The Broad Ripple Gazette
Vol. 12 No. 3
Traditional Family-Style Dining
9 Feb 6 - Feb 19, 2015
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Proposed reuse of old library at 42nd/Broadway SRO in the Ruth Lilly Library of the Indianapolis Art Center for the zoning meeting.
January BRVA public zoning meeting By Alan Hague
alan@broadripplegazette.com The January public meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) Land Use and Development Committee was held at the Indianapolis Art Center on the 27th. It was standing room only as there were about 100 in attendance. The meeting was called to order by committee chair Jim Holland.
There were four items on the agenda:
As we mentioned in a recent Gazette, Fine Estate Rugs and Gallery Two left the corner of Kessler and College. The plan is to relocate in the old Broadway Branch Library building which is across the street from the current College Branch Library. Here is the zoning variance request information from the Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD) staff, recommending approval: 2014-UV1-037 for property at 4186 North Broadway Street. Request: Variance of use of the Special Districts Zoning Ordinance and variance of development standards of the Sign Regulations to provide for an art gallery, rug cleaning and repair, appraisal, painting conservation, and fine art framing with related retail sales and services, and to provide for internally illuminated wall signs equaling 5.24% of the north front façade and 3.01% of the east front façade (maximum three percent of the front façade permitted). DMD Staff recommends approval of this petition, subject to the site plan file-dated November 26, 2014, and sign elevations file-dated December 31, 2014. The proposal would provide for a combined art gallery/rug cleaning and repair business with related sales and services. Other commercial office and retail uses would be excluded from this variance, as the request is limited in scope. The proposed use would have minimal impact to the area in regards to additional traffic, noise, hours of operation, and number of clientele compared to the previous use. The petitioner indicates the retail portion of the operation would be low impact, with an average of no more than 15 customers on any given day. With the minimal number of customers, staff would compare this operation favorably to a commercial office, permitted within the C-1 zoning district, which also permits a day care center, similar to the previous use. This site is located one block west from the 42nd Street and College Avenue intersection. Several parcels on 42nd Street are zoned C-3, and a community garden operates on 42nd street as well. The main parking lot entrance for the library is on Broadway Street, across from this site. There would be no external changes to the site, other than signage, as shown on the proposed site plan, file-dated November 26, 2014. The existing entrance is located on the east façade, away from any adjoining dwellings.
A. 6148 Winthrop Avenue, David and Justin Kingen representing Stanley and Shirley Mullins, regarding a variance of use for multi-family dwelling. Petition #2014-ZON-076 Hearing February 17, 2015 B. 6265 Broadway Street, David and Justin Kingen representing Tad Lupton, architect and Greg Stoll, property owner regarding the redevelopment of this property for multi-family use. See petition # 2014-CZN-819 and 2014-CVC-819 for complete details. Hearing February 26, 2015 C. 806-888 E. 66th Street and 6618, 6616 Ferguson Street, Chris Chabenne, Michael Kosene, Mark Demerly regarding a rezoning of 1.34 acres from the D-4 (FF) and D-10 (FF) districts to the D-10 classification to provide for multi-family development and a variance of development standards of the dwelling districts zoning ordinance to provide for a four-story, 93 unit-multi-family dwelling with six specifics added to the request as listed on the notice. See petition #2015-CZN-801 / 2015-CVR-801 for complete details. Hearing February 12, 2015 D. 6349 College Avenue, Canal Pointe (The Coil Apartments) update. Nick Davis, Senior Project Manager and Jamie Browning, Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf.
The Meridian Kessler Neighborhood Association (MKNA) Land Use Committee voted at their January meeting not to support this zoning request. The following is the explanation by the committee taken from MKNA.org:
Holland announced that since items A & C have already been heard before the committee, he proposed that there is no need to rehear them. Since those previous presentations to the BRVA, the petitioners have made the same presentations to the Department of Metropolitan Development DMD and now the BRVA committee can take a vote. There was a motion to approve both and both passed. Item B, 6265 Broadway Street presented. This proposal has also been presented before, so it was requested that the changes since last time be presented. Petitioner Greg Stoll said that there have been substantial changes. These include a key-accessed elevator, moving the trash container away from the neighbor and into the building, and the development of Laverock. According to the petitioner, Citizens Energy has now agreed to change its agreement from sharing half of the easement to now allow the project to develop all the way to the canal. This would allow for a 20-foot-wide esplanade along the canal in front of the new apartments. Another change was to remove the garages along Laverock, pull the building as far toward Laverock as possible which allows for garages opening toward the site’s courtyard. Holland suggested that a vote be delayed until the February meeting to allow the committee time to review the changes and hear how the city reacts to those changes. The petitioner replied, “We’ve presented this since March. We’ve made numerous changes and the problem we’re running into is you’re saying you won’t take a position until you hear from DMD, and DMD is saying they will not take a position until they hear from you. At this point we are really not in a position to make any more changes until someone takes a vote. We are here before you tonight asking that you take a vote.” After more discussions a motion was made to not support this petition. The committee then voted for this motion to not support the project. The last item was D, 6349 College Avenue, an information-only presentation on the current plans for the banks of the canal in association with the Coil Apartment project on the site of the old Shell station and the Laverock Apartments. (See renderings of the project at www.broadripplegazette.com under Pictures From Our Articles). The canal improvement budget is 2.5 million, including 2 million from the City, $250,000 each from Citizens Energy and Browning Investments. It will focus on the north bank from College to Guilford and include multi-level walkways, seating, lighting and water features. Jamie Browning stated that the major tenant of the new building could not yet be disclosed, but the announcement is coming soon. The next BRVA zoning meeting is scheduled for February 27 at 6pm at the Indianapolis Art Center.
The variance hearing is now scheduled for Tuesday March 3, 2015 at 1:00 pm. at the City County building downtown.
As most of you are aware, this property began its life in the 1950’s as a community asset housing the Broadway Library Branch. When the Library moved to its current building on College Avenue, MKNA was very active in keeping the former library building from being torn down and turned into a parking lot. We were adamant that there was a new chapter in the life of this building that would allow it to remain a community asset and the legacy of neighborhood-oriented service would continue. It was a huge win for our neighborhood when Kaleidoscope Youth Center first leased the property from the library board and began serving the neighborhood’s youth population. Children who previously had nowhere to go after school were now able to be a part of a program that kept them in a safe, educational environment. Several years later, as KYC continued their after-school and summer programs, they had an opportunity to purchase the building and vacant lot to the south from the library board. MKNA again stepped up to help facilitate KYC purchasing the property from the library board— yet another win for the neighborhood! For several more years, Kaleidoscope’s after-school and summer programs continued to be operated out of this facility. We regret that Kaleidoscope ultimately ended its programs as a result of changes in support from United Way and was left with an empty building. After their decision to close, MKNA representatives had several conversations with KYC board members and expressed our desire for this property to remain some sort of neighborhood-serving function. Last October, MKNA met with members of the KYC board and they indicated they had an offer to buy the property for a commercial use. We expressed our concerns and again stressed our desires to keep this a neighborhood-serving facility. From our perspective, it did not appear the building was ever ‘listed for sale’ or marketed well enough to seek interested buyers who could fit a service-oriented use and allow the legacy and mission of KYC to be carried on in a different capacity. Our Land Use Committee and Board of Directors both had very lengthy discussions about how to handle this case. Ultimately, we feel this building and adjacent play area together is a community asset and it would be a loss for our neighborhood to allow the property to become a commercial use. While there is ample commercial space in the neighborhood, there is very little space reserved for these special uses. As stewards of the community, we must look at the bigger picture and do what we feel is the best long-term decision. MKNA met this week with Curt Churchman, owner of Fine Estate Rugs, and members of the KYC board to explain our position. We greatly appreciate their willingness to meet and discuss, despite the fact that we know a compromise is not possible. If the zoning board votes in our favor, we have vowed to assist in any way possible to help Mr. Churchman find an appropriate location in the neighborhood for his business. We very much support his business and regret that this decision may negatively impact him. We also have offered our help to KYC to help find the right user for this property. We remain positive that if the property is more widely marketed, there will be interest from a purchaser that can utilize the property within its current ‘special use’ zoning classification. Lastly, MKNA wishes to again stress this is in no way an attack against Mr. Churchman and his business. We wish to see his business stay in our neighborhood and we will support him any way we can.