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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 01-22-247 of 15 CARMEL BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS HEARING OFFICER DEPARTMENT REPORT MONDAY, JANUARY 22, 2024 (SU, V) Higher Ground Daycare. The applicant seeks the following special use & development standards variance approvals for an existing office building site: 6. Docket No. PZ-2023-00292 SU UDO Section 2.27 Special Use for Day Care use in B6 zone required. 7. Docket No. PZ-2023-00297 V UDO Section 5.30 40 parking spaces required, 33 provided. The site is located at 690 Pro Med Ln. (Meadowlark Office Park Subdivision, Lot 1). The site is zoned B6/Business and is partially in the SFHA/Special Flood Hazard Area. Filed by Ben Udell of Murphy Real Estate Services. General Info: • The Petitioner seeks special use approval for a Day Care land use in an existing building that was used for offices, prior, as well as development standards variance approval for number of parking spaces provided. • The site is located in Meadowlark Office Park, and there is cross parking across the properties. • Surrounding this site are office buildings and single family residences. • The petition is also being reviewed by TAC (Technical Advisory Committee). • Administrative ADLS Amendment review is also being done tandem with Docket No. PZ-2023-00293 ADLS Amend to administratively review and approve the proposed signage, changes to the site (such as adding playgrounds and play areas), etc. • Please see the Petitioner’s info packet for more detail on the special use and variance requests. Special Use Request: • A day care land use requires special use approval in the B6/Business zoning district. • Special Uses are viewed as favorable by the UDO (Unified Development Ordinance). • The basis of Board of Zoning Appeals review can be found in UDO section 9.09 (C) which lists the 25 items to give consideration to, such as surrounding land uses, parking spaces, trash storage, exterior lighting, landscaping, etc. Parking Variance Request: • The UDO requires a certain amount of parking spaces for a day care use, and that is based off of number of employees and number of children. • 40 parking spaces are required, and 33 are provided on site. This is a variance of 7 parking spaces. • However, the site is located in an office park and has access to additional adjacent parking spaces on the adjacent lots, which are office land uses. Cross parking is allowed in this commercial subdivision. • Also, the programming and scheduling for the site has children that will only be on the site in the morning or in the afternoon, meaning that they will not be on-site all day. 23 employees total are proposed, however 15 employees will be on-site at one time. 144 students will be enrolled, but 100% of them will be students that are half-day instead of full day attendance. • They expect to have no more than 21 cars from parents dropping off children, parked at any given time. Remaining Review Comments: • Please provide the filled out & notarized Petitioner’s Affidavit of Notice of Public Hearing form (found in Handout). • There are several remaining TAC review comments in ProjectDox that Planning Staff will need addressed, as a condition of BZA approval; for example: o Transportation Plan Compliance is required per UDO Section 1.07, such as sidewalk installation along 8 of 15 the street (or payment into the Thoroughfare Fund for what it would cost to construct). Please contact Alex Jordan in the Carmel Engineering Dept. for more information about what is required. o Possibly donate the portion of the wooded property within the flood zone to Carmel/Clay Board of Parks and Recreation o Bike Parking o Exterior Lighting o Landscape Plan – bring site up to compliance with the original approved plan o Signage Final Comments: • The Planning Dept. supports the special use and variance requests, since the Petitioner is utilizing an existing office building and only making small changes to the site to support the day care land use. The Dept. recommends positive consideration with a condition of approval that the Petitioner addresses all remaining TAC review comments. (The Petitioner is amenable to this.) Findings of Fact: • Please refer to the Petitioner’s Findings of Facts included in their BZA Info Packet. Recommendation: • The Dept. of Community Services (DOCS) recommends positive consideration of the special use request and the development standards variance request with the condition of the Petitioner addressing all remaining TAC review comments, and with adoption of the Findings of Fact submitted by the Petitioner.