WESTERVILLE PLANNING COMMISSION CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 21 S. STATE STREET WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 23, 2013 MINUTES Chairman Paul Johnson opened the January, 2013 Planning Commission meeting at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers at 21 S. State Street. Other members present were Council Member Diane Fosselman, Brian Szuch, Amy Koorn, David Berger, Gerry Domanik, and Dave Samuelson. Staff members present included Bassem Bitar, Lisa LaMantia, Chelsea Nichols, and both Kyle Stroh and Caitlyn Nestleroth with the City’s Law Department. Chairman Johnson led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. ELECTION OF CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIR Chairman Mr. Szuch nominated Mr. Johnson. Mr. Berger seconded the nomination. Seeing there were no other nominations, Mr. Domanik moved to close the nominations. Vote: 6-0 Vice Chairman Mr. Domanik nominated Mr. Szuch. Council Member Fosselman seconded the nomination. Seeing there were no other nominations, Mr. Johnson closed the nominations. Vote: 6-0 APPROVAL OF THE DECEMBER 17, 2012 MINUTES Council Member Fosselman moved to adopt the December 17, 2012 minutes as presented; Mr. Domanik seconded the motion. Yeas: Council Member Fosselman, Mr. Szuch, Mr. Domanik, Ms. Koorn, Mr. Berger, Mr. Samuelson, Chairman Johnson Nays: None Motion Passed: 7-0 Chairman Johnson explained the procedures to be used in tonight’s Public Hearing. Ms. Nichols swore in Staff and all those wishing to speak before the Commission. Westerville Planning Commission Minutes of the January 23, 2013 Meeting Page 2 PUBLIC HEARINGS PC 2012-17: REQUEST FOR REZONING AND PRELIMINARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND TEXT OF A 95-ACRE TRACT (APPROXIMATE) FROM R-4 - MULTI-FAMILY, PID – PLANNED INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT, AND O/I – OFFICE/INSTITUTIONAL, TO PD, PLANNED DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT FOR A MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT; LOCATED AT 198 SOUTH CLEVELAND AVENUE; APPLICANT: RICHARD BRAHM & CATHERINE CUNNINGHAM FOR RSTLNE, LLC. Mr. Bitar stated this item has been on the agenda before but he would like to provide a brief background for both the members of the audience and the new Commission member since he has not been part of the previous hearings. As they may recall, the parcel in question is uniquely situated between Chase, St. Ann’s, the area closest to Otterbein University, and Uptown Westerville. It is 95 acres. When the application was filed it started out as one parcel even though it is split by Cooper Rd and a portion of Collegeview Rd. It has several unique features in that it has parts of Alum Creek running across the eastern boundary of the parcel. It has Otterbein Lake just to the north outside of the parcel. It contains areas of floodplain and floodway; the blue on the map is the floodway and the orange is the floodplain. The difference is the floodway is the area you cannot touch, period. The floodplain you could with certain restrictions. He stated they can also see there is a stream that feeds Alum Creek on the southwest component of the site that is also encumbered with a floodplain. Mr. Bitar stated most of the parcel is also within in the Source Water Protection Special Overlay District, which has certain additional requirements that limit the amount of chemicals you can store within any one building because the groundwater there also feeds the drinking water system for the City of Westerville. There are some additional provisions that apply because of that designation. Mr. Bitar stated it is a very unusual parcel in that the three components of the overall parcel are in several different zoning districts. The southern portion is currently zoned R-4, Multi-Family Residential. The majority of the site is zoned PID, Planned Industrial, which is the same zoning along Collegeview at this point. Then there are two pieces at the northwest and southwest that are zoned Office-Institutional. With this application, the intent would be to rezone the entire 95 acres into one zoning district; the Planned District (PD) which is the all-encompassing zoning district within the Planning and Zoning Code. That district allows you to establish multiple uses; you establish the development standards that go along with those uses, and it becomes a de facto zoning code for that particular development. Mr. Bitar stated as they know, the process is usually a two-step overall process. The first process, which is what they are doing right now, is the preliminary development plan. It is more or less a conceptual approval that looks at the overall site. It does not mean that any component of this project is set in stone. Pretty much everything they see on the map except for the potential for a skilled nursing facility is conceptual at this time. Mr. Bitar stated the applicant has divided the site into three sub areas. The Cleveland Avenue frontage is Subarea One, most of the middle of the component of the site is Subarea Two, and then the easterly Westerville Planning Commission Minutes of the January 23, 2013 Meeting Page 3 portion (especially easterly of Cooper Rd but including a pocket in the middle) is Subarea Three. The applicant has also outlined what the intent of each subarea is within the text. Subarea One for the most part, especially south of Cooper Rd, would include some retail uses but would also allow office and perhaps even residential if it is on upper floors of otherwise nonresidential buildings. The area to the north would have the same use standards except that because of traffic concerns, the amount of retail would have to be limited within that component. Mr. Bitar stated the middle portion of the site, Subarea Two, would accommodate colleges, universities, as well as senior housing and office types of development. He is just giving an overview because there are a lot of different uses in there. It also allows for residential on upper floors. He stated he should mention that Subarea One also does include colleges and universities as permitted uses. Mr. Bitar stated Subarea Three would have multiple uses but the main concentration would be residential in nature. Mr. Bitar stated Staff had provided the Commission with a staff report in December because they had anticipated this was going to be on the agenda in December but it got put on hold and now they are seeing it again. One of the main changes that have happened since December is that Otterbein University has now acquired about 25 acres that are outlined in yellow on the map. This is the acreage on the north side of Cooper Rd from Cleveland Avenue to the line separating Subareas Two and Three. Staff forwarded some information to the Commission earlier today verifying that Otterbein has joined the applicant as a co-applicant in this application. The lot split that was granted as part of the sale to Otterbein was on the condition that they still continue to look at the whole 95 acres as one development district. That would be the intent. As Commission members may have also seen in the correspondence from Otterbein, they have asked that a vote not be taken tonight. He will leave that to the applicants to explain further. Mr. Bitar stated as he goes into the details of the application they are going to hear him say the word “if” a lot because it is a conceptual plan. He thinks if the components of the plan do actually fall into place, this could be a very exciting development. It is a little bit different than most of the large acreage developments that they usually see in that it is within walking distance to a lot of other existing walking amenities. So, from a staff standpoint they are hoping to see something that does make that connection, especially with Otterbein’s involvement now and the possibilities to connect to their campus. As they will probably explain, Otterbein does not have immediate plans for that. They will probably be looking at doing a feasibility study for the components that they purchased. There is not even necessarily a commitment that all of this will be college use. His understanding is that they would start by looking at the areas east of Collegeview Rd. The Cleveland Avenue frontage and other parts would be looked at as future components. Mr. Bitar stated as they know, the main emphasis for this application was the skilled nursing facility and that is the one entity that is on board and they are anxious to move forward so they can present the final development plan and be under construction in the near future. They have had several discussions before about the location of the skilled nursing facility and whether the location they have proposed in the middle of the site is the most appropriate. Staff has looked at different types of scenarios. As the Westerville Planning Commission Minutes of the January 23, 2013 Meeting Page 4 applicant explained back in October, they feel strongly that this is the location they would like to be in. From a staff standpoint they have come to be comfortable with that idea as they understood more about the functions of that facility and the intent to work with Otterbein’s nursing program, the relationship to St. Ann’s and some of the medical office buildings in the general area. One of staff’s previous concerns was whether it had any issues with it being an introverted use and whether the synergies or adjacent uses would work with that particular use at that location or whether it would be better to put it in a more serene environment near the lake or the creek. Again, based on the feedback staff has received, staff is comfortable with the general location.