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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDept Report 05-06-257 Carmel Plan Commission COMMITTEE Tuesday, May 6, 2025 Department Report 5. Docket No. PZ-2025-00012 PP Amend: North End Primary Plat Amendment. 6. Docket No. PZ-2025-00014 ADLS: North End Phase 2 Multi-family. 7. Docket No. PZ-2025-00015 ADLS: Viva Bene at North End Phase 2. 8. Docket No. PZ-2025-00030 V: UDO Sec. 2.18: Maximum Front Yard Setback, more than 50 ft. requested. 9. Docket No. PZ-2025-00031 V: UDO Sec. 2.18: 6 ft. Min. Side yard setback for parking, 0 ft. requested. 10. Docket No. PZ-2025-00032 V: UDO Sec. 3.50.D: 20 ft. Parking Setback behind front line of building, in front of building requested. 11. Docket No. PZ-2025-00033 V: UDO Sec. 3.54.A.2.a: 15,000 sq. ft. max building footprint, 57,000 sq. ft. requested. 12. Docket No. PZ-2025-00034 V: UDO Sec. 5.05.C.2: Ground floor design to change every 50 ft., longer façade designs requested. 13. Docket No. PZ-2025-00035 V: UDO Sec. 5.05.D.3: 2 principal buildings covering 70% of the lot width required, 1 building requested. 14. Docket No. PZ-2025-00036 V: UDO Sec. 5.05.E: Buildings greater than 3 stories shall be stepped back, no step back requested. 15. Docket No. PZ-2025-00037 V: UDO Sec. 5.31.C.1: 1.5 parking spaces/dwelling required, 1.25 spaces/dwelling requested. The applicant seeks site plan and design approval for phase 2 at North End that includes an apartment building with 170 units for individuals over the age of 55 and 7 townhome type buildings containing 72 apartment units. The site is located at approximately 300 W Smoky Row, and it is zoned UR/Urban Residential within the Monon Greenway Overlay. Filed by Charlie Mattox with Crossroad Engineers and Dan Moriarty with Studio M, on behalf of Old Town Companies and Avenue Development. *Updates to the report are written in blue. Project Overview: The petitioner seeks a primary plat amendment, architecture and site plan approval, and variances for 2 new multi-family projects at the North End development. This is the second and final phase at North End. The site is zoned UR/Urban Residential with a small portion in the Monon Greenway Overlay. Surrounding the property is US 31 to the north and west; the Monon Greenway and open space zoned P-1/Parks to the east; North End Phase 1 apartments, townhomes and single-family to the southwest; and an urban farm to the south. Please see the petitioner’s information package for more information. UDO Standards this project MEETS: • Permitted Uses: Apartments • Maximum Building height, 3 and 5 stories proposed • 2 windows per unit on upper floor facades. • 1.5 parking spaces per unit required for the 3-story multi-family project, 108 required and 109 proposed • No Maximum Number of Principal Buildings • Any facade fronting on a public street shall be a Primary Facade, meaning be architecturally significant. UDO Standards NOT MET, therefore Variances or Waivers are required: • UDO 2.18: Max. front setback. Max 50 ft. setback allowed from prior variance, more than 50 ft. requested. • UDO 2.18: Min. side setback for surface parking. 6 ft. minimum setback required. 0 ft. requested • UDO Sec. 3.50.D: 20 ft. Parking Setback behind front line of building, in front of building requested. • UDO Sec. 3.54.A.2.a: 15,000 sq. ft. max building footprint, 57,000 sq. ft. requested. • UDO Sec. 5.05.C.2: Ground floor design to change every 50 ft., longer façade designs requested. 8 • UDO Sec. 5.05.D.3: 2 principal buildings covering 70% of the lot width required, 1 building requested. • UDO Sec. 5.05.E: Buildings greater than 3 stories shall be stepped back, no step back requested. • UDO Sec. 5.31.C.1: 1.5 parking spaces/unit required for age restricted multi-family, 1.25 spaces/unit requested. • UDO Sec. 7.10.F.3: 25 ft. water quality preservation easement required along a stream and floodway fringe. Reduced easement proposed. A waiver has been submitted. • UDO Sec. 7.13.D: No parking within a Special Flood Hazard Area. Parking is proposed in the flood plain for the 3-story buildings. A waiver has been submitted. • UDO Sec. 7.25.E.2: Permanent dead end streets and hammerheads not permitted. Hammerhead street proposed. A waiver has been submitted. Site Analysis: • The primary plat amendment consists of 2 lots and common areas. • There will be seven 3-story apartment buildings that front on the extended North End Drive. These are being developed by Old Town Companies and will provide 72 multi-family units. • There is also an age-restricted apartment building which looks like 4 stories on the north side and 5 stories on the south side. • This height change is to accommodate the large change in grade from the south to the north and the 5 stories will include a parking garage on the first floor. • The 55+ age-restricted apartment building, called Viva Bene, will include 170 units and will be developed by Avenue Development. • Parking for the 3-story buildings will be provided through perpendicular surface parking located along the street, similar to the parking in Phase 1. There will be 109 spaces. • Parking for Viva Bene will be through a parking garage and a surface parking lot. There will be 215 spaces. • Site access is from an extension of North End Dr. and will follow a similar cross section with perpendicular parking located adjacent to the drive lanes. This was allowed with a waiver approved during the primary plat. • Stormwater infrastructure will be designed and constructed off site. A pond is proposed on a separate parcel east of Keystone. The Engineering Department is comfortable with this offsite storage. • However, no water quality measures are proposed on this site and it would make sense that even if the stormwater storage is offsite, water quality measures should be installed onsite before the water flows into the stormwater system or the creek. Active Transportation: • Sidewalks and paths are shown throughout the development; however, there are some additional areas where sidewalks should be provided and petitioner is working on revisions. • A 10 ft. wide asphalt path will be installed along the north side of the property and an 8 ft. path will run the length of the east side of the property. Both paths meet at the northeast corner and connect to the Monon. • Petitioner, please provide any updates regarding the trailhead/connection to the Monon. • Bike parking locations are shown in the garage and on the landscape plan, but these should also be shown on the site plan. Architectural Design: • Both developments are being reviewed and approved separately under their own ADLS docket numbers. North End Phase 2 Multi-family. • The townhome style buildings will be constructed of brick, fiber cement lap siding, fiber cement panels, 9 and faux wood accent siding. • The buildings look like a 3-story townhome building, but each “townhome” has 2 units in it. One unit is on the ground floor, and one unit occupies both the 2nd and 3rd floors. • All units have an outdoor patio or balcony space. • Petitioner has proposed a color change between buildings to provide some diversity. • The 8-Bay building has an especially long façade, and staff would like to see this broken up more. • Staff continues to work through architectural comments with the petitioner. Viva Bene • The building will be constructed of a variety of materials to help break up the large facades. • The materials include brick, white and gray fiber cement lap siding, fiber cement accent siding, and EIFS. • EIFS will be used only 8’ above ground, and petitioner has reduced the amount of EIFS by changing it to fiber cement lap siding. • When viewing the building from the north, it will be 4 stories tall. However, there is significant grade change moving south on the site, so when viewing the building from the south, it will be 5 stories tall. • This grade change allows for the first story on the south façade to be a parking garage. • The building design follows the requirements for Primary Façades, which means that each façade is architecturally significant and detailed. Lighting: • The Lighting Plan has been submitted and is under review. • Streetlights will be required and should match the lights in phase 1. • Building accent lighting specifications have been submitted. Landscaping: North End Phase 2 • Tree preservation areas are shown on the landscape plan. • Building base plantings are now shown on the landscape plans. • Can street trees be added in some areas along the street? • Additional trees should be planted in the open common areas. We recommend 10 trees per acre. Viva Bene • Parking lot islands will have trees and shrubs. • Building base plantings are shown around the sides of the building. • Please add trees along the south and east facade to soften the 12 ft. concrete wall. • Please add some trees in front of the garage elevations to help soften the view. Signage: North End Phase 2 • No exterior signage has been proposed, staff has requested more information. • Petitioner, please show where address numbers will be located on the elevations. Signage: Viva Bene • One blade-sign, one canopy-sign, one parking wall-sign, 1 public access entrance-sign, and one clubhouse wall-sign are proposed. • All allowable signs must follow UDO sign standards for size. • No incidental signage is requested at this time. 10 Variances: Buildings Front Setbacks: Max 50 ft. setback allowed from prior variance, more than 50 requested. This variance pertains to the Viva Bene building which doesn’t have a typical urban residential design with a building pulled up to the street. It is setback and isn’t a typical 4-sided, square building. Min. Side Setback for Parking: A 6 ft. minimum setback is required for surface parking and 0 ft. is requested. This requirement is in place to allow some landscaping between a parking lot and a property line. The Viva Bene site is requesting this variance on the north side of the building. With the grading and other site constraints, they aren’t able to meet a 6 ft. setback in all areas. However, there is common area on the other side where landscaping can be installed to provide some buffer from US 31. No landscaping is currently shown to the north, but we would recommend that as a condition of approval for this variance. Parking Setback behind front of building: The Monon Overlay - Natural Sub-Area requires parking areas to be set back not less than twenty (20) feet behind the Front Line of Building, and shall include landscaping. Only the very northeastern tip of the Viva Bene site is in the Monon Overlay, but the building itself is setback considerably from the Monon. There is a small amount of parking that is in front of the Viva Bene building on the north façade. Landscaping is proposed around this parking lot to help buffer any views from the Monon. Perhaps some additional landscaping could also be added along the east side of the path to provide more buffer. Maximum Building Footprint: The maximum building footprint allowed in the Monon Overlay - Natural Sub- Area is 15,000 sq. ft. and 57,000 sq. ft. is requested. The very northeastern tip of the Viva Bene site is in the Monon Overlay, but the building itself is setback considerably from the Monon. The intent of the maximum building footprint in the Natural section of the Monon Overlay is to limit large and long buildings adjacent to the Monon, outside of the center of the city. Instead, the natural buffer should be preserved in this area. The large setback of the building and the variation in the shape of the building help meet the intent of this standard. Ground Floor Facades: Any ground floor facade design shall not be used for more than 50 ft. before changing design such that no dominant design spans more than 50 ft. Both projects need this variance as the same ground floor level design is used over 50 ft. The Viva Bene building provides architectural variations on the upper floors that help break up the building and still provide other architectural details on the ground floor. The townhome type buildings are not suited well to provide a typical urban mixed-use building style streetscape, but provide other architectural features, like the faux wood siding accent, that bring interest to the facades. Massing Wide Width Lots: 2 Principal buildings covering 70% of the lot width is required per the UDO for the Urban Residential Zone, and only 1 building is requested. While there is only 1 building for the Viva Bene site, the building shape and the grade change provide some relief from the size of the building. The grade change also makes it difficult to meet this requirement to the letter of the law. Building Stepback: Buildings greater than 3 stories tall shall be stepped back resulting no more than 3 stories of facade being on the same vertical plane. Required stepbacks shall be a minimum of 12 ft. The Viva Bene building is 4 and 5 stories tall and is proposed to have no stepback. The roof line, balconies and change of materials help break up the scale of the building, instead of having the stepbacks. Parking Variance Viva Bene: The UDO requires 1.5 parking spaces/unit for residential units in the Urban Residential zone and 1.25 spaces/unit is requested for the Viva Bene project. The residential units for the Viva Bene project are 55+ age restricted units and will not function exactly the same as a traditional apartment building. The petitioner is confident there will be enough parking for their needs. There will be 102 garage parking spaces and 113 surface parking spaces. 11 March 18th Public Hearing Recap: Petitioner gave a thorough overview of the proposed project and related variances. No one from the public spoke in favor or opposition. Plan Commission members asked questions about the number of bedrooms per unit in the Viva Bene project as it relates to parking, the amount of EIFS on the Viva Bene building, if Viva Bene will have any memory care or continuing care (it will not), and the connection to the Monon. They also asked to see more details regarding the materials on the buildings, more landscaping to buffer US 31, a site plan of the whole site, and the details of the stormwater drainage and where it is going. The Plan Commission voted to send the project to the PC Committee with the final vote back at full Plan Commission. April 1st Committee Meeting Recap: Petitioner presented some updates to the plans and showed a rendering of the project from the Monon. The Plan Commission asked about the details for the trailhead, discussed the parking near the Monon and if people will park there to walk the Monon, and asked about the additional waivers needed. The petitioner stated that the details of the Monon connection will be made with the Parks Dept. as it is a part of the PRIF Commitment. PC Committee voted to send the project to the next PC Committee on May 6th. DOCS Remaining Comments/Concerns: Revised plans were not resubmitted with enough time to thoroughly review. The Dept. will continue to work with the Petitioner on all of the review comments as this project moves onto Committee review. Some of the outstanding comments include but are not limited to: • Do you have any updates on the details of the trailhead/connection to the Monon. • Can you break up the 8-bay building façade some, so it doesn’t seem so long and monotonous? • This fiber cement vertical panel on the side facades of the townhomes seems discombobulated from the rest of the building. Please revise this part of the building. It might be better to just have the siding continue all the way to the end or make it the same wood siding as on the interior. • Improve the large concrete wall on the east elevation and show trees along the wall on the landscape plan. • Find locations to add street trees. • Plant additional trees in the common areas. • Will any water quality measures be installed on this site before the drainage leaves the site and flows into the stormwater system or the creek? • Finalize ProjectDox comments with all TAC members. Recommendation: The Dept. of Community Services recommends that the Plan Commission Committee discuss this item and then continue it to the Plan Commission Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 3, 2025 to give petitioner time to resolve more TAC comments in ProjectDox.