Planning Commission Minutes 2019 01 10

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes January 10, 2019 Page 5 of 16 garage, but that was already the reality downtown. It was not currently a big issue since the delivery trucks move quickly. Williams asked if the proposal would allow for a summer patio. Hartronft replied that it would allow for the patios and on the south building the setback was large enough for tables. Public Works wanted them to make sure that there was enough space for a public walkway, since it was a narrow sidewalk. Williams clarified that the parking was not a shared or public parking space. Hartronft confirmed. Hoefner moved to enter the materials board into the record. Howe seconded. Williams asked for a description of the materials and where they would be used. Hartronft showed the materials that would be used for accents and to divide up the mass of the building. Williams noted that there were a number of guidelines that pertain to size, mass, stepdown of the alley, and the ratio of the windows. She noted that she thought all of these measurements were an improvement on the previous proposal. She would not call the proposed step-down a true step-down. Howe asked how much farther back the building was compared to the Singing Cook and the Huckleberry and if the alley between the Singing Cook and the proposed building would remain in place. Hartronft responded that the setbacks were farther back than the Huckleberry. He added that the alley was on the neighbor's property so it would not be affected by the proposal. Brauneis asked for public comment. John Leary, 1116 Lafarge Avenue in Louisville, stated that he believed the mass and scaling of the building were now consistent with city standards. However, the project illuminated policy issues that the City needed to address. First, the public twice passed a tax to preserve the character of downtown, yet there were municipal incentives for the redevelopment of the downtown, directives that pulled in opposite directions. Second, the parking in downtown was not based on estimated parking demand, it was based on policy meant for adaptive reuse of existing buildings. Currently, the Terrace on Main was required to have 23 spaces. If you were to apply the standards for an office to this building, it would require 40, plus about 32 parking spots for the retail spaces. Leary did not think that an office being downtown should exempt it from the higher requirement. Over the past decades, job growth in Louisville has been at a faster rate than population growth, but fewer people are working in Louisville percentage -wise than ever before. Leary summarized that the parking and development requirements were not sustainable.