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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDepartment Report 6-18-249 CARMEL PLAN COMMISSION DEPARTMENT REPORT JUNE 18, 2024 1. Docket No. PZ-2024-00070 ADLS: Tru Hotel. The applicant seeks design approval for a new, five story, 126 room hotel on 1.13 acres. Development plan approval was granted under Docket No. 19060018 DP and Use Variance approval was granted under 18050007 UV. The site is located at 12164 N. Meridian Street, immediately north of the Ritz Charles. It is zoned MC/Meridian Corridor and is not within any overlay district. Filed by Vince Dora, owner of Dora Hotel Group. Project Overview/History: The Petitioner seeks design approval for a new hotel, whose general location and use was approved previously as noted above. It is directly north of the Ritz Charles, zoned MC/Meridian Corridor. North of the hotel site is the Carmel Medical Arts Pavilion. West across Illinois Street is the Spring Lake Estates neighborhood zoned S-2/Residential. The project was previously presented in 2023 under Docket No. 2022-00238 ADLS but was denied. The Petitioner has made significant modifications to the building design and returned to original site design plans. Please view the Petitioner’s informational packet for more detail. Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) Standards this project MEETS: MC/Meridian Corridor: • Permitted Uses: Hotel (through UV approval) • Minimum Front Yard setback from US 31 for buildings and parking: 50’ required, about 67’ proposed • Minimum Side Yard (south):15’ for principal building required, 24’ proposed • Minimum Rear Yard (west):0’ for all buildings and surface parking if cooperative agreement is in place, about 110’ proposed for hotel, 6’ for parking • Maximum Lot Coverage: 80% allowed, about 68% proposed • Minimum Building height: 3 stories required, 5 story hotel proposed • Parking spaces: 138 spaces and parking agreement with Ritz Charles for 13 extra spaces, 151 required Previous Variance Approvals on Oct. 29, 2019: • Docket No. 19090015 V: Minimum Side Yard (north) – 20’ for surface parking required, 5’ proposed in one area, 30’ proposed in another • Docket No. 19090016 V: At least 2 primary buildings required for wide lot width covering at least 75% of the lot’s width; 1 hotel and 1 office building proposed at about 45% lot width coverage • Docket No. 19090017 V: Not meeting the Parking lot setbacks/bufferyards along future shared property line between buildings. • Docket No. 18050007 UV: UDO Section 2.39 Hotel Use on upper floors only allowed, hotel use proposed on ground floor. Approved by BZA on June 25, 2018, 4-0 with a Condition* that the site plan was not finalized and including attached residential dwelling units are a possibility. (*Background info – the residential component was desired when there was a parking garage proposed as part of the project. Surface parking is now proposed instead of the parking garage.) UDO Standards NOT MET, therefore adjustments or variance requests are needed: • 5.39.H.5.d.iii. – Variances needed for blade sign width: 5’ allowed, 10’ requested Site Plan, Parking and Engineering: • The building is still oriented west/east, fronting onto Meridian Street. • The vehicular drop off area has moved back to the original plan location on the north side of the building, gaining back the 10 parking spaces that were lost in the last submittal. • The overall development plan (DP) and construction of the 3-story office building provided the stormwater management, utility infrastructure, some parking/sidewalks, and access drives. • There is an access agreement in place with the Ritz Charles to enter the site from Illinois Street to the west. • Hotels require 1 parking space per unit plus one space per employee on the largest shift. • 151 (126 rooms and 25 employees) spaces are needed for the hotel. 10 • The MC District does allow for off-site parking to count towards the total number of spaces for a site. • A shared parking agreement was reached with the Ritz Charles at the time of the DP approval. • The office and hotel uses for this site have compatible off-hour parking needs. • Staff concluded that the 138 total proposed parking spaces for this site, and the shared parking agreement with the Ritz Charles, would provide sufficient parking. (93 spaces on medical office 45 spaces on hotel parcel). Parking Study: • DOCS commissioned a parking study with LVR International. • Lia Reyes conducted site visits; held meetings with stakeholders – the petitioner, adjacent business owners, neighbors, and community leaders; determined parking demand, and published a [draft] report. • Ms. Reyes found that: o The overall complex requires 1039 to 1250 parking spaces during peak periods under a shared parking calculation. o Current capacity is 585 spaces. Additional spaces still needed for peak times are 454-665 parking spaces. • Potential parking solutions: o No parking garage – make arrangements with other parcels within walking distance for Ritz Staff and Ritz trucks. This allows for the full use of the site (585 spaces) for event and other business patrons. o Build a parking garage over existing spaces to accommodate a minimum of 384 to 500 spaces, but still relocate Ritz staff and Ritz trucks to accommodate additional spaces needed during peak events. o Assist funding a parking garage on a different parcel to use during peak events in the year. • Other non-parking solutions: o Communicate and coordinate when large events are held for the different businesses in the area. o Each business provides patrons and guests with information on where to park. o Implement a monitoring system for hotels to use shared spaces (on Ritz property) during high event times. • Staff agrees in principle with the findings of the study with the understanding that it is not best practice to build our transportation infrastructure for the busiest day(s) of the year or time of day (i.e. rush hour). Active Transportation: • Sidewalk installed along the frontage road remains. • Additional sidewalks will be added around the hotel and will provide connections to the Ritz Charles building to the south and the office building to the north. • Short-term bicycle parking (3 racks which equal 6 spaces) is now within 50 ft. of the entrance. • Long-term bike parking is provided directly off the front vestibule. Architectural Design: • The Petitioner has significantly revised the building elevations to have a consistent base, middle, and top. • Dark brick is provided as the base and is used on the north side of the building vertically to call attention to the entrance. • A lighter brick is used on the upper floors, along with a tan/white color EIFS. • The building is now 43.1% brick, 30.5% glass/metal, and 26.4% EIFS. • The west and east facades have been modified to have more color block banding, in the muted/cool tones. This helps break up the façade and provide visual interest. • The north and south larger facades have two sets of EIFS bands, appropriately spaced in the middle of bump outs. • Daytime and nighttime renderings are provided in the Information Packets. • Rooftop mechanical equipment will be screened behind 8-12’ tall parapet walls. • Dumpster enclosure is now utilizing the existing pad and will be designed to match building with brick. Lighting: • Site parking lot lights are existing. • Under-cornice building accent lights are proposed around the hotel on all facades. • There will be up-lights around the building, except for the west façade. • Bollards with lights will be placed around the sidewalks for pedestrian walkway illumination. 11 Landscaping: • Landscaping is provided all around the building base. • Trees have been added to the grass area in the parking lot at the west border of the site, to help provide additional buffer for the neighbors. • Trees will also be added around the vegetative swale on the east side of the site. • The Urban Forester has approved the landscape plan. Signage: • A projecting artistic sculpture will be added to the east side of the building for the purpose of hanging wall signs. • This sculpture will act like a “blade” sign facing east towards US 31. • The signs will each be 52 sq. ft. The entire Tru circle logo will light up yellow and blue. “By Hilton” will light up white. • These wall signs meet the 85% width requirement at 66.3% and the 70% height requirement at 19%. • A variance will be needed to exceed the 5’ projection/width requirement for a blade sign. Even though this is not a traditional blade sign, Staff is classifying it as one. • While the size at 10’ wide is proportionate to the building, it still exceeds the 5’ allowed. • Staff is supportive of the variance required, as it is a unique element for this building and Carmel. • The Tru Hotel name will also be added to the Carmel Medical Arts entry/directory ground signs. • No other signage is proposed. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns: • Variance required for blade sign width. Recommendation: If all comments and questions can be addressed, the Department of Community Services recommends the Plan Commission votes to Approve this item, contingent on Variance approval and final TAC approvals through ProjectDox.