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Planning Commission <br />Meeting Minutes <br />March 10, 2022 <br />Page 3 of 10 <br />1. It is consistent with spirit and intent of the Comprehensive Plan and policies and <br />regulations for Downtown Louisville. <br />2. The introduction of a banquet or reception hall use within Downtown reinforces <br />economic stability by adding variety to the business options of the Downtown <br />urban area for local residents and out-of-town visitors. <br />3. The use is adequate for the efficiency of the proposal. Staff reviewed the <br />amendment for additional impacts to utilities and access and finds that the <br />proposal does not negatively impact surrounding facilities. Public Works and the <br />Fire Department have no concerns related to safety, access, or utilities. <br />4. The development plans for the site and structure itself are not changing from the <br />previous PUD approvals. Staff believes that there will not be nuisance or other <br />concerns related to the use as a banquet or reception hall that affect public <br />health, welfare, safety, and convenience. <br />5. The exterior of the property and outdoor use areas will not be modified with this <br />request and there are no conflicts between pedestrian areas and vehicular ways <br />and parking or loading areas created by this request. <br />Staff Recommendations: <br />Staff recommends approval of Resolution 4, Series 2022 to establish regulations for <br />Banquet or Reception Halls. <br />Staff recommends approval of Resolution 5, Series 2022 of a Special Review Use to <br />allow a Banquet or Reception Hall with the following condition: A note be added to the <br />SRU stating the reception hall shall not operate past 12 am (midnight). Staff also <br />recommends occupancy restrictions, which the applicant has agreed to; limit total <br />occupancy to no more than 251 persons per event, and total occupancy to 372 persons. <br />Commissioner Questions of Staff. - <br />Diehl asks staff to review the parking requirements. <br />Bauer says with downtown, if there are no additional square feet added, staff would not <br />look at the parking or the ratio. What triggers reviewing more parking is adding square <br />footage. For restaurants in downtown, the city does not look at parking or look at it as <br />closely as is happening for this application because they are not adding square footage. <br />If you were to base the occupancy numbers strictly off the building code, this particular <br />building with its square footage numbers would be able to accommodate roughly 700 <br />occupants. That is where staff started and then to help mitigate that number, staff <br />worked with the applicant to limit occcupancy to 372. 372 is based on a calculation from <br />the restaurant parking ratio from the city's commercial guidelines which establishes 15 <br />spaces per 1,000 sq ft. Staff then reviewed other similar uses such as theatres and their <br />parking is based on one parking space per three feet. Therefore, 124 multiplied by three <br />would equal the 372 occupancy limit. <br />Zuccaro speaks on downtown parking. He mentions that parking in downtown is not <br />restricted to the business but it is spread throughout all of downtown like public and <br />street parking. The parking standard for a new development is one space per five sq ft. <br />That is parking for only onsite. Downtown parking is meant for shared parking. Because <br />this is a special review use, staff is looking at the parking differently. One thing the city <br />should consider is if there a parking impact for this type of use since this is not a typical <br />commercial use for downtown. When coming to a decision regarding certain limitations, <br />