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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes BZA 10-26-98 CARMEL/CLAY BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS OCTOBER 26, 1998 The regularly scheduled meeting of the Carmel/Clay Board of Zoning Appeals was called to order by the vice president at approximately 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers of City Hall, Carmel, Indiana. Members present were: Jay Dorman; Dick Klar; Earlene Plavchak; and James Quinn. Mark Monroe was present representing the Department of Community Services. John Molitor, counsel, was also present. The minutes of the September meeting were approved as submitted. John Molitor reported that the State has a Farmland Preservation Task Force that has made numerous recommendations, some of which are more directed more at local bodies, commissions and boards. Hearings are being conducted at present and some proposals would recommend that zoning ordinances not mandate large lot sizes, since those tend to require that more farmland be "eaten up" when development occurs. These proposals will be monitored and reports made to local bodies from time-to-time. Mark Monroe reported that the Board had received some correspondence from a Mr. Lyons, a resident of the Springmill Ridge Subdivision on Sheffield Court, regarding pool construction on his particular lot. After speaking with BZA president Charles Weinkauf, the Department is preparing a response letter for Mr. Lyons and will be sending out copies to the Board members. H. Public Hearing: Note: Items lh. and 2h. were heard together and voted on separately. lh. Carmel Drive Executive Park Signs (V-37-98) Petitioner seeks approval of a developmental standards variance of Section 25.7.02-10 of the Carmel/Clay Zoning Ordinance to allow projecting signs and signage on the building as if it were a multi-tenant ground floor building. The site is located at the southwest corner of Carmel Drive and 122nd Street. The site is zoned M-3/1\4anufacturing. Filed by Frank Cosmas of FCC Development. 2h. Carmel Drive Executive Park Signs (V-38-98) Petitioner seeks approval of a developmental standards variance of Section 25.7.02-10 of the Carmel/Clay Zoning Ordinance to allow additional wall signs on the south facade of the buildings. The site is located at the southwest corner of Carmel Drive and 122nd Street. The site is zoned M-3/Manufacturing. s:Aminutes\bza\1998oct 1 Filed by Frank Cosmas of FCC Development. Adam DeHart of Keeler-Webb & Associates, 486 Gradle Drive, Carmel appeared before the Board representing the petitioner. These items were originally presented at the Board meeting in September. Mr. DeHart submitted a letter from Bill Foreman stating no objection to the proposed signage located at the corner of Carmel Drive and 122nd Street. Mr. Foreman, owner/manager of Carpenter Better Homes, resides on the property immediately to the southwest, across the lake from Carmel Drive Executive Office Park. The issues brought up at initial public hearing were what was allowed and what the petitioner was proposing to do. The petitioner is allowed 90 square feet of wall signage on 122nd Street and 105 square feet of wall signage on the Carmel Drive facade. Three square feet of tenant identification signage would be allowed on a door or window in front of the tenant space. The petitioner is proposing a Williamsburg style projecting sign on the structure to match the facade of the building which mimics the 1261 Street expansion to be built north of City Hall. The projecting signage being requested has a maximum allowable size of 20 square feet and is actually 2 1/2 feet high by 3 1/2 feet in width. Each building, with a maximum of 16 tenants, would provide 140 square feet of signage, less than allowable with wall signage. The proposed signage will provide an architectural style of signage that matches the facade and is less obtrusive to the public and is easily identifiable to the public. In regard to the signage along the rear of the structure, the lease space is flexible, three- dimensional, both horizontally and vertically, and some tenants may have a main entrance on the lakeside (southwest facade). Members of the public were invited to speak in favor or opposition to the proposed signage; none appeared and the public hearing was closed. Mark Monroe reported that the Department is recommending approval of the variance to allow for projecting signs and to allow the building to be considered as a multi-tenant, ground floor building, as long as second floor tenants are not allowed signs on the second story elevation. The variance for the additional projecting signs on the "rear" of the building is being recommended for denial, since the allowable signage gives the building and the complex adequate identification. Adam DeHart commented that allowable door or identification signage for tenants is not being allowed by the petitioner. The signage will be installed as engraved, wooden signs, allowable per ordinance and commitments. In response to questions from Jay Dorman, Mark Monroe reported that the allowable signage on site would consist of one center identification sign per frontage, or one ground sign on Carmel Drive, one ground sign on 122nd Street, that would say "Carmel Drive s:Aminutes\bza\1998oct 2 Executive Park." Beyond that, because it is a multi-tenant, multi-floor building, one sign per frontage would be allowed on the building. A multi-tenant directory sign is also allowed per building, listing individual tenants on a smaller sign a maximum of 20 square feet. The ordinance allows a maximum of two directory signs, one at each of the main entrances, hence two buildings, two main entrances, a total of 4 directory signs. The wall sign facing 122nd Street is allowed to be a maximum of 90 square feet; on Carmel Drive, the maximum allowable is 105 square feet or a total of 195 square feet for wall signage. In response to questions from Earlene Plavchak, Mr. DeHart stated that aesthetics was the main reason that the existing ordinance is not adequate--the ordinance does not allow projecting signs outside of Old Towne Carmel. Point of Clarification: Mark Monroe stated that the first commitment received from the petitioner was appropriate as far as size of the sign; however, items 2, 3, and 4 are not appropriate because these items have been addressed through Plan Commission approval of the architectural style of the signs. The Department is recommending that any approvals this evening be put into commitment form and recorded with the property, hence a different form is required and the Department will work with the petitioner on a suitable, recordable form. The ordinance today allows the petitioner to have the wall signs identifying the building, which might need to be in commitment form as well as the allowable number of signs. Jay Dorman moved for the approval of Docket No. V-37-98 and V-38-98 with the stipulations that no more than 8 signs per side of each of the buildings be allowed, not to exceed an allowable 150 total square feet of signage on each building, whether front or back, and there will be no wall signs on either of the buildings. After some discussion, Jay Dorman withdrew his motion. Jim Quinn moved for the approval of Docket V-37-98 conditioned upon receipt of written, recordable instruments by the office of the Department of Community Services that stipulate that the projecting signs shall be a maximum of 8.75 square feet, that there will be no wall signs, and that signs will only be allowed on the first floor of the buildings, seconded by Jay Dorman. Jay Dorman moved for the approval of Docket V-38-98 conditioned upon no more than 8 signs be allowed per side of each building with a maximum square footage per sign only on the first floor; the other three conditions previously stated would follow, seconded by Dick Klar. Docket No. V-37-98 was APPROVED with conditions as stated, 3 in favor, Earlene Plavchak opposed. Docket No. V-38-98 was DENIED 1-3 (Jay Dorman in favor, Earlene Plavchak, Dick Klar, and Jim Quinn opposed.) s:Aminutes\bza\1998oct 3 3h. Goddard School(SU-41-98) Petitioner seeks Special Use approval to allow an 8,000 square foot day care center within a commercial zoning district. The site is located at 160 Medical Drive. The site is zoned B-8/Business. Filed by Doug Floyd of LandRush Development Services. Dave Coots, 255 East Carmel Drive, was asked to present the referenced matter to the Board this evening on behalf of Doug Floyd of LandRush Development. This Docket was presented to the Plan Commission at its August meeting, sent to Special Study Committee in September and referred back to the full Plan Commission. The ADLS application was subsequently approved. The property is located immediately to the south of the Carmel Racquet Club, to the east of the old LaPetite Academy, and west of the Shumate building that houses a variety of tenants. The entrance is off Medical Drive. The site plan and landscape plan have been up-graded;pursuant to the Department's request, the petitioner has agreed to use a Cleveland Pear variety of tree planting, and the tree at the entry drive was agreed to be removed due to sight limitations. Also present representing the petitioner were Richard Minna, Director of Real Estate with the Goddard School out of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania;project manager, Phil Pitrocelli; John Ireland, architect; Roger Ward and Tom Sturmer of Schneider Engineering. The fence area will run along the south side of the building, the east side of the building, along the north side of the building and looping back to the north side. Pursuant to a request from Dave Shumate, property owner to the east, the petitioner has agreed to construct and landscape a six foot shadow box fence between the two properties. The balance of the fencing will be a cedar, scalloped style fence, four feet in height. The building exterior will be all brick, siding at the gables. The roof material was changed from metal to asphalt shingle and will look residential in appearance. The petitioner has also agreed to install sidewalks along the front of the development at the time of construction. The traffic study shows that this particular location on Carmel Drive is well capable of handling the amount of traffic generated by this development and parking meets the requirements. The building height is 19 feet at the hip of the gable; the eaves are 9 feet off the ground. The signage complies with the ordinance--a ground sign, 24 square feet on each face on Medical Drive at the entryway and a wall sign over the main entry on the west elevation. Members of the public were invited to speak in favor or opposition to the project; none appeared and the public hearing was closed. Mark Monroe reported that the Department is recommending approval. s:Aminutes\bza\1998oct 4 Jay Dorman reported that the petitioner has been very sensitive to comments made at the Plan Commission meeting and has reacted to those comments by reconfiguring their building to be more architecturally consistent with the area. The petitioner has also been very attentive to the requests of Mr. Shumate, neighbor to the east. Jay Dorman moved for the approval of Docket No. SU-41-98, Goddard School. In response to questions from Earlene Plavchak, Richard Minna, Director of Real Estate with the Goddard School stated that with permits and weather permitting, the petitioner is hoping for a spring, 1999 opening. The facility will accommodate 130 children from 6 weeks to 6 years. Goddard School, Docket No. SU-41-98,was approved 4 in favor, none opposed. 4h. Bastian Materials Handling Expansion (SU-42-98) Petitioner seeks Special Use approval to allow an 8,000 square foot office addition within a B-3/Business zoning district. The site is located at 9820 Association Court within the Bauer Commercial Park. The site is zoned B- 3/Business. Filed by Tracey Trimpe of American Consulting Engineers. Bill Bastian appeared before the Board requesting approval for an 8,00 square foot expansion for an office addition at 9820 Association Court. The original building was built in 1989 and American Consulting Engineers was the engineer/architect at that time. The expansion is on the north side of the building and is for office space. The business focuses on engineering automated material handling systems for manufacturing and distribution facilities. Paul Meyer of American Consulting Engineers, appeared before the Board to explain the modifications to the existing facility; Fred Fackenthau was also in attendance. The parking facilities are being increased to accommodate additional employees; the petitioner meets the parking requirements. The building is a two-story office addition to the north of the existing building and wraps three sides. There is no warehouse addition required, only office space. Additional landscaping is being added to the existing at the north property line on the petitioner's side of the drainage swale. The drainage will not be altered from the current plan--it is piped underground into storm sewer pipes which are then outlet into the existing detention pond on the northwest corner of the site. Members of the public were invited to speak in favor or opposition to the proposed expansion; none appeared and the public hearing was closed. Mark Monroe reported that there are no remaining TAC issues at this point and the Department is recommending approval. Jay Dorman asked about exterior lighting that might spill over onto the adjoining residential neighborhood. Mr. Meyer responded that there are no doors to the north to s:Aminutes\bza\1998oct 5 face the residential neighborhood and that area of the building will not be lit. Some additional wall pack lighting will be added to the two sides, east and west, for security and will be less than the required point one tenth of a foot candle at the property lines. The plantings on the north side of the building are a mixture of white pines supplemented with deciduous trees and low lying shrubs. Dick Klar moved for the approval of Docket SU-42-98, Bastian Materials Handling Expansion, seconded by Jim Quinn. APPROVED 4-0. There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM. Earlene Plavchak, Vice President Ramona Hancock, Secretary s:Aminutes\bza\1998oct 6