Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes PC 06-18-24 5 Plan Commission Minutes 6-18-24 the bank ATMs. A variance would be required to allow for drive-through lanes to be visible from a street frontage. It was indicated that staff would be supportive of such a variance due to the unique nature of the lot and the attempts that will be made to screen it with additional landscaping. • All development requirements had been met by the time of the meeting save for a few small adjustments needing to be made to the wall sign plan regarding size and location. These issues were minimal and believed to be easily solved during the ongoing sign permit review process. • A favorable recommendation for approval was provided to the Plan Commission. Committee Comments: Buckler: Really quick could you just orientate us to where the daycare center is? The petitioner redisplayed the plans and indicated the location of the adjacent daycare center for the Commission. Grabow: On the west elevation, the employee service door, can you confirm that the sidewalk shown on the site plan extends so that that door opens onto the sidewalk and not directly into a drive-through lane? Seals: Yes, it does. There is a six foot sidewalk I believe between the face of the building and the curb so the door opens and you can walk along side the building to the north. Hill: Staff described you are meeting the parking ordinance. It looks like you are significantly exceeding it. Can you describe why you need so much parking? Seals: For the anticipated members they are expecting to serve per day as well as this is one of their larger branches so they will have about 12-15 employees per day. Minnaar: I noticed in the staff report you said something about the drive-throughs being in the front not the back, is that not an issue? Keesling: So, because this site has three public street frontages, it has Michigan Road, Weston Pointe Drive, and Red Road, it is kind of a peninsula. So there is really no way for them to be able to meet that requirement of hiding the drive- throughs completely, but this is a common thing that happens on the Michigan Road Overlay. Yet, the way they have designed the building bringing it as close up to the street as possible, and all the landscaping they will be planting on the Weston Pointe side which is the north side will screen it as best as we possibly can, but they will still need a variance in order to approve it. Grabow: Will the intended traffic flow for members using the ATMs be counterclockwise around the building or will they be directed in via the employee parking lot in a clockwise rotation? Seals: They will be directed counterclockwise through the member parking up around the building and back down. Motion by Kirsh and seconded by Zoccola to suspend the Rules of Procedure. APPROVED 9-0 Motion by Kirsh and seconded by Buckler to approve the petition on condition of granting of BZA lot coverage variance approval. APPROVED 9-0 4. Docket No. PZ-2024-00069 DP/ADLS: Independent Senior Insurance. The applicant seeks Development Plan and ADLS approval to construct a 2,224 sq. ft. addition onto an existing building and a new parking lot with 13 spaces. The site is located at 3309 E. 146th Street. It is zoned R- 1/Residential District with a past Use Variance from the BZA – Docket No. 07120006 UV. Filed by Stephanie Flittner, owner. Petitioner: Stephanie Flittner: • Flittner provided a brief description of the business proposed to be relocated from Broad Ripple to the Carmel location under review. They are the largest independent broker of Medicare plans in Indiana. The business has five employees of which most live in Carmel as well as her and her husband, the owners, so they would like to relocate for personal proximity purposes. 6 Plan Commission Minutes 6-18-24 • The petitioner reached out to 15 residents of the abutting neighborhood and while only receiving responses from two they indicated that the only feedback was of a positive nature. • Exterior renovations to the property have been designed in a way that keeps the residential look of the structure and keeps the traditional farmhouse style. Additional landscaping is also proposed to improve the property as well as a low intensity lighting plan. • Business hours for their operation would typically be 9AM – 5PM with in office customer visits estimated at 5 a week based on current trends. Per the petitioner, this would be a notable decrease in commercial intensity from the previous owners, a veterinary clinic with up to 4 customers per hour. • The property will have the parking lot repaved and drainage improvements made as required. Paul Meier – JRA Architecture: • The building addition on site from its time as a vet clinic is to be demolished. The rest of the building will remain unchanged save for refreshing the exterior with new Hardie Board siding and masonry wainscot. The building will be repainted in neutral grey colors. • The main entrance of the building is intended to face west towards the adjacent church and away from the neighborhood to the east minimizing any sort of traffic light impact to the residential neighbors. David Welch – American Structurepoint: • Indicated the proposed parking lot would include 13 spaces with access off 146th Street that will include required storm water drainage and retention systems as per code. Public Comments: Charlie Loucks – Loucks identified himself as a representative of the church to the west of the property under discussion. He asked the Commission if there was still a proposed roundabout at Cary and 146th Street and if so how that would affect both the church as well as the proposed plan under discussion for the site. Tony Vance – Vance identified himself as President of Taylor Trace HOA. Vance voiced concerns about the tie into the retention pond. He understood that silt blocking measures would be taken but was concerned about the tie in because the pond as is already has water level issues and silt build up. He also stated he would like to come to an agreement with the new owners regarding pond maintenance cost sharing. David Lambdin: Lambdin identified himself as the resident of 14566 Taylor Trace. He expressed general support for the project as it would help clean up the eyesore the property is in its current state. Petitioner Rebuttal: Welch with Structurepoint addressed the concerns raised by Vance about silt buildup in the retention pond. He understood this to be a valid concern and went on to outline the measures being taken to combat it from their end. The new parking lot would require a storm water detention plan with two BMPs (best management practice) methods to clean the water of sediment before it would arrive in the pond. Also, additional detention capacity would be installed on site to regulate the amount of water that would flow into the pond at any given time. Department Report: Rachel Keesling: • The site is uniquely zoned as R1/residential with the additional classification of ROSO III [Residential Open Space Ordinance Version 3]. This was a development tactic that allowed for homes to be built closer together to leave room for more common open space areas. • The property under review is technically part of the Taylor Trace subdivision but has acted separate from it. • A variance was granted in 2007 for the residential structure to be converted into a business. • Keesling recapped the scope of the project that included a building addition, revamp of the exterior with new siding and wainscot, and a 13-space paved parking lot where 9 spaces are required at minimum. • Signage is minimal, a blade sign has been allowed on the property in lieu of a ground sign because there is no front yard. The building directly abuts the existing county right-of-way for 146th Street. The new owner will be permitted to reuse the existing sign structure. • The petitioner continues to finalize review comments and concerns from the Urban Forester and Engineering. 7 Plan Commission Minutes 6-18-24 • A favorable recommendation was provided for the project and suspension of the Rules of Procedure was suggested to approve the plan at the current meeting subject to the condition of all staff review comments being finalized. Committee Comments: Minnaar: You [Keesling] had mentioned that they are part of the Taylor Trace neighborhood. Are they actually a part of the neighborhood association under their declaration of covenants? Keesling: They are lot number 12 under that subdivision so they should be. Minnaar: I guess my only clarifying question I have is what would be the regulation for them paying their dues? Did the previous owners pay their dues? Andrew Flittner: It is our understanding that the previous owners were kicked out of the HOA…that is our understanding at least at this point. So, I don’t think dues have been being paid at least not to my knowledge, and I think we are not part of the HOA anymore. Minnaar: The second comment I would like to say is…the gentleman from the church talked about projects possibly happening at 146th Street and Cary Road. I will tell you from the Council’s perspective we know that the project for Hazel Dell and 146th Street is coming. There is a public meeting coming up and it is going to be 2026 before that project even happens. The next one would be Gray Road and then possibly Cary so it’s long into the future. I just wanted to give you a little bit of background on that. I met with the Hamilton County Transportation Department today at 2 o’clock about that. Kirsh: Just for clarification that is a Hamilton County highway project not a City of Carmel project. Hill: I was wondering why the driveway goes in and then swings to the west, but I see a two-foot non-access easement. Is that going to be extinguished, or is that going to be problematic with regard to the width of the driveway? I generally am supportive of the project it certainly looks better than what has been there. I compliment the architecture, the look, and the use. The right-of-way piece is very puzzling how it wraps around the building, and I guess I would question how our notes say it meets the front yard setback. Maybe there is an additional explanation you can offer me? We did hear a few questions about stormwater and a few things we are working out with Engineering. I guess my vote would have been to send it to committee and approve it there so I will probably vote no to suspend the rules, but I am supportive of what is going on. Coleman: I do want to comment I appreciate you guys investing in Carmel, improving this building this space, and wanting to make sure your family is close and continues to live, work, play, and thrive here. Thank you so much. Keesling: The right-of-way was taken from the property owner and so they are grandfathered in as they exist today. Zoccola: I am thinking of age of the clients, do you have ramps? Is this accessible? Can you speak to what accessibility you have put into this building? Andrew Flittner: The current entrance to the building is not accessible, it is a small set of steps. On the side we will have ramp access to get in for older folks and the wide pathways they would need to come in and meet with people in my office. Grabow: On your parking area I think I see there is a hard curb along the west edge of the parking lot so if there is any stormwater runoff it is going to be collected by that curb and detained underground, not on the property to the west? Welch: Yes, that is correct. Grabow: The aerial on page six, the property is bounded in red in that graphic and there is a stem that connects the property down to the pond. That doesn’t match the property boundary though, so I want to understand if there is a significance to that shape? Welch: There is, that is showing where the storm sewer would connect into the pond to the south. We would be doing construction within that area to extend a new outlet pipe to the pond from our site so that any stormwater collected from our parking lot is discharged there. Hill: You talked earlier about the best management practices you are bringing to the site to help from a finished condition. I assume you will have good and proper temporary control measures as far as controlling sediment entering the pond and helping to address the concerns we have heard about? Welch: Yeah, that is absolutely the case. During the construction phase we will have a silt fence in place surrounding the 8 Plan Commission Minutes 6-18-24 perimeter of the site anywhere it would discharge into the existing pond there. Minnaar: You said the gravel driveway is part of the problem with runoff into the pond? Welch: It’s hard to say what is the cause of the silt build up in the pond. It certainly could be part of the issue, but we don’t have an objective way to measure that. I would say what we are doing is improving that condition. Minnaar: Paving the driveway will certainly help that situation. Welch: It will, and our underground detention system has capacity to let sediment settle out before it is released to the pond. We are installing an aqua swirl unit as well on the plans which does the same thing it is very effective at letting sediment settle out of the water before it discharges. Motion by Buckler and seconded by Kirsh to suspend the Rules of Procedure. APPROVED 8-1 Motion by Kirsh and seconded by Coleman to approve on condition of TAC and Engineering staff approvals. APPROVED 9-0 New Business 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. Filed by Vince Dora, owner of Dora Hotel Group. Petitioner: Murry Clark – Law Firm of Faegre Drinker: • Clark provided a brief background on the previous version of the project submitted before the Plan Commission some years prior. He stressed that in the time since the first version of the project was proposed that the client had worked closely with staff to address all comments and concerns that had been raised and that 15 significant changes were specifically called out in the following presentation: o Increased the total number of parking spaces by 13 parking spaces (a net increase of 3 spaces from the approved Development Plan (19060018 DP): Relocated the main entrance and drop off from the west side of the hotel to the north side, retained all existing parking on the west side of the building, and utilized existing dumpster pad for proposed enclosure. o Re-designed the interior of first floor to accommodate the change in building entry location. o Eliminated the wedge-shaped brand feature and incorporated a custom designed metal blade sign on the east side of the building to function as the mounting surface for two brand identity signs. o Reduced the size of the branded signs on the new blade feature. o Eliminated the small sign at the secondary entry on the North side of the building. o Eliminated the branded dark EIFS band at the second floor. o Completely re-designed the roof line to provide a modern top cornice horizontally extended feature with soft concealed LED lighting to give it a floating appearance at night. o Completely re-designed East and West ends of the building to provide strong contrasting brick features. o Re-designed the NW corner to draw attention to the building entry location with the same strong contrasting brick accent language. o Added windows on the East and West ends of the building to add interest to the façade. o Incorporated short term (exterior) bicycle parking and long term (interior) bicycle parking. o Changed brand colors on the vertical bands. o Changed canopy colors to match the rest of the building. o Reduced the building façade lighting to only the minimum needed for safety on the side of the building that faces the residential properties. o Added as much clear glass on the first floor of the building as we possibly could considering the nature of this building type (ie. Not retail or office) • It was noted that a variance would be required for the proposed blade sign on the building due to its size being more than what is permitted by the UDO.