 Welcome to DDRC members staff and guests. We ask for your patience during this meeting Multiple staff members are present to make sure that the meeting runs smoothly and all applicants and citizens are able to communicate with the Commission at the appropriate time The public will be able to participate using multiple methods when participating. Please provide your name for documentation purposes The public may participate in a number of ways watching emailing phoning are logging into the web session If you're watching you can stream the meetings through city TV accessed at youtube.com Backslash user backslash Columbia SC government You're emailing you may submit letters and statements to COC board meeting at Columbia SC gov Leading up to and or during the meeting as this account will be monitored during the proceedings Emails and letters will be read into the record You can participate via phone calling eight five five nine two five two eight zero one When prompted, please enter the meeting code one nine nine three If you're participating by phone, you'll receive three options Star one will allow you to listen star two will allow you to record a voicemail message that may be read into the record and Star three will allow a participant to be placed in a queue so that they may speak live when prompted Please make sure your computer audio is muted if you're calling in live, so we don't get feedback And you can stream the proceedings at public input comm backslash COC DDRC dash may two oh two two. I will call the roll Mr. Broom Yeah, miss Jacob here. Mr. Salibi Mr. Wolf here. We have quorum In order to avoid ex parte communications DDRC members are under strict instructions not to discuss cases under Consideration with the public or with each other outside of the public forum The meeting typically starts with staff calling the case giving a summary of the project and then calling on the applicant to present if they wish Decisions are typically made in one evening Decisions may be appealed within 30 days to a court of competent jurisdiction Oaves will be administered individually as we hear either from applicants or from live speakers Applicants with requests before the DDRC are allotted a presentation time of 10 minutes This time should include but is not limited to an overview of the project case history and any pertinent meetings held regarding the request This time also includes all persons presenting information on behalf of the applicant such as attorneys engineers and architects This time limit does not include any questions asked by the DDRC or staff regarding request Members of the general public are given the opportunity to address their concerns and intervals of two minutes Applicants may have five minutes to respond Staff has a timer and will make presenters aware of when their time has expired Are there any changes to the agenda? Excuse me, we have a few changes to the agenda Under the regular portion of the historic agenda 803 Maple Street slash backslash Lee Street, which is a request for a certificate of design approval for new construction in old Shandong lower Waverley protection area Has been moved to the consent agenda as the applicants have agreed to staff recommendations and have asked for it to be placed on the consent agenda and Then 2620 Cardinal Street a request for design approval for an addition in the cotton town Bellevue Architectural Conservation District has been withdrawn The DDRC uses the consent agenda to approve non-controversial or routine matters by a single motion and vote If a member of the DDRC or the general public wants to discuss an item on the consent agenda That item is removed from the consent agenda and considered during the meeting The DDRC then approves the remaining consent agenda items will staff please review the consent agenda Certainly the consent agenda starts with 1211 1211 and a half 1213 1213 and a half Maple Street Which is a request for preliminary certification for the Bailey bill in the Melrose Heights, Oakland Architectural Conservation District The next is 2020 Wheat Street a request for design approval for an addition and exterior changes and for preliminary Certification for the Bailey bill in the Wales Garden Architectural Conservation District The next is 734 Hardin Street a request for design approval and a preliminary Certification for the Bailey bill for a national register structure which falls within the five points design district The next is 1224 Lincoln Street a request for design approval and preliminary certification for the Bailey bill in the Westervay Historic Commercial District And then 600 Hayward Street a request for a certificate of design approval for an art installation at one of the guardhouses at the Olympia Mill And this is an individual landmark and then of course our last is the latest addition of 803 Maple Street Slash Lee Street a request for a certificate of design approval for new construction in the old Chand and lower Waverley Protection Area I'm sorry. We also had 1015 Queen Street, which was added to the consent agenda 1015 Queen Street. Yes 1015 Queen Street a request for design approval for new construction in the old Chand and lower Waverley Protection Area 1004 through 1006 Lawrence Street a request for preliminary certification for the Bailey bill in the University Architectural Conservation District and Shirley Street a request for a certificate of design approval for New construction in the Melrose Heights Oakland Architectural Conservation District, and I think those are all Yes, we had a lot. Let's go around All right Is there anyone from the DDRC that would like any item removed from the consent agenda as originally presented plus moving the Maple Street to consent Is there anyone from the public that would like to have an item removed from the consent agenda as originally proposed plus also moving the 803 Maple Street Slash Lee Street project Please communicate by sending an email to COC board meeting at Columbia SC go Or communicate via phone by pressing star two to leave a voicemail or star three to speak in person We will pause to allow communication from the public Do I have a motion in a second to accept the consent agenda as amended and also the April minutes make a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended and Approval of the April minutes Mr. Broom. Yeah, Miss Jacob. Yes, Mr. Salibi. Yes, Mr. Wolf Motion passes Great move to the regular agenda first case First case on the regular agenda is 2615 River Drive This is a request for certificate of design approval for new construction in the north main corridor overlay district The proposal is for a five-story 56 unit residential building at the northwest corner of River Drive in Benton Street The building is v-shaped with residential units above parking on the ground floor and some surface parking in the rear along the north property line The project was before the DDRC in March and a decision was deferred by the Commission to provide an opportunity for the applicant to address the items listed on the staff evaluation The evaluation provided in the case packet is focused on the design changes in response to the March motion and in the interest of time I am going to skip to the Staff recommendation and then we have the applicant here to make a presentation about those changes Staff recommends approval of the request conditional upon addressing the following items in order to substantially meet the north main corridor design guidelines To work with staff on garage screening details to include plant material Irrigation and the provision of murals to be coordinated with one Columbia and the adjacent neighborhoods To provide additional articulation on the flat expanses of building wall on street-facing elevations Provide a canopy to help define the base of the building and provide a sense of pedestrian scale at street level provides franderal windows or other architectural features on the west end elevation to articulate the facade while maintaining privacy of adjacent residents work with staff through the encroachment process to ensure all right-of-way improvements meet city standards and defer any additional details to staff and Parker Z the developer is here to Present the changes that have been made and also to answer any questions Please state your name and do you swear to tell the truth in these proceedings? I do Name is Parker Z. I work with what a Cooper development. Can you adjust that microphone? Just make sure we can hear you. Yeah, and I'm sorry to interrupt But if everyone could speak up while at the podium and staff and DDRC members so we can record everything and hear everything that would be helpful Name is Parker Z. I work with what a Cooper development So thank you commissioners for welcoming me back since two months ago Before starting on the presentation. I did want to clarify a couple items. I saw in some public comments There was a couple comments calling into question the Need for us to be at 56 units verse 40 units The need for that does not come from the QAP language referred to that says a minimum 40 units We actually received tax credits last fall or last winter And in the QAP it states if the authority determines the development is not substantially the same as described in the original tax credit application The development may not receive an allocation of tax credits So because we applied at 56 units It would become a substantial change if we were to change the number of units to change What property we're developing on? And that would result in a loss of funding Such changes that wouldn't be substantial would be Changes to design so long as we stay within the general overall Guidelines that we set forth in our application One of the other items that was brought up last at the last meeting in March was the desire to Bring it from five stories to down to four stories We did look into that There was additional QAP language that stated that Parking must be on site. It could not be off site So we weren't able to look to another Offsite property and we could only look to adjacent properties So that really limited the scope of where we were able to look in order to Move parking in order to bring it down. So we unfortunately were not able to bring this down to four stories that I will try to keep the presentation short since Just walk through the changes from March So this slide it shows the common area on the first floor It was changed a bit based on staff comments to activate the corner We Modified the community room on the corner to have a bigger presence on the corner To have more frontage along both the river and River and Benton. There's also now a covered outdoor patio So it creates a bit more interaction With the street front there on the corner And I think there's also more storefront windows as a result We also moved the community manager's office to be abutting the Exterior wall on River Drive Which also helps to activate there whereas before Right on River Drive looking in it would have been the mechanical room Another comment had to do with the architectural rhythms What you'll see here is the before and after with the changes Whereas before it was scattered between horizontal siding vertical siding Fiber cement panel and brick with no Rhymer reason to how high the brick went up now. It's much more consistent rhythm that The along the street frontage on both Benton and River The brick goes all the way up to the second from top floor with a top floor being fiber cement Paneling to help create an accent with the brick the The parts of the exterior that have the balconies and sort of stick out is where we have Horizontal siding to also help accent and create more rhythm And we completely did away with the vertical siding on the corner You can see that we also added a pane of Fiber cement to create a unique architectural element right there on the corner this This is the River Drive elevation before and after same general concept as the Benton Street elevation with the changes But the other item I want to pull out of this slide is The changes to the garage frontage whereas before we didn't go into detail on what the garage frontage will look like Now we're showing that it's going to be a mix of vegetative screening as well as art murals the Based on the comment from staff, which we are happy to work with staff to Resolve is they'd like us to work with one Columbia to provide these art murals and we'd be happy to do so But the art murals will be on the portion of building that are closer to the sidewalk and then the Vegetative screening is more in the recessed portion the garage for The internal parking lot elevations as well as the River Drive and elevation in Benton Street elevation Really we had Not quite as much changes to we tried to keep more rhythm on this as well with The fiber cement paneling and the brick trying to go up to about the same height across instead of Scattered about as it was last March on the River Drive and elevation We added a extra column of windows in the stairwell that you can see In the Benton Street and elevation we did not add windows to avoid overlooking into the single family, but After seeing staff comment We'd be happy to add these spandrel windows to provide some architectural features and fenestration without having any Visibility out of those windows and on overlooking the single-family residential This is just a architectural 3d rendering of the new updates another view of those same updates This slide shows an example of what the vegetative screening might look like of course. We're using brick instead of Cement columns, so it will be slightly different, but it has the same idea with there will be Green vegetation up and down it, so it's not a direct view into the garage and to the cars that are in there Yeah, we're along with the other comment the comments mentioned by staff during the presentation We're also happy to work with staff on addressing all Other comments as condition of approval With that happy to answer any questions you may have I guess I knew and you just said that you There were no concerns with the other recommendations that are listed here. No, no, none of those had any concerns to us Commissioners anybody have a question We encourage those that would like to communicate via email to begin sending in letters and emails You can email at coc board meeting at columbia sc.gov Or go on the web at public input comm slash CoC dd rc dash may 2022 For those wanting to leave a voicemail or speak live call 8 5 5 9 2 5 2 8 0 1 When prompted please enter the meeting code 1 9 9 3 then press star 2 to begin leaving the voicemail If you would like to speak live press star 3 We will hear comments from anyone who is here in person Yeah, please come up to the microphone and I state your name and do you swear to tell the truth in these proceedings? Hi, yes. Thank you commissioners. My name is Mary Williams. I do swear to tell the truth in these proceedings Thank you for hearing for me today. I am a River drive resident and a neighbor of this project I of course want to start by saying that I Wholeheartedly believe that affordable housing is absolutely necessary and appreciate the work that Woda Cooper has done to address some of the concerns that the Neighborhood has had Personally, I believe that this rendering is much better than what we've seen prior. However, there are still some Concerns that the neighborhood has brought to the attention Of the neighborhood at large and then also I wanted to point one thing out in particular and that would be while I know that the standardization Would would Trump design district implementation here as from what's happened in January There's one thing that I did want to point out and that's on page seven of the North Main design district Overlay and that is that a bill all building facades and facades have to be Perfectly parallel to North Main itself. This lot is more like an isosceles triangle Which leads me to believe that that that would not be a compatible requirement with this type of building on this lot in particular I do want to say that The implementation of Sustainable and long-lasting housing solutions requires the integration of neighborhood support As an Earl Wood member as a River Drive resident I don't currently see that support for this project and that I hope that will take some of that into consideration I just asked staff to help clarify the point that was being made about page seven of the design guidelines About the parallel it's okay. I want to make sure I know exactly which was reference. Yeah, so basically they do say that The project should be parallel to North Main Street Those and there was a little bit of an explanation at the beginning of the evaluation Evaluation Primarily when North Main Street is referenced in the guideline. It's talking about the primary frontage There are a couple of spurs off of North Main such as River Drive and Monticello Road Where those roads are the primary frontage? It's just not a side street. So I mean the project is parallel to the road frontages So that is considered to be in compliance with that particular guideline Please state your name and do you swear to tell the truth in these proceedings? Clayton King and I do Thank you for allowing me to be here today I first want to applaud the developer for any effort to create affordable housing it is sorely needed Everywhere and certainly in the height of a real estate boom. It would be helpful that said I Would have a hard time characterizing River Drive as a side street. I live on River Drive River Drive is enjoys amazing traffic particularly when there are issues on the interstate and The redesign of malfunction junction as we call it is looming large Just this morning as I was sitting on my front porch at the corner of River and Union at 8 30 in the morning I counted 75 cars between the hours at 8 30 and 9 a.m So this is not just a side street issue River Drive is a fairly major Road That said I have lived in Columbia and at my current address for 14 years I am reasonably acquainted with the North Main guidelines and my understanding is is that the intent of those guidelines is to have construction and new projects that harmonize with a neighborhood and As I was reading those guidelines this morning and looking at the overlay I realized that to the best of my knowledge. This is the only Structure that follows those North Main guidelines that doesn't actually Have a location on Main Street There is a new small one-story Building that's been put up at confederate and Main Street that houses a hair salon and a Restaurant and it is very much in keeping with the North Main construction guidelines and it fits there This development looks to be more appropriately placed in the Vista or some place where? large monolithic Parallel Structures sit right on the street But if you drive two blocks further down River Drive, you find nothing of the sort While the the Renderings that that were being shown are certainly improved over the original ones There are still issues in terms of harmony and as near as I can tell the third floor and above that should be Pushed in or recessed ten feet according to the guidelines doesn't seem to be and so while I understand the financial issues Involved in the funding issues. I think it's something that needs to be reconsidered Do I still have 30 seconds or am I out? I'm done. I'm over 30 seconds. Well, then I won't try to talk about traffic. Thank you. Thank you Yep staff any comment clarify one comment I think that the comment that I had made about the primary frontage might have been misunderstood So what it says the North Main quarter guidelines regularly refer to North Main Frontage as it's the primary street in the district River Drive is a secondary corridor, but is considered the primary street for properties within the district that front River Drive So River Drive is being considered the primary frontage For this property not a side street Benton Street would be considered the side street wedge And I agree that one comment Just to clarify the height is a little bit confusing when the North Main corridor guidelines were adopted in 2010 The zoning at that time did not we didn't have neighborhood compatibility standards which address how properties on commercial corridors a but Residential properties So there were some provisions written into those guidelines to try to address some of those adjacencies When the new unified development ordinance was adopted a couple of years ago We now have neighborhood compatibility standards that are city-wide that apply to all districts that about protected lots which are single-family residential districts there is also a provision in there that says if there's ever a discrepancy between guideline in an overlay district or the neighborhood compatibility that the neighborhood compatibility is The guiding document so it is a little bit confusing but our you know zoning administrator has looked at this thoroughly and The height and the step backs and so forth do meet the current requirements and the zoning ordinance Thank you for that clarification Anybody else from the public want to speak on this case You have a quick question for staff related to the most recent comments one thing that The commenters referred to were the was the intent of the master plan for the North Main corridor And I believe it says something along the lines of that mix use corridor should be compatible with the surrounding residential development The staff's comments on the project Don't Really comment on that or don't don't refer to that intent. Could you could you speak a little bit to that and that from the master plan? Language yes That's a great question So the the villages of North Columbia master plan was a master plan for a very large geographical area of North Columbia That was adopted in 2005 I believe and that is you know still a plan that is used as a guiding document for Land use regulations a master plan however is not a regulatory document So it's it's not a zoning ordinance and it's not a set of design guidelines that applies, you know specifically to Specific development proposals. So the master plan was absolutely Looked at and used as a guiding document when the zoning and the land use and the guidelines were implemented but those are also very specific processes that include a lot of public meetings and Deliberation and in 2010 when the North Main Corridor guidelines were adopted You know many more restricted things were proposed during that process and The guidelines that we ended up with were You know that was what there was support for at that time So they're not as restrictive as a lot of the urban design guidelines that we have and that was just the climate at that time So when a regulatory document I mean those are the actual things that regulate Particular properties and a master plan is always used as a guiding document But it's a little bit of a broader brush if you will and specific zoning regulations that apply to this property And just to comment on that So I guess what you're saying is To use an analogy the master plan would be like the Constitution Whereas the guidelines are more like the statute right the rules that the specific rules that govern it But but the intent of the master guidelines should apply to the interpretation of of the rules So I guess it is the Compatible the compatibility with the surrounding residential development something staff considered when they were reviewing this project I mean that's always a consideration We can't let an opinion about Specific development proposal. I mean they have vested rights that are part of the zoning ordinance So if it's if it's somebody's opinion or interpretation that a specific proposal doesn't comply with the master plan But it has vested rights in the zoning ordinance. I mean That prevails. I mean the zoning is is Basically allows for a maximum building envelope on that property And I think too it's just an important to note, you know, this is you know, not really a zoning discussion But the zoning of the corridor, you know, this section of River Drive and a lot of North Maine is all a consistent zoning district Which is NAC. It's called Neighborhood Activity Center Before that it was Mx1 which was a zoning district created just for this area Before that it was C1, which is a commercial district For decades the properties in this corridor have had height allowances of 50 to 75 feet So the ability to build these buildings has to that height has always been available It just hasn't been proposed in this location. So I Think that it doesn't it may seem out of context because it's the first development that may be building to that height But it is, you know, not consistent with the city plans to say that this is too tall because that's what the zoning Very recent zoning has been written for If it seemed like I was referring to the height I was referring more to the general compatibility with the surrounding residential development being I guess primarily single-family Dwellings or smaller multi-family dwellings. This is a pretty large project. I Mean that I would argue that it's also a commercially zoned corridor adjacent to single-family residential districts Which have their own protections with neighborhood compatibility and with historic overlays? This property is not in the residential historic neighborhood It's on a corridor adjacent to that and we have those conditions throughout the city and most of our master plans Recommend that density occur on the corridors and not within the single-family neighborhood fabric. So That's I mean, I think I would this is consistent with with those plans as well Thank you Please state your name and do you swear to tell the truth in these proceedings? My name is Ivy Coleman and I do I don't know much about these committees and about these guidelines But I know a lot about living in Earlwood for a long time Because I'm getting old apparently and So I just wanted to I appreciate you guys listening, but I just wanted to reiterate Neighborhood does not support this overall And it's not because we are against low-income housing or affordable housing if you take a look at our neighborhood It is incredibly diverse We have people with lots of money people with sorry people with phones that are too loud People with lots of money people with no money. We have gay straight and in between We have black white Hispanic everybody and we're open to everybody. We are not open to This development as it is going to jam itself into our neighborhood They have very little parking for the number of units that are going to be in this Project they have a building that does not reflect our neighborhood They're knocking down a historic home or an older home that does fit our neighborhood to create this space And really it would be better suited in other places There's a lot of room for instance on the Broad River Drive a lot of buildings that are going unused and it seems to me that it Would be really a good idea to use those buildings or anywhere else where we see that it would fit But we have to have buy-in we have to have support We have to have the ability to safely get children to the already existing daycare center There's talk of a school coming into the neighborhood which will increase traffic and increase children in the streets and we want to make sure it's all safe and well supported and I urge you to consider Whatever you can do to help us with this because the goal of these guidelines from my understanding One of the goals is to support the neighborhoods and What's already there? And this doesn't but thank you for listening Anybody else in person? My name is Danielle Shealy You swear to tell the truth in this proceeding So I had a couple questions The parapet that has been mentioned a number of times. Is that cover 25% of the roof? So these are questions for the developer, okay Put them out here and we'll figure out who to respond to you. Okay, so I had a question about the Parapet that has been referenced, but I haven't seen drawings or any mentioned if it covers 25% of the roofs And that would be considered part of the height requirement With that parapet would it would we still meet the height requirement? I also had a question about the 35 foot within 30 feet requirement on Benton Street There is a residential directly across from the 45 foot section So I had questions just are we still within that wiggle room because Benton Street is not a standard street width As we are all aware and finally the standard is a 15 foot setback for parking and It's 15 feet on some of the parking lot and seven and a half per the SPR packet that was submitted So I just had a question about why there's a discrepancy in the setbacks and the parking lot and Finally the minimum requirement of housing of 40 units that 56 doesn't mean that they are locked into that forever Reading the guidelines from housing. It's just they'd have to reapply So yes, if they made a substantial change down to the 40 units, which is allowed under this SC housing guidelines They would just have to go through the application process again, but that doesn't mean that it's Forever Impossible to do it just means that it would have to be reapplied because the project would look different and that's I agree So those are my points and I appreciate all your thoughtful questions and really looking at this project That will impact this development in this area going forward for the foreseeable future Thank you Would proper order be to see if the developer wants to respond to those specific questions right now We can certainly ask. I do have a couple of answers I'm not sure about the the parapet question That may be a question for the architect and also ultimately our zoning administrator Will review the permits at a drawings and the zoning ordinance and ensure that you know everything is in compliance I can't answer that question right now, but the architect might be able to the 30-foot 5 height within 30 feet of a residential Has been provided that is there's there's actually a I don't know if it's in the set, but there's a site plan that has Got in line showing the dimensions from the residential property line to the those dimensions so there's a There's a line that indicates where that 30 feet is off of the residential lot and it's still within the driveway so So that has met the requirement correct, okay? So it's within that zone of 30 feet the building may not exceed 35 feet in height So there is not building mass within that setback area And then the 15 set foot setback for surface parking applies to surface parking, but not to Structured parking that's within the building set back within the building itself. So As far as we've reviewed that that has been met Okay, so The second and third question that she asked is in the requirement has been assessed Is the developer do you have any response? Applicant on that believe we have the architect on the phone. I don't know if they want to try to Is there somebody on the phone All right, this is David Mallory the architect of Thailand designs get to address the pair but Okay, help one I think you need to speak louder and clearer because I can barely hear you So would you state your name again, and do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? Yeah, this is David power. Can you hear me now a little better? Yeah, maybe just go slower All right, I took a speaker this is David Maurer the architect and yes, I swear to tell the truth Can you hear me better now? Do y'all understand what he's okay? Yes proceed Okay, so to address the parapet issue the parapet is nothing more than just a vertical extension of the exterior wall And it does extend up high enough to be able to shield the mechanical units that are on the roof And it is within the height restrictions that are required So staff what was the readers digest version of that? I Think he was referring to the fact that the parapet is there to screen any roof mounted HVAC equipment and as well as You know the I guess the the amount of the parapet being considered the height of the building Again, that's something that are it's that's part of the technical building permit review that our zoning administrator will look at I don't know that I mean that may be a little bit of a detail that we Won't address here, but we can that would certainly be required as part of the permit application So part of the city zoning permit process will verify that those three questions have been addressed and that okay All right. Thank you. Anyone else in person. I please state your name. Oh, sir. Did you still have something to say? All right, turn it off All right now, please state your name or do you swear to tell the truth? My name is John Wilkinson I'm serving as the president of the Ellenwood Park neighborhood association. I just like to read a brief statement from our neighborhood board We understand that the developer has designed this within the new zoning and design requirements And we appreciate their willingness to incorporate our feedback on most items and the adjustments They did make to the original designs However, as has been stated our neighborhood's primary concern remains the height the setback from the adjacent single-story homes We do acknowledge that they brought the height down to four stories as it moves down Benton Street Which does help ease the transition, but it's still a striking contrast to the adjacent homes We're excited for new development in and around our neighborhood. We would just like to see it on more of a neighborhood scale We're not sure if anything could be done at this point, but we would welcome any further reduction to the building Hi, please state your name and do you swear to tell the truth and this Jennifer glass and yes I sort of tell the truth. I spoke before you guys in the first meeting and I'm a resident of Benton Street my property my home and business are adjacent to this project And I you know like my neighbors believe we have a need for affordable housing and I'm very invested in the neighborhood as Having lived there for 20 years I See this project as an opportunity to create housing. That's a good addition to our community Instead, I'm concerned that we're going to end up with a monstrosity that furthers the stigma and bias that's associated with affordable housing. I through my Business relationships and my part in the community. I believe that we have a lot of very smart people on all sides of this And I think if we defer this reexamine Lowering the number of units. I sell plants. I'm a landscaper Sometimes I propose I want to sell somebody 150 plants and they only 100 So the way I see it is they can go back to the drawing board and come up with a proposal That's 40 units rather than 56. I also think that the parking on-site parking requirements are something that as a community, you know city-wide are it's a topic of Park requirements. I think it's something that again if people came to the table We could figure out a solution which would also help bring the height of the building down because the entire first floor is parking Anybody else from the public present like to speak? Hear any comments that have been received in writing. Yep. I've got those I have one from Caitlyn Mahoney That came in today and she says I wanted to write to voice my support for the Benton crossing development I believe that gatekeeping a community is wrong And I hope that the influx of new residents will bring more restaurants bars and retail stores to the area I know that traffic is a major concern for a lot of my neighbors However, I believe a more dense neighborhood will create opportunities to walk and bike and not rely on cars so much I love this neighborhood and hope to share it with as many people as possible. Thank you Next emails from Emily burn She is the president of the Earlwood community citizens organization and she says to whom it may concern The Earlwood let's just call it echo is encouraged by the influx of development and growth in our area Specifically along North Main Street However, we request that the North Main Corridor design guidelines guidelines be applied and enforced for the proposed Benton crossing project And all future developments that fall within the within the boundaries of this design guideline Many Earlwood and Elmwood Park residents have expressed concern about the height five stories of this proposed building The North Main Corridor design guidelines specify the following requirements for buildings of such height as Adjacent to sidewalks buildings taller than three stories Tall shall be recessed back at the third floor or 45 feet from ground level a minimum of 10 feet and quote The renderings of the Benton crossing project However, do not appear to adhere to the requirement that the third floor and above shall be recessed back from the first and second floors Another guideline requirement that we request be enforced is that a change in paving material shall be provided at location Where pedestrian and bicycle pathways intersect with automobile pathways and drives This should apply to the primary driveway on River Drive in the emergency exit on Benton Street as they both intersect with public sidewalks To final North Main Corridor design guideline requirements that we request be enforced are Entrances shall have direct access to the sidewalk slash street and have strong entry architecture to ensure pedestrians can easily identify the entrance end of quote and Mass of the building must be broken with regularly placed pilasters and other well articulated architectural details Balconies and other elements may be used to create variety and interest yet remain integral to the overall design end of quote Based on designs we've been provided it does not appear that the current proposed Benton crossing project meets these requirements Echo looks forward to working with DDRC and our neighbors to ensure that new development along the North Main Corridor Adheres to these guidelines as intended by the villages of North Columbia masterplan. Thank you. Emily Byrne president Our next email is from Molly Ironside And it reads to the members of the DDRC my name is Molly Ironside I live on Benton Street across from the proposed Benton crossing project. I have observed some behavior from the current Property owners that indicates to me the type of property managers. You're considering for design approval today The property has not been maintained since late 2021 a time frame that coincides with the closing of the property Debris has been left in multiple places construction debris is often left on the street and routine maintenance of mowing and trimming vegetation has not been completed on More than one occasion my neighbors have called code enforcement, which did not result in any resolution to these issues I ask you to consider delaying or denying approval for this project until it can be shown that this organization will be a worthy addition to our community Respectfully Molly Ironside And last we have an email from Jason Glass Which reads the Benton crossing tax credits were approved by the South Carolina State Housing Finance and Development Authority in 2021 as a 56 unit project This application was made without neighborhood consultation or input as shown by this market analysis that the developer prepared for the South Carolina Housing Authority in May 2021 which is based on a 56 unit project I was first made aware of this project in August 2021 The Housing Authority guidelines for 2021 credits allowed for a maximum of 90 units and a minimum of 40 units The 56 units that Benton crossing claims is required for the tax credit is actually well above the minimum He had included a link to a document and said c part 5 threshold participation criteria item in here The state and federal housing tax credits allow that if a developer is not able to meet the specifications of the initial plan A portion of the credit will simply be recaptured meaning that the developer will not qualify for the full amount of the credit application Before the DDRC approves this project the applicant should at least consider and examine the alternative of a 40 unit Development rather than stating that this is not permitted which does not appear to be correct respectfully Jason Glass That is all we have You've got some more. Okay, and one moment. Okay. Yes. Thank you So I will read a list of names of folks who submitted comments that came to y'all before the meeting So you've had an opportunity to read those already, but we just wanted to make sure people knew that they'd been received in red Denise Jolly Alexander daily David and Laurie Vaughn Robin sharer Danielle McSwain Shealy and Jennifer Glass And I'm gonna try and speak and read at the same time. So We have an email from Elizabeth Perkins that reads to whom it may concern After a review of the North Main Corridor design guidelines, it appears the Benton crossing Crossing project as currently proposed does not adhere to the guidelines The North Main Corridor design guidelines specify the following requirement for buildings of such height Adjacent quote adjacent to sidewalks buildings taller than three store stores tall She'll be recessed back at the third floor or 45 feet from ground level a minimum of 10 feet and quote The renderings of the Benton crossing project However, do not appear to adhere to the requirement that the third floor and above be recessed back from the first and second floors Another guideline requirement is quote a change in paving material She'll be provided at locations where pedestrians and bicycle pathways Intersect with automobile pathways and drives and quote This should apply to the primary driveway on River Drive and the emergency exit on Benton Street as they both intersect with public sidewalks To final North Main Corridor design guideline requirements, which are not met by the project renderings are quote Entrances shall have direct access to the sidewalk slash street And have strong entry architecture to ensure pedestrians can easily identify the entrance and quote and Quote mass of the building must be broken with regularly placed Pylasters and other well articulated architectural details Balconies and other elements may be used to create variety and interest yet remain integral to the overall design and quote I fully support affordable housing units and development if they comply with the Corridor guidelines Thank you for considering my comments Sincerely Elizabeth Perkins Elmwood Park residents at this time. I believe that's all we have but I'll check again Erica has no collars. So there is a collar as well. Oh, there is not. Okay So I did my staff anything new and all that like the one thing I heard a couple times was about the Intersection of driveway of a sidewalk Yeah, that would I mean be a detail that we would work through during the permitting But a lot of the others I heard were regarding the zoning and some of the items we've already talked about Was there anything else new the applicant wish to respond to any of this? Anything new? opened up to the commissioners anybody has Clarifications questions, I just like to say that I do think this This update especially the River Drive elevation Is substantially better than where we've started from really appreciate the developer They keep that in mind and activating that That front quarter and bring that to life. I will open the floor to a motion What were the motion things? I'd like to make a motion for 2615 River Drive TMS 0 9 1 0 9 0 5 16 18 19 I Would like to make a motion to approve for a new construction the project for River Drive providing that the applicant worked with the staff on the provide screening details to include plant material irrigation and provisions of mural to be coordinated with one Columbia and the adjacent neighborhoods Provide additional articulation of flat expansion of building wall on the street facing the elevations Provide a canopy to help define the base of the building and provide a sense of pedestrian scale at street levels Provide spandrel windows or other architectural features on the west end Elevation to articulate the patient beside Maintaining privacy of adjacent residents Work with the staff through encroachment process to ensure all right-of-way improvements see standards Refer any additional detail to the staff Do I have a second? I'll second the motion Mr.. Brun. Yes Miss jaco. Yes, mr. Salibi. Yes, and mr. Wolf. Yes motion passes Next case the next case on the next case on the regular agenda is 1126 William Street 410 Jervay and 411 Senate Street This is a request for certificate of design approval for new construction in the end of Vista design district The request is for the new construction of a seven-story 249 room hotel at the corner of Jervay and William Streets There are overhead transmission lines and an easement along the eastern side of the property line Requiring that the building be set back from the property line on William Street about 18 feet Just as a note, we've had a lot of questions come in about the the project's Requirement to go to Planning Commission I just wanted to clarify that this project will come to the Planning Commission for site plan review And also to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a setback variance The project will be required to come to the Planning Commission for site plan review That's based on the threshold of a hundred thousand square feet Generally Projects get their site plan review before their design approval, but that's not required So this is a little bit in a different order than what we typically see But both of those reviews are separate processes independent of each other and as long as they get all their approvals They can do it in whatever order they Would like to do it So I just wanted to clarify that in advance because I know we've had a lot of questions come up in the last few days about that In the interest of time, I will just skip to the staff recommendation and then I believe the owner and for sure the architect are here to Present the drawings and also answer any questions Staff finds that the proposal substantially meets the innovative design guidelines and recommends approval of the request conditional upon working through the following items with staff Using a combination of the dark gray concrete with the red brick Providing as close to a four-inch depth as reasonably practical for the windows Working with staff on the encroachment to ensure all City of Columbia and innovative standards are met for the right-of-way improvements And then all other details be deferred to staff Please state your name and do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? I do my name is Craig Otto I'm the architect for the project. I'm representing the owner of the developers Naiman hotels Naiman is from Florence, but they have a substantial investment in the Midlands area. They currently own three properties Brand new Hampton Inn and Suites on Sunset Boulevard on the way to Lexington The Hilton Garden Inn that's recently was formerly the holiday Inn and now Hilton Garden in across from the hospital at Lexington Hospital And right down the road here at UG and the interstate 126 is the Stabridge hotel And the Stabridge Suites that was that went through DDRC approval a number of years ago so Naiman is already heavily invested in this in the Midlands and They own the property that we're talking about all the way around McDonald's the entire block So they're gonna make another substantial investment here In fact, I think the cost is probably likely to total just about all of their other properties combined that they have here in the Midlands for this one investment, which is a as Lucinda stated a seven-story 145,000 square foot 249 room hotel Along with a parking garage adjacent to it at Williams and Senate, which will be submitted separately We are not prepared at this time to present that And as Lucinda mentioned, we're going through planning commission site of plan approval process Concurrently with this we're already on the agenda for July 14th for that review and discussion Because we wanted to be as efficient as possible with our time. We're trying to get as many approvals through as quickly as we can To give you a little background on the hotel, it's a Hilton product It's a dual brand so two hotels kind of put together a homewood suites Which is an extended stay in a true hotel, which is a regular overnight stay hotel They both share the same lobby and amenities it's gonna be a first-class product and Will be done very well Naiman hotels is only their biggest concern is the customer experience when they stay in their hotel So they like the rooms to be quiet and comfortable and they take good care of their customers I'd like to point out the fact that Lucinda mentioned that the project is Sort of removed a bit from the front this the property line on Williams Street Because of the overhead of transmission lines. It's somewhere between 18 and 20 feet from the property line In addition to that there's a substantial buffer between the property line and the street of maybe 25 feet which is sidewalk and landscaped grass and Some bushes and trees and stuff right now the developer will Enhance that right of way in in this development as part of the site plan approval and landscaping process So the building is actually around 45 feet away from Senate Street itself So it's unlike on Jervais Street. It's sitting right on the sidewalk at the entrance And then and then articulates a little bit differently than that as it goes up the road but It's substantially removed from the property line on Williams Street, which will give the townhomes a good buffer across the street It's it's not a is Although it's a relatively tall building in terms of being 95 feet at the entrance tower It's not a high-rise building. It's considered a mid-rise building by definition the top floor is less than 75 feet from the Fire Department access level. So it's it's not a high-rise building and Proportionally, it's it's it's longer horizontally than it is tall vertically So it will have the appearance of being somewhat of a horizontal building rather than a tall vertical building Just for folks to know that what the process is we're hoping to have all of our approvals in place by the end of the year In term and including permitting hopefully And then start construction soon right of there after or maybe by the end of the year. It'll be about a year and a half long process So I guess that I would put them moved in in 24 sometime That I can do quickly in my head If you I'm sure you've probably read the staff's evaluation I feel like having gone through this a few times on other projects. I feel like this was a very we got a very favorable Evaluation we tried to provide Lucinda anything that she had she asked us to do and changed colors through through the process and And Provided some good detailing of the the screen wall the patio area on the William Street side of the building Which again, I think we'll give the the neighbors some good some good buffer and Attractive facade to look at with lots of greenery and activity at the hotel And I guess that I guess that's the end of my presentation about the building Respectfully request that you provide approval as is recommended by the staff and If I have any questions for me, I'd be glad to answer Did you have any concerns with the recommendations items? She didn't that were identified that they want you to work with them on the conditions at the end Yes, I have no concerns about those we we know we can provide a window that's set in at least three inches We're shooting for and the developer is willing to pay a little extra for the fact that if we put a window in further than that We have to provide more metal or flashing around that window He's already directed me to do that. So we're shooting for a four inch recess in the windows The colors as you see right there on the screen The top one is what we had suggested or originally recommended We we have the dark Charcoal color at the tower and at the base and at the top and then we were going with a contrasting lighter gray in between Staff recommended we look at going to a darker gray in between So we provided an alternative which we're we're we're fine with we can do that We originally presented a dark charcoal colored brick Staff pointed out the the location and the adjacent project buildings all being in the red and brown family brick So we were immediately Ready to make that change Question for the applicant one of the comments staff made Was with regard to the glazing on the first floor and the purse I guess the the necessary percentages I mean it said it was within an acceptable range But it it's about 35% less than the recommended 70% Right and I know that's consistent with the use on the first floor But could you just talk us through staffs? Thinking on that Yeah, I mean generally speaking and this has been consistent with other projects the 70% is is Pretty high. We've almost never seen that in downtown I think because they have a large amount of glazing glazing on the public areas The fact that there are some guest rooms on the first floor I don't know if I Forget what the calculation was just for the public areas, but it's definitely a 56 okay, thanks. It's in there somewhere But visually it seemed like the proportion was appropriate and provided the transparency particularly in the Activated portions of the lobby and the public spaces of the hotel And then it seemed consistent with the architectural concept to have punched windows continue down On the sections where there are guest rooms on the first floor So again, it's a range that we've generally looked at in context with the use and also with the overall concept of the building Well, we certainly considered that on on Jervais Street specifically if you could get those elevations of the The sidewalk from one end of the building to the other rises almost five feet So on that end we could have provided a little bit more percentage of glass on the public areas on the Three or four pieces of glass to the left of the corner We had to bring the bottom of those up So we lost a little percentage there, but then when you go further down and get to guest rooms Should you have larger areas of glass and a gas trim you get more noise in the guest room? Which doesn't make for a good night's sleep So we do try to reduce the size of the glass and they're actually fairly substantial size windows in those guest rooms More so than you would might maybe see out on the interstate for a hotel out there so we Personally, I honestly feel like we've provided As much glass and glazing at the at the ground level as we possibly could Within the root constraints of having guest rooms I have a question. I'm looking at the elevation on along Jervais Street It's not clear to me You have a space between the actual blueprint of the building and the sidewalk is there of a landscaping or Staff or somewhere. I don't know what what you got there. Yes, sir. Thank you for the question I this rendering is not complete in that It's not trying to capture all of the landscaping and the sidewalk in the streets and cars and things we haven't gone that far with it But the the corner at the entrance is right on the sidewalk So you'll you won't have any landscaping there at the main corner as you go up to Jervais and use that part It part is recessed two three or four feet I can't remember which one right now that area will have landscaping it absolutely for sure Then you get to the next projection and it gets close to the sidewalk But I still think it's a foot or two back. There will be some small Landscaping there and maybe Lariope and then when you get back to the to the last section That's again back about four feet off the sidewalk. It will be landscaped. We're not going to fill those spaces in with solid concrete It'll be nicely landscaped Soften that edge a little bit one question for staff and one one question for the architect whether any particular reasons or guidelines behind staff's decision to Revive the color scheme and then also One area that I think would be nice just to see some consistency. Maybe is when you're looking at the sign Above the entryway that's facing Jervais Street. There's what why it's break there There's no windows. That's a hallway. That's a dead-end hallway. That's the elevator shaft. Just get an understanding of what's behind that break there I'm sorry. I've missed the last part of your question as to what is where so to the left of the side that faces Jervais Street yours sort of a blank wall. Yes sort of a blank wall there Those are bathrooms back-to-back The corner room has a bathroom there and then the next room over has a bathroom there And so those are bathrooms back-to-back. Okay, but I liked the it sort of what it did was it Emphasized the entrance because it changes from a consistent rhythm of glazing and glass To to a sort of a blank area which highlights the sign and highlights the canopy and more or less highlights the entrance so architecturally and proportionally I think it still works, but That's what it is. It's bathrooms. Okay. Yeah To answer your question about the recommendation on the materials It was really just I mean the guidelines recommend for two primary materials And even though there it was two different colors of concrete plus the brick It just seemed like there's a lot going on and trying to respond to the simplicity of buildings in the Vista, which are primarily brick It was just a little bit of a simpler color palette and just seemed a little bit more of a consistent massing. I mean it was Just a suggestion that we explored and the applicant seemed to be amenable to it, so What is the height of the building? The height what is the height total height of the building? I can't I'm the air conditioning is what what is the height of the building how high it's It's 95 feet at the corner, which is the highest point And that's the lowest point of the land the ground underneath and as you go up the street It's in that portion of the building's a little shorter. It's 85 or 88 feet maybe at that left end Staff any other clarifications or anything you want to add we go, okay? All right. Thank you. Thank you We encourage those that would like to communicate via email to begin sending in letters and emails You may email at CoC board meeting at Columbia sc.gov or go on the web at public input comm slash CoC ddrc dash may 2022 For those wanting to leave a voicemail or speak live Call 855-925-2801 When prompted please enter the meeting code 1993 then press star 2 to begin leaving the voicemail if you would like to speak live press star 3 We will hear comments from anyone who is here in person Hi, just a please state your name and do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding my name is Charles Lee decker and before I start I understood there was a three-minute time limit and Remarks are a little bit longer, and we have 21 people here actually from representing us So if I could have your permission to go a little bit longer or have somebody else come up and finish my comments Well, we have a timer and is it two minutes or three minutes? staff What is the timer again? I'm two minutes per person two minutes per person I may have I may have inadvertently said three Accidentally, so I don't think that'll turn us off too much Apologies, but I did clarify is it two minutes per public person speaking. There's a timer that will go off just so you know So you have two minutes so I can have somebody else come up and finish My comments you can sort that out with whoever's here, but you'll have two minutes So before you proceed though, do you swear to tell the truth in this procedure? Okay? Thank you Okay, I am owner and occupant of 1131 William Street, which is directly across from the hotel My home is part of the City Club development, which is 29 townhomes clustered around the historic Middleton building 300 block of Gervais Street. I did submit written comments yesterday, and I'm boiling them down now Last Friday this project arrived like a thunderbolt out of a blue sky And since then our entire neighborhood has united to oppose the project We're not opposed to development, but we want development that's compatible with the neighborhood My main objection is with the design, but we have many other objections Of course, the big issue is with the size of the hotel It's a full seven stories and wraps around most of the frontage on Gervais Street and William Street It's far out of proportion to the neighborhood Towering over the nearby buildings Topping out at 95 feet our townhouses across the street are only 34 feet to the top of the eve So this is going to dominate us The other buildings in the neighborhood That are just one two and three story brick buildings like the old Confederate printing plant Publix Columbia Mills the the children's museum and then all the historic buildings on Gervais Street And we would hope that these buildings would provide some design references for this new building McDonald's which is the only extent building on the block where this hotel would be sited They've really made an effort to adapt their building to the local context and follow the design standards And I don't see any evidence in this hotel of an attempt to be sensitive to the surrounding neighborhood It is a strange day when somebody would stand in front of a design review board With a straight face and urge the builder of a Hilton hotel to elevate their design at least to match the standards The neighborhood McDonald's that sadly that's where we are What you can see in the proposal is a monolith Structure that fails to provide for an active street frontage Stretches a hundred seventy five feet along Gervais Street with a single small entrance to the hotel lobby William Street facade is even longer 229 feet it offers no point of entry for the pedestrian traffic and There's no space on the street front for street front restaurants or shops that would attract pedestrians to this part of Gervais Street There's only minimal attempt to segment the building into a series of bays that would moderate its massive size Most of the businesses along Still got 27 seconds Okay, there's only minimal attempt to segment the building into a series of bays that would moderate its massive size Most of the businesses along Gervais have frontages of a hundred feet or less Our city club townhomes have only 25-foot lots So this hotel's long unbroken facades would just reinforce its outside scale What was your name Carolyn Lee decker, okay, and do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? I do The scale of the signage also violates the design guidelines The home would sign at the center at the corner of Gervais and Williams would be 40 feet high And the true hotel sign along William Street would be about 50 feet high These are signs that are more suitable for a location along an interstate highway My final point addresses parking the plan includes a massive structure with space for 430 vehicles with a footprint of about three-quarters of an acre the structure would be four or more likely five levels high It too would overshadow the neighborhood a new building that size should receive its own careful design treatment Not to mention consideration of traffic flow and safety issues I conclude by asking the commission to reject the application or at least defer approval until the developer presents something more sympathetic to the neighborhood and Consistent with the city's design principles and guidelines. Thank you. Please state your name. My name is Jay Do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? I do I Live on William Street, which is directly across from where the hotels. I know this isn't part of what This commission does but William Street is not straight. It's crooked. It has encroachments out in the street It's difficult to get around And that's also the Girl Scout building where they have events with little children there about every weekend. So And to put this huge hotel we think it's incompatible with The area incompatible with the development of what has been a stark area We are the gateway Professor Jarvis Street Bridge into Columbia City clubs on the right. We have an historic building in the middle. It's the old standard oil build Which has been beautifully restored and redone very fancy condominiums in there behind us are hundred two hundred year old warehouses that Caterer uses for events weddings things like that lots of functions there, but it's very quiet very The events he has usually in the last a few hours We've gotten McDonald's you don't think it's compatible, but it's been there before we had and but this building is going to take Our view of the city it'll take anyone coming across the bridge It's just going to wipe that out. You won't be able to see the Capitol the Adelaide building or any of that Seven stories is big Or down here. I mean you've got the old cotton mill State Museum up on a hill You've got the Adventure Museum. That's kind of in a valley right across the bridge the public's is two stories high any event we're We believe that this project Should not go for lastly the congestion. It's going to cause Three years Constructions planned on the river by Dominion Three years. They're going to basically shut down Senate Street huge trucks running and that's going to this construction will be on top of that All right. Thank you To clarify the first beep. Is that like a 30-second beat? Is that how that works? This new system Now it has varied between 30 and 15. Okay. I was trying to understand what the what that tells us. Okay. All right My name is Tracy Barker. I'm an owner and City Club resident. All right And do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? Yes, I do. Thank you. So As I said, I'm a local business owner as well I'm a strong supporter of Columbia and a strong supporter of its businesses As Jay just said, we're on the west side of Yuji I feel that we're you know, not in the central business district But we're a gateway to the river which is a current and future Recreation area. I say that to say that we chose this area because me and my wife We walk the university area the main street area to five points We're out all the time and so we want everything to be pedestrian friendly This facility is too close to Jervais. If you look at the property It can be moved to the south to get it off of Jervais so that it softens it and so that it's not so imposing I want to say it's too big and it's just not congruent with where we are right now And I would appreciate your further review and scrutiny of what's been proposed. Thank you Your name hi, I'm Melissa Harrell. Do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? I do And let me be very clear We are not opposed to the development This empty lot is not preferable We would Excuse me love to have something that is more suitable there A hotel in my opinion would be a lovely addition, especially since I can shove my kids there on the holidays Um But for the most part I have four questions or four concerns that I would very much appreciate you addressing the first one is Jay I already mentioned it has the city considered the current Project with the coal tar removal out of the river right now. They started this monday Trucks are already piling in there with Gravel and rocks they're going to be 50 trucks between 9 a.m And 4 p.m Every day for six to eight months out of the year for the next two to five years depending upon the river and the weather So I don't know how that's going to work. Secondly has the city Reached out to the Girl Scouts as you've already already heard This is a wonderful addition to the Columbia area And we have this lovely sound every saturday and sunday morning of little giggles and teenage giggles And that's a lot of young folks to be right there at a parking garage and with that kind of traffic The third has the city Conducted a traffic study and if not I would very much Advise that given the size of William street how close on Jervay it is to the light It's going to be an incredible congestion For this plan and lastly I'm a little bit mystified as to why we are worrying about the color of bricks at this point We I mean there has been no approvals by the state. I mean by the city as far as construction So I would um respectfully request that you defer and let's Give the planning commission a little time All right, thank you Any other public? Please state your name. Yep. Um weight Kaufman. Do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? I'm sorry. You swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? Yes. All right. Thank you. Please start Okay, so um I am real estate developer here in columbia have been for the last 20 years I also live at the city club and I was a partner in developing the city club So going back I shared this with you since 1992 my first house. I did was an emwood park My next building was on emwood avenue Then I did a retail store in the vista on wane street when wane street was closed and the lady street bridge Was not even open and ck supply was there at the end of the road. It's now chipotle redevelop motor supply property brought in saucerita social um Did park street loss down on park street that trains rustle did noma flats on north main When there was old barcode apartments before noma was noma And then also city club and I shared this with you in all those processes over the last 20 years I've gone through planning and zoning first Because you cannot pernute you cannot Approve a design until you know what the site's going to be like You know if you think about that everything could change There's a lot of design elements in this hotel that does not It is not compatible with the neighborhood um Not just the Deciding in the windows and the doors with the positioning there's in for a guest experience There's like 14 rooms that face the city I think when I come into my city that that we all have a passion for we want to have a great experience to face that so other site challenges that I see that is a Which is purpose of the process and what I've gone through as a developer Which seems the right way to do things and that's why you guys can I challenge you to make a right decision on something that can't be approved when The site's not approved it completely changed the traffic study has not been done Um, so here's my challenge to you is think about those things when the site's not been done You can't approve a design until it's done because it could easily change The garage and other places propose it may not ever happen But most importantly we have not even had a chance to speak with mr. Patel Which is unusual to meet without you know you meet with your neighbors. And so I asked you to table this This decision today so we can meet with the owner and maybe come up with this solution He's done a lot of great things in our metro area No, thank you. All right. I appreciate that Hi, sir And not to be rude. I just want to make sure anybody who wants to speak is the opportunity So I will certainly cut you off when the time is out there just so you know if we do have that I buy buy anyway. Hi, please stay today Uh, my name is John Taylor I live at 11 go ahead. Where are you 11 27? William street directly across from where this project is proposed Do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? Yes I'm sorry I'm a retired architect. I'm one of designers of cedar club I've been practicing architects for 50 years. They're about in clumbia and I served on the planning commission for six years I don't ever recall a project going to ddr first and then coming to the planning commission There are too many things that have to be resolved with the site plan We don't have a problem with the site being developed Who needs to be developed properly? So there's a lot can happen in reviewing the site plan so And we are aware and I just found out That the project has not even been filed with the planning commission as of money So I think that needs to be done first. So I would strongly suggest that you table this thing today Deferring decisions till after it's been to the planning commission and then we'll review the ddrc part Anybody else like to speak in person Good afternoon. My name is your name. Yes, pardon. Yes. Stay your name. Thank you Yes, my name is rebecca mcmillan and I swear to tell the truth Thank you. I live in city club. I live on senate street with my husband doug mcmillan We were the first people to move into Not to purchase but to move into city club We've seen a lot of growth But over the years We have compatibility With buildings in that area What I call The tail end of the vista every project that's been dealt with People came before you or your predecessors And abided by what you needed to have done No one built anything Of the seven at seven feet tall That is will tower That area It will tower over The children's museum the public's condominium and grocery store The little two-story mcdonalds When our college age Granddaughter came to visit. She said oh nana. I want to go to mcdonalds Why darlin you go all the time, but I've never eaten a mcdonalds in a two-story building Everything that has been done has been done to meet your requirements and your recommendations This will be excruciating From the standpoint of crossing that river The number of people who tell us how how pleasant that is And that sounds not pleasant, but I heard it. Thank you. Thank you still got maybe 30 seconds. Okay So we're just asking we're not opposed to development But seven stories In an area that doesn't have those kinds of heights It will take away from the beauty of that part of the city So thank you for if you could table or postpone this To we could have a chance to talk with the developer Thank you Anybody else who would like to speak in person? If there's if there's nobody else in person, I'm going to move on to say any comments that have been received in writing Sure, I'll start with the folks who um sent comments that were delivered to y'all In time before the meeting for you to read And the list includes paul gaffney Gordon Langston john taylor edward fetner charles lee decker paul harrell paul gaffney once more Jay mckay And I have some written correspondence that came in in the last day This is from jim and heidi colewell who live on lady street And it starts this letter is written regarding the following properties 1126 williams four tinger vay for 11 senate We are unable to attend today's meeting While we completely agree with investment in building in columbia and in the vista We also recognize the short and long-term goal of building in the vista which keeps and enhances The district's distinctive and well-planned quality slash ambiance This property is on one of the main gateways to the city as many drive into columbia And the vista via gervais It also borders on the west gervais historic district one of the unique districts in columbia Which is of course full of history We are writing to ask for a temporary deferral on this project as the neighboring residents organizations and businesses Have had little to no time to collaborate with the city and the developers on the project After a quick read some items that look to be better understood and addressed include number one williams street This has partial funding and how does this newly completed street fit in What are the setbacks and why are the variances needed for the proposed setbacks? two parking No detail on the parking structure is given and how does that structure fit in with the rhythm of the surrounding buildings three building size and finished look The plan describes a large mass building with some limited brick depending on which side This is not consistent with the buildings and rhythm of the area The vista is an old warehouse district in edventure publics mcdonald's city club and cell repair shop across hugie are all brick This building again right at the gateway to the vista in columbia is a mix of materials In addition its size and mass is not at all consistent with the surrounding areas Examples below and he had included some pictures Thank you and please defer this project to give the neighborhood and stakeholders time to discuss and address these and other issues The next email is from bart wallrath who's a president president of the vista neighborhood association He writes i am writing to request temporary deferral of the may 19th ddrc regular agenda item two 1126 williams for tinder bay and for 11 senate due to insufficient time for adequate review The project seemed to be abnormally rushed through with no details available to the public until friday may 13th And no neighborhood contact by the developer until monday may 16th prior to the may 19th ddrc meeting To request a certificate of design approval respectfully bart wallrath The next is from gerald thorp who lives on palaske street He's asking for a temporary deferral of the may 19th ddrc regular agenda item two 1126 williams gerbet and senate due to insufficient time for adequate review The last is an email from christine duncan a resident at printer square Who writes i am a resident of the vista and i would like to request a temporary deferral of the may 19th ddrc regular agenda item two And those are all the written comments we have that came in prior to the meeting Any emails received since we've been on? Yes, we have received one. We do not have any callers on the line So i have an email from darrell williams And he writes this seems to be a difficult issue because zoning approval and design approval are apparently out of order And because the area classified as mixed use is currently dominated by a 25 million dollar investment in fully owner occupied tax paying single family homes Construction of a seven-story extended stay hotel on adjacent property is completely out of sync with the established nature of the community Will overshadow the single family town home And will eliminate the possibility of more badly needed single family homes in that area I hope the city will come to grips with this issue and approve a plan in the best interests of the city of columbia Which needs high quality single family housing far more than another budget priced hotel At the very least any hotel front or any hotel needs to front ug street rather than williams street Leave room for other development on the narrow williams street and be limited to four-story height with inconspicuous signage Darrell k williams 1128. Yes street At columbia, i'm not gonna read his third number Is that all the written invoice? Correspondents i'll refresh one All right Yes, i will ask the applicant if They want to respond to any of these comments Do you want to respond to any of these comments or So then yeah, please come back up I want so much address The residents comments is i'm sure they're very concerned about their homes and such but i will Point out the some comments on the review from the staff And by the way signs signs as i understand it signs have to be permitted separately so The signs that we show are concept conceptual and they're not set in stone yet the signs have to be permitted But to point out some of the comments by staff the building is cited properly On the site as an l-shaped footprint at the corner of gervain williams. We were required to put the building on the corner of gervain williams We were required to have that building within zero to ten feet of the property line So we cannot set it back by ordinance. It has to be on the sidewalk. So it is on the sidewalk in gervay, but because of the Power lines on williams. It's set back substantially from that side At least 80 of the lot frontage should be covered by the building so We're within those guidelines of covering the the property lines with the buildings. We're we're following the guidelines um The building These are comments from staff and or the written ordinance the building addresses the corner effectively With the solid brick massing with a prominent roof canopy And the entrance includes a pedestrian scaled canopy. That was the staff's opinion The seven story structure is consistent with the recommendations of the master plan the guidelines And will add density and an active use to the corner That staff comments um With 100 foot right of rights of way, this is that this is referring to the height of the building 85 to 95 feet With 100 foot rights of way, this is very close to the recommended one to one ratio And will provide a better sense of urban scale for this gateway corner in the district So the ratio and size and scale of the building meets the guidelines and is supported by staff and and and we have Broken up the size and mass of the building again staff's comments the alternating pattern of recessed exposed concrete and brick bays Along both street frontages works well to break up the mass of the building into smaller scaled elements So the building doesn't look like one big You know giant building The use of materials works well with the massing of the building and with the design The building entrance to the lobby has been provided at the street corner Which is important to these guidelines and also required by zoning Which calls for specific street frontages and invista to be ground floor activity zones This corner is included in that requirement and a hotel lobby does qualify as an active ground use ground floor use And to reiterate staff's recommendation They find that the proposal substantially meets the Innovistic design guidelines and they recommend approval of the request so we Choose not to defer Because we have so many Approvals to get through this entire process and it takes quite a long time So we would like to go ahead and request your approval tonight And as far as the parking garage I would like to make sure everybody understands that we do have to go through this whole process again with the parking garage The entrance as it's designed right now is on senate street not on williams street facing the townhomes So the traffic will come in mostly from ug And enter the parking garage on senate that way and there's an entrance inside the site behind the hotel Staff do you have any comments just based on anything? Okay I'm going to open up for any questions or comments from commissioners I'm going to share a thought I have I I am having a hard time Understanding this process too of not having the site approval first with the design I'm finding that a little challenging And I'm also not seeing the entire Magnitude of the project to even clear the parking is just Part to grasp the entire concept that that's my personal struggle, but I open up to any other comments from commissioners I agree with that comment. Um, I have a feeling that's planning and zoning is going to have You know some feedback on the parking garage and entrances into the site and I think without You have an idea of what the entire massing of the project is going to be it's hard to comment on one particular section of it Understanding that this part could meet the guidelines trying to understand the totality I guess I don't know staff any comments on that I mean, I guess just to kind of reiterate at the beginning of the meeting it There are several reviews required Um, generally we do see site plans come before design approvals However, they are independent processes if anything were to come about in the site plan review that required changes to the plan That would affect the design review that would come back to the commission if it were something significant. So You know that that process is forthcoming. It's it's independent of this process and it looks at parking and zoning and You know fire department access a traffic impact study will probably part be part of that process So a lot of these things will have to be addressed And again if they make any changes Um that affect the design approval then the design approval will have to come back So, I mean, it's a risk the developer and applicant take by doing this first but There is no ordinance that requires they do one before the other And I don't know this has ever come up But could so this is more of a question for staff if this is even a possibility But could we make if we were to make a deferral today? Can we make our deferral? Like a condition of it that they receive approval from planning your zoning before coming back to us I mean, I guess if the deferral were for the specific purpose of getting the site plan done Before the design approval Then we know that's coming in july because that's their that they have Outline that schedule based on the application deadline, and I suppose Possibly some other things that they're trying to work out So, I mean that would just I mean it would just be a deferral until the site plan Approval is completed and then it would come back. I mean Any other commissioners any comments or questions? I have a question related to the staff's review of the project It it was a little confusing Well a couple of parts and not because of staff's comments just how everything kind of melds together The only reference I saw to height was with regard to the massing and so are there no restrictions other than that? It maintain a one-to-one ratio Well, the zoning is what determines the allowances for height This zoning district actually does not have a maximum height allowance Except for in cases if it's if it's within 300 feet of the historic district overlay Or a residential base zoning district the height would be capped at 75 feet So this the the site and where the building is placed does not fall within those zones So the end of this to or excuse me the mc zoning Is is an unlimited height For this for this property All right. Thank you. Um, another area I had a question about was with regard to the surface parking Um, I'm sure that goes along. Well Can't be sure of anything but it seems like that would go along with the parking structure But I know there were some comments about requirements Um landscaping requirements with regard to surface parking and I don't and they may be in the packet But I didn't I don't remember seeing any were there any designs with regard to landscaping around that surface parking The landscaping around the surface parking would be Covered by our landscape ordinance, which is part of the site plan review so I mean we have a You know landscape ordinance that would dictate screening and that sort of thing and and any kind of trees that would be required So that would come through site plan review Okay, what you're saying is that's not really within our purview not I mean If there were any landscape not I mean it's a little bit outside of the purview um I mean if there was any landscaping that Was somehow contrary to the design guidelines, then you could certainly weigh in on it But in terms of requiring certain landscaping in certain areas So the landscape ordinance covers that I guess okay, and so the area of the surface parking is not Under consideration as part of this project today Well, no, I mean it's it's part of the design approval um If there are any aspects of the surface parking that are contrary to the design guidelines, then that could certainly be commented on um, but the actual Requirements of providing screening and trees and so forth is part of the landscape ordinance Does that make sense? It does. Yep. Thank you And Andrew, I think I kind of go along with what you're saying there. Are you saying With the surface parking that's there in the back end rear entrance into the hotel You'd like to see some kind of graphic of that or see what what they're they're planning back there Right. I mean it's you know, it's within I think our purview because it's considered I guess sections 1.3 point 1 through 1.3 point 8 um that discuss the landscaping guidelines for surface parking and so I guess Is it it's either considered today or it's considered it in conjunction with the structure parking Or is there not going to be a chance for us to review these? You know whether the landscaping um complies with these guidelines okay, so generally um Generally speaking our landscape ordinance Anything that would be required would would would cover what's required by the design guidelines And so we kind of look at those things in conjunction with each other The surface parking is primarily located behind the building So it that which is a recommendation of the design guidelines In terms of specific plant materials and that sort of thing I guess if if the landscape ordinance again Requirements did not End up covering what the design guidelines recommended then we would certainly look at that That that would generally be something that staff would review, you know detailed deferred to staff I guess are there specific things about the parking lot that you're concerned about? No, just that it has certain setback requirements certain width requirements That are here And I guess we're not able to determine whether their design complies with those guidelines Yeah, there's no there's no elevation or um The surface lot is on the die from the interior the lot the surface lot is okay not the garage the garage is not All right, right the parking garage will come to d d r c for design approval Hold on I think the applicant can still speak Follow or follow up response comment that there we did provide a site plan in there and and there in the surface parking Is shown behind there in case you didn't notice that and then on the the floor plan shows a portion of that And the and and the conceptual landscaping is shown on that plan as well There's no trees and bushes noted as to what they are But we do intend to landscape it as as you see it on that On those floor plans and yeah great. Thank you. I got one question for you um was with the um The site not having any High requirements when it was there any consideration given to go in higher than seven stories? Um and for for example like The room that we were talking about on the on the corner Coming from the entrance to from drivet street Maybe there'd be an opportunity to create retail all on that drivet frontage And you'd be able to get the room count that you're looking for by going eight nine ten stories We we discussed going higher in the beginning And there's a in the building code. There's a Somewhat of a substantial difference between a mid-rise and a high-rise building In terms of its requirements and cost for the building Um, so we were able to get the room count in within seven stories and the lowest floor is below 75 feet And that kept us as a mid-rise and not a high-rise. So if we go one story higher, we will be a high-rise building And it's something we would prefer to avoid Understood cost cost goes ups substantially And while you're up here, um just referring to and I know we don't have the benefit of hearing At least in the room today the comments that were sent in by email that we had a Chance to review before today But there was a lot of talk about the and this is kind of a combo question for staff and and for the applicant Um, there was a lot of discussion And I think the first public commenter referenced the lack of notice Um, I do remember a comment saying there was a sign put up about four weeks ago But that it was torn down I don't know what effect that has on the public notice but but in addition to those comments And this is kind of where where I would direct my question to you is um I think it was conveyed through staff that the neighbors had some concerns And the applicant reached out wanting to meet And there just hasn't been a time, you know since monday To make that meeting happen, but but that the applicant expressed a desire to meet with the neighbors Would you like us to defer our decision here today so you have a chance to do that? the applicant As far as my firsthand conversation with mr. Patel was that his son melanne Reached out and had a conversation with a person who as I was told was the president of the association That's what I understand and that there was no Desire on that person's part to set up a meeting that was that's the information I have That they did not need to Meet because that particular person had no objections to development And so they did so the owner did in fact reach out and have at least at least one conversation With someone with the neighbor Thank you. Yeah, sorry. I just I want to just confer a staff. I mean we've done public comment Public comment is closed right now. So sorry. There is no rebuttal on public comment post all the public comments I'm just letting the people know that because I saw people getting up coming forward. Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt you So just that the conversation had occurred between the owner son and the association member was that what I That's what I understand happened. Yes And uh, and there didn't seem to be an urgency and we decided that we wanted to continue the process of That was the way it was left Thank you One more thing and I think it's probably fairly evident where the commission's sort of leaning today I think one thing I'd like to see If you do in fact come back in front of this board is on the rear of the building elevation I would like to see the entrance into the hotel from back there Currently it just It just shows a brick wall all the way throughout the center and then one looks like single door entrance off to the right It's so long. Is this along William street? Did you say or no, this is from the rear entrance of the building From there's a there's an entrance right where the L in the corner of the L and there's a canopy It's not shown entirely on that drawing, but there's an entrance canopy so you can drive your car underneath it Yeah, I saw that I saw that on the site plan, but it's not shown in the elevation There's no details given on the elevation. There's not any details given on the canopy Yeah, this kind of even a 3d perspective or something to kind of help me up and trying to get to that's an orientation That's an incomplete rendering. I apologize for that though that is that is not done And it should it really should not have been included in this presentation. I apologize There's a lot of glass that you don't see there There's the entrance canopy. There's a lot of landscaping There's parking and handicap and Lots of activity back there that you can see better on the floor plan and on the site plan, but but not back there Yeah, I understood Apologize for that. That was a mistake When staff and I talked and met we we were Almost entirely consumed with what the jervay and william streets facades Would look like that was what we focused our attention on Okay, just to clarify too the purview of the ddrc is limited to what's visible from the public right of way So we don't generally weigh in on first floor Rear building facades and parking that's Behind the building because that's out of the public You have the public right of way Thanks for reminding us that yes Well, what's the plan on the bottom floor facing william street? I see the canopy out there and it appears to look it'd be a restaurant But that'd be a hotel-owned restaurant. Would that be um a space available for lease because I bring that up because if that is a public space Then very likely that you know customers could be parking in in the rear and then See the rear rear entrance it's not it's not a third party restaurant It's not a restaurant operated by anyone other than the hotel operation and it's not even really a restaurant It's it's serving Food breakfast in particular as you know most hotels provide free breakfast in the morning So the only cooking or or food preparation to my understanding is going on is is breakfast and there'll be Perhaps some snacks and other things throughout the day and there's there's grab and go stuff As far as the food The the the activity that's out there is as that screenshot shows right there There's a couple of fire pits and seating area. That's directly outside the lobby So where there's seating inside the lobby through that glass you'll see seating outside the lobby As you work your way down to the right. That's an outdoor kitchen Which is actually for the guests because the homewood suites is an extended stay hotel They want to the hilton and the developer want to provide certain amenities to the folks who were staying there that night Or staying for a week. So there's a grill out there Or two for guests to make their own food and there's seating out there There's going to be some activity. For instance, we have a spot for cornhole to be located The fitness area has an outdoor patio That's sort of an extension of the fitness area that you can go outside in the In the daylight and in the sunshine and in the fresh air and stretch and do pilates and such like that So there is a quite a lot of activity along that that street side at williams But it is oriented for the the guests of the hotel and it's not for outside use generally speaking. Okay um Well, I guess just one one other comment I'd like to make and don't misconstrue some of mine as You're negative towards a project because overall, I think it's a it's a great project bringing density into downtown columbia's I think some a lot of people are favorable up and We just we just want to see it done right because it is You know an entrance into downtown columbia from the gervais street bridge like a lot of people have pointed out today I'm sorry. Well public comment is already over. We're moved into the final stage now. We're moving towards emotion We went backwards to look at pictures. I don't want to get anything confused I'm gonna move now. I'm gonna open for a motion So just to clarify if we were to make a motion to defer With this with the site plan being a contingent see of them coming back for requests for approval We could just we would just have to state state the site plan not planning commission or zoning I'm sorry. What's the question? I think he's trying to understand how to correctly. Yeah, I'm trying to correctly trying to understand how to correctly phrase this motion Um Let's say if we were to make a recommendation of deferral today And what we would like to see is before the applicant becomes back the site plan to be approved Um, can we make that? A contingency to our deferral I mean, I think because those two approvals are separate And this this has to be approved based on the design guidelines and that has to be approved based on planning commission purview If you're going to defer a decision It would be helpful To know if there are things you would like for the architect and the developer to work on to change between now and then because As I said, if the planning commission decision changes the site plan that affects the design It will have to come back anyway. So if if there aren't changes that you want to see Then just waiting for that approval I mean I think we need to be specific about why we're deferring the decision Okay Well, the first floor is what I said the first floor and the parking lot Well, I mean there will be a parking garage there by the time This is built because the hotel is dependent upon that in order to Function I guess again, we're um You're similar to to taylor's comments about deferring until it's received planning commission approval That's a totally separate process They could You know, I'm not sure what the options would be but but consider alternative forms of parking. They don't include a structure Which would make keep that visible from the right of way So I guess if If I had to give something I would like to see different for us to consider on a deferred project Or a deferred consideration It would be more detail in the elevation to the rear of the building that shows compliance with the guidelines We have before us Particularly with regard to um I guess the comments taylor pointed out about uh glazing was that or was that something the architect pointed out but also The landscaping the landscaping in the parking lot to the rear of the building Right right Or well with regard to the surface parking at the rear of the building I think it'd be helpful to have it some specific guidance on Do you think there needs to be more glazing on the back of the building? I mean the guidelines are primarily focused on street frontage The street frontage elevations So one thing we heard tonight just some making sure I understand the facts We don't have the most updated recent rendering that we have viewed here tonight or in the package. Is that that true? Was that true or not true? 3d perspective you see is not up to date, but the exterior elevations The 2d views of the project are accurate and up to date So the view on the bottom right there Yeah, that's the back side so there you can see the glazing at the entrance the area to the left that doesn't have any windows is service Laundry, you know the commercial laundry that's associated with a hotel mechanical rooms or mechanical space The So That is a complete elevation that you see there Has brick on most of the base of the building if not all of it Okay, so I mean we do have a situation where so what's been presented does meet the design guideline But we do have a situation where there's a lot of potential unknowns, but don't really affect what we're looking at right now But we don't see is the garage element right And just help help me in the commissioners. What would be our purview over the garage just understanding the whole relationship to the project In terms of the design of the garage. Yeah, are we are we yes? I guess I'm just garage. I mean the garage If and when it is built, which our understanding is that it will be in order for this project to be To have parking it will be required the garage will come before this commission for design approval um Again, y'all are welcome to make the the decision you want to make it doesn't have to be based on staff comments If there are concerns about the re-elevation or other things that are not in the staff write-up It will be helpful for us to understand the specific things that you would like to see different Between now and then The small amount of parking that is behind the l-shaped building Is largely not going to be visible from the right of way Whether or not the parking garage is built And if landscape requirements Or will be required by the landscape ordinance that will be there if if there are specific landscape things that you would like to see In that parking lot it would be helpful to know what those are So that we have guidance before we come back to you and before the applicant comes back to you at a later date I'm going to be honest. This is a struggle because there's fielders opportunities to do something a little bit better here But i'm having a hard time figuring out how to articulate what it is and i'm Anybody helping It's a This is kind of a challenge for the commissioners at the moment and so were you bringing up the garage to make that maybe Condition of the deferral that in the next application. We'd like to see that in conjunction and that be a part of The decision that we make and the motion that is made See them jointly present it. It feels like you're kind of Looking at a project of the biggest part of it, but you're not getting like the total picture of it I don't know that seems to be kind of a challenge. I'm having and I don't know I mean if that's my understanding is this this application is for the Review of this building as it is currently designed on this part of the site I understand. I'm not sure that we can defer. I mean you can defer it You can defer it, but i'm not sure I mean we have lots of projects that come in that are phased or have different components I mean I think if the decision is deferred And again, that is your purview to do that The reason for the deferral and things that you would like to see when it comes back Would be very helpful to be articulated not only for staff but for the applicant to understand What they need to do differently to help this project meet these design guidelines more thoroughly if there are concerns Right And thank you. I know you keep restating that for us and we appreciate that because we're just trying to figure out a thing How to how we could articulate it So parts of the guidelines Staff that talk about Being a gateway and such. I mean I didn't see course. I didn't see really any comments On that any concerns When there really were no concerns with that either So we have to look at the project that we're looking at our purview of the design guidelines for where we're at at this moment Looking at the guidelines, I mean in to staff's comments about the garage being a necessary part of the project And with the desire to ensure that there's a quesiveness between the two And I know that the garage can be considered separately or as a as a separate phase You know as it stands it looks as though you're going to have a hotel with A bunch of surface parking which is discouraged from the guidelines we have in front of us or discouraged by the guidelines We have in front of us So I think if if I were to defer it would be to see A mock-up of of the parking structure But also and I Seems like i'm nitpicking here. It feels like that but but I do think that Keeping in line with the inhibits design districts goals in seeing more pedestrian traffic in this area It is important to have You know beautiful streetscaping which includes landscaping And you know, I guess considering The girl scout facility right across william street where I believe the surface parking would be I know a lot of the the vegetation or knee walls I think they referred to as at surface parking Provides a safety component as well, so Um Is I would like to make a motion to defer the project Until we are able to see a mock-up of the parking structure to ensure its Design cohesiveness with the building we see before us or the design of the building we see before us Which I do think is beautiful Along along gerbet And also a 3d Rendering Of the surface parking and the the landscaping that would entail Mr. Broom. Yes Miss jaco Yes, mr. Salibi. Yes, and mr. Wolff. Yes, motion passes We have one more case on the agenda All right a new staff member Was that clear enough for staff? I mean the request But I do think it's important to see both of them together even All right, are we ready to proceed to the next case? Right. Our next case is 1004 1006 I got the right. I'm sorry I don't think that's the right case There we go There we go 1235 made in lane. You want me to do that? All right, so this is uh 1235 made in lane This is a proposed new construction of a single family house on a vacant lot in the west side of made in lane This lot was once part of a larger lot. It's now been subdivided to allow for three single family homes Two of which were reviewed and approved by the ddrc and have since completed a construction This last lot is the center lot between the two recently built infill houses Which we have images of here. These are on either side of this proposed new construction considering I'm sorry. This proposed one and a half story brick house is roughly 3,900 square feet in total The proposal also includes a carport located directly behind the house Looking at section three new construction guidelines for melrose heights oak lawn Staff concerns with the design primarily include number two size and scale and number three massing These concerns are also focused primarily on the left elevation considering size Scale and massing the house expands back approximately 99 feet, which is much longer than most in the neighborhood The varied massing on the right side elevation with this center that is inset Should minimize the overall appearance of scale from the street However on the left the two main inconsistencies of massing um Are the central mass between the two gables And the modern chimney or fireplace Um projection As designed the central part of the elevation extends further out towards the driveway than the gables to either side With a solid wall of brick to the right of the central recessed door the central mass reads more monolithic Than would typically be seen And it adds to the sense of enlarged scale on this particular house As this building is already considerably longer than is typically found in the neighborhood Staff recommends that this portion of the building be recessed to break up the elevation and to clearly Defined front middle and center Like the right elevation is Likewise the modern chimney on this elevation is also not a typical form Found within this district or any historic house um The fireplace projection is designed like the front porch entry and reads in the drawing as a second entry Which would be atypical in this location and with the exact design of the front entry Use of traditional chimneys is very common as a decorative feature on historic houses in this neighborhood So staff recommends styling this projection as a traditional chimney To being consistent with historic features in the district and in keeping with the guidelines Staff recommend excuse me staff recommendations Staff finds that the proposed new construction at 12 35 made in lane generally complies with section three Of the melrose heights oak lawn guidelines and recommends granting a certificate of design approval with the following conditions That windows on the house be aluminum clad with exterior montains The front door design be submitted to staff for final approval The left elevation be designed with a recessed central section to better break up the massing along the side That the modern chimney be designed to reflect a more historic traditional chimney form with all other details deferred to staff Please state your name My name is uh daze manning and I reside at 12 39 made in lane, which is The house to the right of the proposed house that we're looking at And do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? Oh, yes, ma'am. All right Um, I designed my house um a few years ago And wane smith is here as well and he's on the left side of the proposed lot and robin bracket the architect Did all three of these plans And obviously dealing with a 50 foot lot there Design constraints given the setback situations and whatnot. We're looking at a house that's basically 30 32 feet wide And longer than all because of the Sir, I'm sorry. I mean are you is this the applicant? I'm actually the contractor and the and the person who lives next door to it So I'm here to see speaking on behalf of the applicant. I am okay. Sorry. Yeah, I just wanted to clarify I was gonna look confused. Okay. No. No. Yes. I just wanted to make sure we we knew that all right, so um The design constraints are a challenge Another challenge that that the applicant had is that this is going to be a multi-generational house There'll be three generations of people living in here 90-year-old mother a grandmother and then a special needs child that Therein lies the need for the elevator and the side entrance On the left hand side elevation I think this bracket has provided staff with some additional Elevation regarding mass And scale as of last Tuesday and I don't see those as a part of this This presentation, but um In order to address those concerns that staff had on the left side elevation the back rear of the On the left hand side the elevation was changed from a gable To a hill which brought the mass down significantly There is a lot of movement on the left hand side of the house It's not just flat The fireplace that was mentioned in the concern of staff Is is basically going to be deleted. So the the feature That was designed to kind of match the front Side entrance will be deleted And the concern about the porch Moving back in is really not From a building standpoint Able to accomplish what needs to be done because of the elevator and the stairs and the central location of the house Um Given the length of the house and the driveway You know, I Look down mine all the time and look down mr. Smith You really are not going to be able to see The features down that far back Even though they do have movement, it's not flat. So I think the concern is not A terrible one. I mean in the fact it's not going to be seen very well from the street My hope is that y'all will Consider the changes favorably and and vote to approve this plan I brought some plans Let me ask a question. Are there different plans on what we've been seeing? I'm a little confused, right? I think there was um a later submittal that staff didn't receive that we're discussing right now Oh, okay. So so what we've seen is not the latest And what we're looking at even on the screen is not the latest. Okay. All right. All right Should I provide y'all with these copies of what we Yeah, that there is something more updated. So yeah, I would agree that that would Yeah, I was I was gonna get I was getting confused myself. I was like wait a minute We can share one You are in the meeting now. There are Okay, so yeah, I was gonna I was just gonna say I'm sorry because we were a little confused on what we were looking Can you just give us the highlight version again of how this is different than what we've seen? I I didn't realize that the staff submittals were not Complete a quick question for the applicant. Um, so so it sounds like and I might be hearing you wrong that the only issue You have with staff's recommendations or the recessed Door and the left elevation the doors and window situation are, you know fine with us, but the the if you look at the top Where the porch the ingress and egress comes in between those two dormers I think the staff was asking for that to be pushed into the house to create hyphen and In order to do that if you look at the floor plan Is a narrow breeze way there with a porch on the other side Elevators and the stairs are all located in that area and it would make it problematic for the design on what we're trying to do Thank you So Based on your desktop review over there. What are you seeing staff? Yeah, I mean I would say with the the recess portion I understand yet They would have to lose a few feet of either their garden or their screen porch That I mean that was always the understanding and I know that they would have to To be able to move that back. Um, it just reads as very monolithic and as far as Would you be able to see it? I didn't I don't think I included the pictures. Yeah here. Um It's hard to say. I mean there's there's gonna be a driveway on that side and there's Wait, yeah, no, sorry The two driveways are going to be right next to each other You are going to be able to see pretty much all the way down that side of the building You definitely are I know from experience things tend to be a lot more visible than we would like them to be but I did bring a couple photographs of houses new construction of houses in ml rows Looking down the driveway that you know, it's a straight shot down and they're not near deep and you Have a very hard time seeing Those houses too are very flat Front to back Whereas this does have movements In and out Which creates some definition to the elevation Further questions. Yeah, um, not yet. All right I think we're we're waiting, you know for an autopsy report to know what the staff over here thinks with the latest drawing and how that Uh, affected the recommendations that were presented. Yeah, I mean, I think I I still do have the same concern about that center portion It is going to be highly visible and I think One of the things and and I've talked about this with One of the things that works. Um, well on the brick the white brick house On the right there Even though that center portion projects out is that there's a void behind it So there's still that sense that the mass is being broken up into two sections There's a what behind it. Would you say a void? It's an open porch area. It's not a solid wall Um, so imagine that is more of a solid wall and that's what this would as far as projecting forward of that gable It reads more monolithic and a little bit bigger and you get a more sense of a scale What I'm looking at with this video And he's talking about this solid wall brick and Echo Plans show a gate Connecting to the new residence. Is that correct? It shows a what connected new gate It shows a gate on the floor plan You mean like a Wall across their driveway When you come down the driveway, is this is this like a right in here That's somebody looking at the center the center property. Yeah Oh, okay I got it. We're getting reoriented. Okay. Yes I see I see what you're saying All right, so there's not been a solution offered up yet addressing that concern All right, the left elevation needs to be recessed. Well, is it are the applicant? Uh, sir, yeah, whoever was speaking to the applicant um I gather y'all are are y'all willing to work with staff to work this stuff out I mean the staff kind of identify, you know, what the recommendation was if we granted what You know, we This is part of working back with the staff and I thought that the staff had received this Architect submitted this Tuesday and it said Wednesday these comments had to be in so, okay The point then on you go back to the picture on my house Which is the house to the right You go look at right there Right the white one. I think the hyphen that Rachel may be discussing Goes in but actually the porch comes out. So I mean you really can't You can't see that portion of it from that lot or from my driveway and You know, so I think that There's a little bit of difference In the way it's right, but I do sense at least you and staff have been working together And it looks like you're still in process of working together. Maybe coming here was a little premature, but that's okay. All right All right, now That answers my other question for you Fireplace the chimney, right? How's that going to be designed? It's going to either be deleted entirely or it will be a Ventless fireplace inside so there won't be any need for a fireplace The problem with the The problem with the fireplace one was it interfered with Usable space upstairs to put the chimney in And and the cost of the chimney. I mean these things Full masonry fireplace is very expensive and so Therein lies the need just to go back to the ventless where the outside Doesn't have to go up above that very tall roof anyway In a long time I can understand It's an interesting situation. I wouldn't have a problem Making a motion with all of staff's recommendations included But I am sympathetic to the need for the elevator in there for a child with disabilities So just trying to think outside the box on how you could have that but break up the massing a little bit Is there any way to And I guess the recommendation for Recessing the center portion of that left elevation would be to break up the front and the back of the house. Is that right? right Would that same effect be possible if you were to push And there might not be room for this with the driveway, but could you push that center portion out a little bit further? Would that have the same effect? Because then you could still have room for the Um elevator which is the big concern here. I think We're looking at the floor plans. There would still be room for an elevator to If you pushed everything in a little bit you would just lose some square footage In like the spaces of the either the garden or the the porch area that elevator could I mean as far as I know Say hi, please state your name. I'm robin bracket and do you swear to the truth? Yeah, of course I'm the architect and I don't it is not possible given without a major redesign to push that That center portion back behind the facade of the other two masses I would like to argue That it doesn't need to be that way just because that's the way the house on the right is The house on the left Even though it's not as long It has a flat side as you can see That has no movement in it that is Visible from the driveway I think this house Yes, it is a little bit longer But i'm sorry i'm looking at that and not you all I think it's attractive it fits in the neighborhood. I sent some pictures of some other houses in the historic district that are Nearly as attractive that have long Flat facades So yes, this this house doesn't have that center recess area like the one on the right, but that doesn't mean it's not appropriate for the neighborhood It does have a porch in the middle an open porch that gives it Some opening So we would just I would like to Ask you to to approve it as it is Because I I feel it fits in the neighborhood and it's attractive You don't have room for a pool right? Pardon me. You don't have room for a pool. Yeah a pool what we have With 40 lot coverage. We have almost a thousand more square feet. We can go I guess back to my original question. You may have answered. I just Been a long meeting. Um If if they did push that center portion out more would that break up the massing or is that a no go? We haven't explored that. I mean robin and I looks at pushing it back, but It's hard to push it out more because of the driveway the clearance needed for the driveway to get to the back It's it is now um 12 and a half feet of the property line So It could not be pushed out. It could maybe be pushed out six inches, but I don't think that Yes, what what you're driving right right? Thank you questions right now All right, thank you. Let me see where we are at My name is Wayne Smith. I live at 12 31. I'm told are you a public sir? Yeah, okay. Hold on. Are we ready to start with public comments? I just make sure we're hold them just one second Give me let me get my monologue in We encourage those that would like to communicate via email to begin sending in letters and emails We may email at coc board meeting at columbia sc.gov Or on the web at public input.com slash coc ddrc dash may 2022 For those wanting to leave a voicemail or speak live call eight five five nine two five two eight zero one When prompted, please enter the meeting code One nine nine three Then press star two to begin leaving the voicemail if you would like to speak live press star three We'll now hear comments from anyone here in person. Thank you Thank you. My name is Wayne Smith. I'm a 12 31 maiden language. It's the house on the left hand side on the left hand side House, yes Do you swear to tell the truth in this proceeding? So I was also the person who bought all of the property and subdivided it And in that subdivision I retained the architectural rights To approve both of the houses that were built Subject after my house was built and and I had there was a letter to the homeowners that I have approved this plan Uh an architectural standpoint. I know that as that's that is a private Agreement and the deed restriction and it doesn't have a standing in the public forum, but it's worth noting Second all that Let's face it. I'm the only one affected by the left hand side of this property. There's already an eight foot Evergreen that's right at the property corner that helps block that Um My wife and I have reviewed the plans from a personal standpoint. Also, we Like the left hand elevation very much It it breaks up plenty as far as we were concerned My house is over 70 feet deep We have no breaks in that And when we had our plans approved and work with the staff we worked through that And and there were no breaks in it. We used some trim details and some fenestration Uh Pieces to to accomplish that so I think probably from the at least from the left hand side of the Elevation maybe some forbearance is needed Uh, especially with the unique situation with the uh, the zigglers that are going to live in the house All right, thank you Anybody else in person who wanted to speak? All right any comments and writing? any voicemails or phone calls Nothing Nothing, we don't have anything. Sorry. This microphone is late Yeah, and there was one comment received in writing prior to me and that was forwarded the one that was sent out Yes, do you want to stay to that was from? Oh, yes, that was um Michael Hughes All right, so I'm gonna ask staff. I know you went over there assessing looking. Um, do you feel Unapplicant can work together to If y'all feel differently about the massing Or interpret it differently. That's that's fine. Um I'm happy to continue working with them. Maybe on some detailing of that center section Is this is a time for comment from us too? Yes, you can speak All right Just confirm shorter shorter. I mean to me the left elevation appears to have I mean a bit of a setback um And and I agree with the applicant. That's going to be difficult to see it from the road Given the depth of these houses already from from the street You know I'm inclined to say that you know the way the way that it is way it appears now You know certainly certainly seems within the guidelines or it seems acceptable any other commissioner I gather we have been moved to have done all public comment And I guess we'd be at the point of a motion All right, I'll give it a go Um I'd make a motion that 1235 made in lane west for a certificate of design and approval for new construction You approved The way that the applicant submitted today You need to amend that to include The relevant staff recommendations Um I think let's clarify that because we didn't receive that that came after we received the official package. So I think um I would recommend you make the motion include the staff recommendations that you think are pertinent and then Okay, note where you might be married. Is that accurate? Yes, please also note the section of the guidelines. Yes. Okay. Okay Um So you want me to start over? Sorry bear with me. It's my first one. So Um, I like to make a motion to approve 1235 made in lane request for a certificate of design approval for new construction um And being keeping with staff's recommendations um Complies with section three of the melrose heights oak long guidelines and recommends granting a certificate of design approval with the following conditions Windows on the house to be aluminum clad windows with exterior muttons um Run door design to be submitted to staff for final approval left elevation um Be designed with a recess central section to better break up the massing along the side Modern chimney be designed to reflect a more historical historic slash traditional chimney form And all other details defer to staff All right, let me just we'll help you out on that one. So you read the motion exactly how they've stated it So if I want to get rid of one of those bullets or if you wanted, uh, If you want to amend how it's worded, I guess you get you need to we need to specify that Okay So need a second and then amend it and we need a second then amendment. Okay. All right. Let me let me get a second Thank you for keeping us on track. Okay guys I'll second that motion With with an amendment That is allowed. Okay, great. Yes. I'll I'll second the motion with the amendment that the left elevation as submitted Be approved in that the Condition with regard to the chimney Be referred to the motion Continued upon the applicant removing the chimney from the design submitted to staff And if you could add please which submittal perhaps the submittal Nobody's making it easy today. Yeah, the submittal received at the meeting the submittal received at today's meeting Team did we get second that went in? Second mr. Broom Yes Miss jaco. Yes Mr. Salibi. Yes, and mr. Wolff. Yes Motion passes Thank you for bearing with us I'd like to make a motion to adjourn this meeting. Oh, bob doesn't want to know if there's other business, right? If you can hold on one second I was just going to mention that we do have two members who were appointed at city council Tuesday night, so We will be hopefully adding have two more folks up here for our next meeting Yeah, that's great All right, so with that now we'll take a motion to adjourn. I'd like to make a motion to adjourn this meeting. Thank you In a second I'll second that motion. All right Thank you meeting adjourned