12-17 Rezoning 17330 SR 23 (Old National Annexation)

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Staff Report 10/6/2017 Combined Public Hearing This is a combined public hearing procedure, which includes a rezoning and 3 variances from the development standards. The Commission will forward the rezoning to the Council with or without a recommendation and either approve or deny the variances. The petitioner is seeking the following variance(s): 1)from the required 15' setback for parking and interior access drives to 6' 2) from the maximum allowed 10%of the gross floor area for outdoor seating to 22%; 3) from the required foundation landscaping to none State statutes and the Zoning Ordinance require that certain standards must be met before a variance can be approved. The standards and their justifications are as follows: (1) The approval will not be injurious to the public health,safety, morals and general welfare of the community; Approval of variance 41 may be injurious to the general welfare of the neighboring community. The drive aisles extend 9' into the 15'front yard setbacks,which are intended to accommodate reasonable space between automobile traffic and the adjacent public right- of-way. Limiting this buffer space is cause for concerns to safety and public health. (2) The use and value of the area adjacent to the property included in the variance will not be affected in a substantially adverse manner; An increase in the gross floor area for outdoor seating from 10%to 22%may not affect neighboring properties. However, the absence of foundation landscaping may have an adverse affect on surrounding properties. It is the intent of the landscaping ordinance to provide a visual barrier to buffer any negative impacts placed on surrounding properties. (3) The strict application of the terms of this Chapter would result in practical difficulties in the use of the property Because the site would be newly constructed,there would be no practical difficulty in complying with the required provisions of this ordinance. Staff Comments: The properties located at the Douglas Road and SR 23 intersection have developed in a manner reflective of a heavily landscaped office district. If the existing properties located at the other three corners of the intersection were to annex to the City of South Bend, staff would encourage them to seek the O Office Zoning designation, which would be the least intense district in which the uses first appear. The bank that previously occupied this site would have been permitted within the O Office District and was consistent with the character of the area. The staff would recommend that the petitioner consider revising their request to the O Office District. This District would allow for a wide range of uses compatible with the immediate area, and the SR 23 corridor in general, and to which the existing building could be easily adapted to. Recommendation: Based on information available prior to the public hearing, the staff recommends the APC 4 2818-17 Page 4 of 5