Planning Commission Minutes 2018 02 08

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 23 Ritchie responded to Commissioner Rice's earlier question, stating that the Zucca application proposed 104 feet and the 908 Main is setback from property line approximately 4-6 ft. Black Diamond/The Melting Pot is at zero setback. DeJong stated that Google Earth said the Melting Pot structure was 38 feet. APPLICANT PRESENTATION Brauneis asked for the applicant presentation. David Sinkey, one of the owners of Boulder Creek Neighborhoods, 712 Main Street thanked the staff for their input as they combed through code together, some of which was unclear. He stated that he was a long-time stakeholder in downtown Louisville and wanted to keep it a wonderful place to be. In 2010, the company moved to its first building in Louisville with a staff of seven people. Since moving to Louisville, the company had built a team in part based on the attraction of working in downtown Louisville. He acknowledged that the project represented change for the city and that staff had a lot of concerns to balance among the criteria for development. Sinkey addressed the issue of how big is "too big." He stated his company had around 85-100 employees and thousands of subcontractors. When people visit their company they are impressed with Louisville. He and his company did not want to leave. He stated that the square footage that they currently inhabited would be better used in retail. The company did not want to leave, because while that might produce more retail space it would also result in the loss of a number of people in the downtown area. He and other business -owners agreed that the town would benefit from a greater daytime population and the conversion of office space to retail to increase the vitality of Downtown. He added that the design was also made to carry its own weight in parking, which made the project bigger. The company needed well -configured 9- 12,000 square feet for its office. It was suboptimal to be housed in four different buildings. Sinkey concluded that it was important to do something cool on Main Street. He acknowledged that public feedback wanted to see more of what we already have, but he thought that Louisville looked like a diverse set of buildings. He stated that the renderings they produced do not express the materiality of their proposal. He added that the building could actually be bigger, but they decided to setback the building at the same level as it stands, which was valuable square footage but it was worth giving it up to space for pedestrians. He thanked the Commission for their time and for the process. Moline made a motion to enter the materials into the record. Williams seconded. Voice vote, passed unanimously. Erik Hartronft, 950 Spruce Street Suite 2A in Louisville, stated that he had been in Louisville since 1984, that he and his family loved Louisville, and that he had been practicing in the city for his whole career. He stated that he had a stake beyond being the architect of the proposed building. He thanked staff for their work on the various codes and stated that the revisions to the plan had improved it. They were proposing a building that was less square footage than would be allowed on the lot and were providing for more sidewalk than existed there today. The plan did not use every available square foot that could be used. Hartronft stated that having office space on the storefront level was not the highest and best use of the space. He felt that the one-story building next to the Huckleberry was important, since the Huckleberry was in a historic building and it was their responsibility to respect the relationship between the Huckleberry and the adjacent buildings. There were also existing mid-century modern buildings, like the Empire building. He stated that variety is part of the charm of Downtown and that it should not be a historic district where everything looks the same or looks