Planning Commission Agenda and Packet 2020 08 13

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Planning Commission Meeting Minutes June 25, 2020 Page 11 of 24 Rice then reviews the developments proposed amendments. First, they have proposed to re -designate this special district from rural to suburban. That has two significant ramifications. The first being that it greatly increases the floor area ratio (FAR) and doubles it. The second is that it changes the allowed building height. In rural, a building can be as high as five stories as long as it meets the other criteria. In suburban, a building can only built as high as three stories. Second, they have proposed to change the land use mix to include multi -family residential, healthcare and lodging. Third, they have proposed to change the allowed floor area ratio and building heights. This would mean that they are proposing to have the rural allowed building height of five stories instead of the suburban building height of three stories. He then mentions which proposed items he can supports. He has no problem with the building height issues. Currently, a developer can already build five story buildings, so the request to continue with that does not bother him. He supports the proposed plan for Parcel B, which regards the Medtronic development. He thinks it is well planned and very consistent with the existing property. He also supports the proposed plan for Parcel A, which regards the Erickson Senior Living Center development. He understands that this development would add to the residents of the city, but he sees this as a benefit. He points out that this is not only a residential use, but it also operates as a business and provides services to the people living there. He supports the use of this property for lodging purposes such as hotels as well. This use fits in with what Louisville has already going on within the city. He then discusses the proposed items he cannot support. One being the addition of 900 new multi -family residential to Parcel C on the east side of the property. A study showed that this new multi -family residential use would bring approximately 1,350 new residents to Louisville, but he believes it would be more than that. He thinks it is too many people to add to the city. What concerns him more though is that this residential portion would be developed in a high -density area. He says that they have to keep in mind that if that many residential units are being put on this land, those are units that were originally not planned to be developed in a rural special district. Regarding the fiscal analysis, he points out that the analysis is unfortunately just assumptions of the financial benefits for the city. The analysis shows that the city would be in the negative in certain aspects, even if they were working within the best -case scenario. He discusses the issue of having vacancies within the proposed commercial and retail space and reviews past recent developments that are still struggling with vacant spaces that are not bring revenue to the city. He is concerned the same scenario would happen with this development. Diehl thanks the applicant for their time and research and says that he is open to working with the applicant to create a design that is closer to the comprehensive plan but in saying that, he wants to make a motion to decline the proposed amendment to the comprehensive plan. Zuccaro asks the commissioners that if they want to make a motion of denial or approval, to direct staff to prepare a resolution and bring the resolution back to the next meeting to have formal adoption of it.