Planning Commission Agenda and Packet 2018 03 08

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 13 of 23 Zinke stated that they did not have a contingency plan for that situation. Williams asked if there would be any signage on the parking to let the public know they could park in the lot. Hartronft stated that during the day the lot would be full of employees and the gate would not go up when the lot was full. In the evenings, there would be no other control measures on the lot except if the lot was full. The usage would depend on the tenants' needs. Brauneis called a 5 -minute break. PUBLIC COMMENT Brauneis opened public comment. Liz Connor, 931 Main Street and 670 Johnson Street, stated that she welcomes and supports the development, which responds to her concerns about the future plan for Louisville. As a realtor, she feels that realtors are on an island in Louisville. Quality retail space is difficult to find and it took them a year to get their current location. The development would bring something that she felt was missing. She also appreciated the plan's attention to parking, as they hear often from their clientele that there is a lack of accessible parking. A project that is attentive to this issue helps her bottom line and respects its other business partners. Ernie Villany, 1358 Caledonia Circle and owner of Boulder Valley CPA at 917 Front Street, expressed support as a business owner. His company had 10 full-time and 10 part-time employees who looked forward to eating and spending money downtown in the new retail space. The excitement they felt was similar to what they felt about the opening of the underpass. He commended the efforts of staff, the Commission, and the applicant. Brauneis clarified that the Commission had not worked on the project until now. Rick Kron, resident at 746 West Fir Court and President of the Downtown Business Association, stated that the board had discussed the project this morning at their regularly scheduled meeting and had come to a consensus opinion. He read from a paraphrased version of their position: "The LDBA supports the development. Downtowns, like Louisville's, can and should evolve to avoid stagnation. We need more retail space and more business generating retail vibrancy in this downtown. A variety of building footprints is a good idea. We need the additional retail base to support new and established retail in Downtown. A healthy, interesting downtown, such as Louisville, must include a diverse retail sector. The third floor of this proposal is set back from Main Street and is not too big under the City's own design guidelines, and it helps the retail on the first floor. The 32 parking spaces on site is a good thing, and is the right thing to do." Howard Zaremba, 750 South Street resident and majority owner at 728 Main Street, which is adjacent to the development. He supported the project. The applicant and architect were well- known in the community and were open to meeting with his company in December to give them a heads -up. He was concerned with his tenants, the bookstore and the Singing Cook restaurant, which would be affected by construction. He hoped that the construction would be broadcast in advance and kept to a minimum and that there would be some kind of allocation made for any kind of loss of business. He thought it would be great for Main Street and good for their flow of business in the long -run, but small businesses exist in the short -run and he did not want his tenants' business to be unreasonably disrupted by the construction. Audrey Debarros, 839 West Mulberry Street, expressed her support. She loves hearing the project described as a cool project because we are a cool and inclusive town. She appreciates