Planning Commission

200 South Hamilton Road City of Gahanna Gahanna, Ohio 43230 Meeting Minutes Planning Commission Michael Suriano, Chair Michael Greenberg, Vice Chair Bobbie Burba John Hicks Thomas Shapaka Michael Tamarkin Thomas J. Wester Krystal Gonchar, Deputy Clerk of Council Wednesday, December 2, 2020 7:00 PM Virtual Meeting Call in details: 513-306-4583, Conference ID: 270 846 113#. To speak during the meeting, at least one hour prior to the start of the meeting, you must email planningcommission@gahanna.gov and include: subject you wish to speak on, your name, address. A. CALL MEETING TO ORDER/PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE/ROLL CALL Gahanna Planning Commission met virtually for a Regular Session on Wednesday, December 2, 2020. The agenda for this meeting was published on November 25, 2020. Chair Michael Suriano called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance. Present 7 - Thom Shapaka, Michael Suriano, Bobbie Burba, Michael Greenberg, John Hicks, Michael Tamarkin, and Thomas J. Wester B. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA: None. C. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 2020-195 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes for November 18, 2020. A motion was made by Shapaka, seconded by Burba, that the Minutes be Approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7- Shapaka, Suriano, Burba, Greenberg, Hicks, Tamarkin and Wester D. SWEAR IN APPLICANTS & SPEAKERS Assistant City Attorney Matt Roth administered an oath to those persons wishing to present testimony this evening. City of Gahanna Page 1 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes December 2, 2020 E. APPLICATIONS - PUBLIC COMMENT DR-023-2020 To consider a Design Review Application for a building design for property located at 875 Pinnacle Pointe Place; Parcel Id No. to be assigned at a later date; Current Zoning MR-1; Pinnacle Pointe; Doug Maddy, applicant. City Planner Michael Blackford presented a summary of the application; see attached staff presentation. He explained that this application covers two zonings: MR-1 and SF-3. There were two different rezonings for the property; originally there were going to be duplexes but design changed to single family style condos. There was no platting for this. Applicant would like some two story options on the site. Staff would like some flexibility. The color pallet will change along with some other minor changes. Staff does not want to have to come back to the commission each time there is a slight variation in style from one home to another. This is in character with the surrounding area. Staff recommends and requests approval. Chair opened public comment at 7:09 p.m. David Hodge, attorney for applicant Doug Maddy; stated that this is an unusual situation; when we went through the process and had this approved, we committed to bring this back to the commission for a design review; we were going for a single floor or one and half floor homes due to age demographics, but we would like some room for diversity in design. Chair closed public comment at 7:11 p.m. and called for questions from the commission. Wester: asked how do we get this to apply to the whole site as opposed to just one lot for one home? Blackford provided the parcel id numbers that were not part of the application; suggested reading those into the motion for the record. Maddy said this is a single family condo, so it will still function like and look like a single family neighborhood but will have a condo association. He also stated that the parcel id numbers have not been assigned to the condos yet. Shapaka: asked for clarity, we are being asked for any one of these buildings to change to 2 stories. They are just asking for flexibility for design? Hodge confirmed. Greenberg: asked Blackford to show the layout of the condos. He asked if there's only once entrance and exit into the area. Hodge confirmed. City of Gahanna Page 2 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes December 2, 2020 Greenberg asked if that's blocked, was the fire department concerned. Hodge said fire department looked at it and had an engineer weigh in; believes that's already been evaluated. Greenberg said it looks like there's a stub that could at some point be an entrance/exit. Maddy said that's there for two reasons: to be a turn around for driveways and also if the adjoining property should become available for purchase, the street could be extended. Suriano: asked how many footprints are on the site. Maddy said currently they have about 12-14 floor plans being marketed; they are being catered to the empty nester buyer; most living is on the first floor. Suriano asked about the percentage of two story homes. Maddy said he only has one two story house sold, which is the one he wanted to discuss this evening; could get 2-3 more requests. Suriano said he agrees that the height diversity will look better overall. He asked about the materials, are they the same. Maddy confirmed that they are using only high quality materials. A motion was made by Wester, seconded by Greenberg, that the Design Review be Approved, allowing for flexibility for staff to approve minor changes in design, and include in the record, this approval covers Parcel ID NOs. 025-001877, 025-001984, 025-013750 and 025-013749. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7- Shapaka, Suriano, Burba, Greenberg, Hicks, Tamarkin and Wester Market at Morse SWP-005-2020 To consider a Subdivision Without Plat Application to split an 8.98 +/- acre parcel into four separate lots, for property located at 1378 Hamilton Rd./4919 Morse Rd.; Parcel ID No. 025-012935-00; Current Zoning CC-2; Market at Morse; Jason Taylor, applicant. Blackford provided a summary of the application; see attached staff presentation. He explained that for tax and ownership reasons, the applicant would like the option to split off and sell separate parcels and buildings. There are variances to setbacks and parking requirements in these instances because the parcel lines change. The property as a whole is already meeting those requirements with the current parcel lines. Staff recommends approval. There is a lot of code to get through on this application. The site will function the same way as it did in the past. Chair opened public comment at 7:31 p.m. Applicant stated that he can answer questions, but did not have anything to add to the presentation. Chair closed public comment at 7:32 p.m. and called for questions from City of Gahanna Page 3 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes December 2, 2020 the commission. Shapaka: asked Blackford if the variances on the table will follow future development. Blackford said part of the application materials include a site plan. Variances do run with the land, but they must adhere to the application. Shapaka asked if a developer does damage by not platting the out parcels; seems like they would benefit from using the adjacent property. Blackford said he does not believe so, but things would have to develop differently; the site could intensity slightly; there would be more need for green space and plantings; minor benefits; fees don't change; just an ownership benefit. Hicks: said the site has traffic issues, specifically Starbucks; the line goes all the way back to Stoneridge Dr.; is there any thought on alleviating the traffic issues. Applicant said that is not part of this application at this time; the traffic flow is something the owner has always monitored but at this time there are no improvements planned. Hicks would recommend they have that on their radar for the future. A motion was made by Greenberg, seconded by Wester, that the Subdivision Without Plat be Approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7- Shapaka, Suriano, Burba, Greenberg, Hicks, Tamarkin and Wester V-029-2020 To consider a Variance Application to vary Chapters 1153.03, 1163.07, 1163.08, 1165.04 and 1167.15 of the Codified Ordinances of the City of Gahanna; for property located at 1378 Hamilton Rd./4919 Morse Rd.; Parcel ID No. 025-012935-00; Current Zoning CC-2; Market at Morse; Jason Taylor, applicant. See discussion above, under file SWP-005-2020. A motion was made by Greenberg, seconded by Wester, that the Variance be Approved. The motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 7- Shapaka, Suriano, Burba, Greenberg, Hicks, Tamarkin and Wester F. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None. G. NEW BUSINESS: None. H. OFFICIAL REPORTS Assistant City Attorney No report. City of Gahanna Page 4 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes December 2, 2020 City Planner Blackford stated that the public input phase of the design review code changes has closed; they broke it down to different districts in the city; the results were similar everywhere; hybrid texture was preferred; not too plain, but neutral; is sometimes easier to identify what you don't like; will probably have prohibited materials in districts; we will begin putting ideas into code language which will take some time. The zoning code overhaul is underway, hoping to complete in 2021; just repackaging what is there to make it more user friendly; will also modify some processes to allow for administrative approval. Council Liaison Shapaka stated that Big Sky Realty zoning was introduced at the last council meeting, and referred back to committee of the whole; the discussion was similar to that at planning commission. Blackford said the public hearing is set for 12/7/2020. CIC Liaison Hicks said they met last week, and will be redrafting bylaws; size of the board will be shrinking; will have 11-12 members moving forward. Chair No report. I. CORRESPONDENCE AND ACTIONS: None. J. POLL MEMBERS FOR COMMENT The commission members wished Burba a happy early birthday. K. ADJOURNMENT By Wester at 7:47 p.m. City of Gahanna Page 5