39.I.2.d.i Signage – 1 wall sign allowed per street frontage, 2 proposed • UDO Section 5.39.I.2.d.ii Signage – 1 wall sign allowed on rear facade, 2 proposed • UDO Section 5.39.I.2.d.iii Signage – No upper-level tenant wall signs allowed, 1 proposed Site History and Site Plan Information: • Previous location of Valero Gas Station. (Records indicate a gas station/service station here since at least 1971.) • Additional right-of-way was recently acquired by the Carmel Engineering Dept. to facilitate and construct a new round-a-bout at the intersection. 7 • This caused the removal of the underground fuel storage tanks at the northwest corner of the site and led to a redevelopment of the site. • Because a large portion of the property is located within the floodplain of Carmel Creek, only a small area of the site is developable. (See green hatching in image to right) • The proposed building is brought up to the street as is required by the Range Line Rd. Overlay Zone. • Two points of access will be created for this site with the road improvements – one on 116th Street and one on Westfield Blvd., providing circulation on the back side of the building. Active Transportation: • The Petitioner has provided sidewalks all around the proposed building, ranging from 5’ (due to utility box and pole location restrictions) to 14’, along with a new central courtyard between the two buildings. • With some building design and placement modifications, sidewalk widths now meet the required 12’ along Rangeline and 8’ along 116th Street. • The current building setback ranges from 2’ to 4’. Up to 10’ setback is allowed by the Overlay. • Bicycle parking spaces are now provided in the central courtyard, adjacent to both buildings. Architectural Design: • The building design and layout has been altered to be two buildings connected by an interior courtyard and lobby space. • The bank portion will appear to be two stories, and the office building portion will have two full occupiable stories. • Pedestrian access will be on all sides of the building. • The primary building entrance is now prominently between the two buildings, adjacent to an interior courtyard. • Proposed building materials will be brick, cast stone base, glass, some EIFS accents, and most likely awnings. • There was a misunderstanding between the Petitioner and Staff regarding the main brick material. The Petitioner now understands and will meet the requirement for real brick, not faux brick. • The previous building proposal had blue “tube” awnings, which are brand specific to the proposed bank tenant, BMO. Staff is awaiting to see the new design of the building and stands by the request to have neutral color awnings that fit the overall building design and lets brand elements come from signage. • The site design has been modified to push the drive thru back slightly, which brings the stacking further into the site. • HVAC will be located on the roof of the bank portion of the building and screened by parapet walls. • Minimum requirement of 70% of frontage on Rangeline Road not currently met due to site constraints regarding the floodplain and access off of Westfield Boulevard. Approximately 43% frontage on Rangeline Road proposed. • Minimum FAR of 0.5 not met due to the proposed building square footage and number of stories, large massing of parking and drive-thru aisles, as well as floodplain levels on site. Approximately 0.13 FAR proposed. Lighting: • Parking lot pole lights will be provided at 20’ tall. • Building accent lighting will be provided all around the building façade. Landscaping: • Landscaping for the site will occur primarily through parking lot plantings and perimeter plantings. • A 5’ wide grass strip will be provided adjacent to the road for potential street trees, if utilities and/or other infrastructure improvements do not hinder placement. • The Range Line Rd. Overlay requires preservation of at least 50% of the perimeter bufferyard trees over 6” in diameter. These trees have not yet been identified on the current landscape plan because of ownership/property limit issues. • The Petitioner will continue to work with the Urban Forester on updating plans. 8 Signage: • A preliminary signage plan has been provided, and it appears the number of signs allowed will be exceeded. • Staff will continue to work with the Petitioner to refine the signage plan, and determine which variances will be required. December 13 Public Hearing Recap: The Petitioner went over the project plans and property history. He worked with Jeremy Kashman, Engineering Dept. Director, on access to the site and coordination with the new round-a-bout that was planned for the 116th Street and Westfield Blvd. intersection. Plan Commission members had concerns regarding the proposed building materials and wanted to see a color rendering of the proposed building. The Commission voted to send this item to the January 3, 2023 Commercial Committee meeting with the Committee having final voting authority. January 3 Commercial Committee meeting Recap: Item TABLED to Old Business of January 17, 2023, Plan Commission meeting to allow for more time to work with Petitioner to refine site plan and building design. Final comments/update since December 13, 2022: Staff has been working diligently with the Petitioner to refine the site plan and modify the building design to have real brick as the main building material, less branded elements, and expand the size of the sidewalks in and along the street rights-of-way. A new building design is proposed and will be presented to the Plan Commission at the meeting on January 17, 2023. Staff is supportive of the changes to the site plan and overall building design/layout. The Petitioner will continue to work with Staff through the Project Dox review process, as well as apply for needed variances. The Department is supportive of the project moving forward, and is confident any remaining items will be resolved. Recommendation: The Department of Community Services recommends the Plan Commission votes to Approve this item tonight, subject to variance approval from the BZA and finalizing Project Dox review process with Staff.