Planning Commission Agenda and Packet 2024 09 12

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Planning Commission Staff Report September 12, 2024 The second waiver request is for relief from the 10-foot side interior setback on the west side of the site. The existing building setback is 4.3 feet, and the applicant intends to extend the building by 28 feet while maintaining the existing setback. ANALYSIS: Staff analysis includes a review of applicable Design Louisville Design Handbook policies followed by the waiver criteria, and the SRU criteria. The PUD review criteria are included as an appendix. Design Handbook for Downtown Louisville Any PUD within Downtown is subject to the Design Handbook policies. Staff have highlighted the following policies that are applicable to the project, along with staff's analysis in italics. Policies are broken out by categories of General Standards and Guidelines ("G") applicable to all areas of Downtown and Core Area Standards and Guidelines ("C"). Not all policies need to be met for approval or support of a project, but all projects should seek to meet all applicable polices when appropriate. Please reference pg. 4 of the Design Handbook for further discussion on how the policies are structured as either mandatory or only encouraged. Each policy is followed by staff's analysis in italics. Cl. All projects should respect the traditional context of downtown. 1) In all cases, consideration should be given to the broader context of the block and the town at large. This block of Front Street is comprised of a mix of commercial uses, including offices, retail, and a restaurant. Pine Street includes bars, restaurants and entertainment uses with structures pulled directly to the street. Building heights and form vary significantly from historic one-story structures to two-story modern office and commercial buildings. The applicant has considered directly adjacent building forms and site improvements in their design. G4. Develop the street and alley edges of a property to be at a pedestrian scale. 1) Provide visual interest on all facades which will be seen from streets, alleys and pedestrian ways. 3) Buildings should express human scale, through materials and forms that are familiar building elements in town. 4) Use varied building setbacks and changes in materials to create interest and reduce the perceived scale of buildings along alleys. The building materials at the ground level is predominantly smooth wood siding with a traditional 6-inch exposure and brick. Both street front elevations utilize large glass and storefront displays to engage pedestrians and allow visual connection to interior activities. No parking is proposed on site, allowing for expanded and continuous sidewalks where they did not exist previously. The addition to the existing structure created varied setbacks with material variation. 6