February 18, 2025 — Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Planned Commission ARB for January 20th? No. What day is today? 18th. Yeah, it's a Tuesday. Okay. If you have any electronic devices, please turn them off at this time. One of our mission members is online, so we'll remember her. And Ryan will start.

Steve Lichtenfeld. Here. Bridget McAndrew.

Helen DiFate.

Helen DeFate.

Kami Waldman. Here. Jim Arson. Here. David Gipson. Here.

Amy Waldman. Here. Jim Arson. Here. David Gibson. Here.

Okay, we have minutes from the previous meeting on January 21st. Are there any changes? No hands up. Do we have a motion?

I wasn't here on January 21st, but I will make a motion. I'll make a motion to approve the minutes of January 21st. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. We'll move on to new business and that's 8235 Forsyth and the applicant is here. We'll start off with the staff report.

The subject property is located on the east side of Forsyth, just south of the street's intersection with Maryland. The property is developed with a commercial office building and is located in the Forsyth Center Special Development District. The front of the building comprises a plaza, planter beds, raised entry, and ground sign. The applicant is seeking to redesign the plaza with new planter beds and monument sides. Existing benches and sculptures would be relocated. infill materials would draw from those present on other properties in Forsyth Center. Staff are of the opinion that the plaza alterations are compatible with the existing property and surrounding area. The applicant is proposing two ground signs for the site. However, the code only permits one per property. The applicant is seeking approval via the sign modification section. Properties with at least two ground signs are less common but are present downtown. The selected locations are logical given the size of the building's frontage and adjacency to parking entrances. Materials and colors would reflect the sign to be replaced. Additionally, each individual sign conforms to the ground sign requirements. Staff are of the opinion that the ground signs are compatible with the existing property and surrounding area. Staff recommend approval of the proposal as submitted.

Okay, thank you. Good evening. Please give us your name and the property address and what's going on.

When up the circulation for. pedestrians that are walking along the building scape there so really to kind of help create a room within the city is the goal. Open that up and create more of an experience right now it's quite closed in and part of the improvements also include an accessible ramp up to the main entrance and then some steps to kind of help with circulation.

I think it looks very good. I'm really happy to see some of those stairways disappear. I never understood them originally. And having more planter beds out there really, I think will make it much more attractive. Richard?

I agree. I think it looks really nice and I appreciate you being able to like moving the planters so there's more just walking space I think we don't have wide enough sidewalks in Clayton so I appreciate you, you know, opening things up and I think it will, I think it will look nice when it's done.

Kami.

In agreement, I think it's going to look great. Again, in agreement that it's nice to have some wider sidewalks for pedestrians. And I like your thought about little gathering spaces for people to have space to do.

Jim? I echo the sentiments of everyone else so far. I think the signs, even if it doesn't strictly follow the sign guidelines as far as for pedestrians Modifying that I think is completely fine. I think they fit nicely on the property and I think it makes sense to have two, how it's all laid out. Helen?

I really like it. I think it's a lot more human feeling. Introducing the planting and then the little areas to sit. I think it is much more friendly. And I like wider sidewalks. The signs, I think, are totally appropriate. Given the curve of the street, it's not in the facade. It really needs those two signs. So I really like it. Thank you for changing it.

David, looks great. Thank you. I do have a question about the signs. I think they look great. Will the same tenant names be on each sign? Or can you have... Please come up so we get the recording.

There will be a couple of tenants that currently have rights to be on both signs if we were to get the approval for two signs. One is Energizer, who just recently moved their corporate headquarters here. And then one digital who recently expanded to be three floor tenant. And then that would leave four open panels. If we were to have two signs.

So they will not necessarily be identical on each one. four open panels two on each side uh two on each side

they would have one on each sign yes and i think they probably would be identical like if energizer had the top panel on each sign i think they would probably be identical panels

sure okay um so two of them would be on each of the two sides

correct yes and

then the other four could have four individual names

yes

yes

yeah

you could have a total of six

yes

names yes okay

that's what we would like to do just because we do have so many tenants in the building we want to give a lot of opportunity to put names on there

thank you

welcome

we do have a staff recommendation to approve as submitted Oh, before we go, did you have anything you wanted to show us? I saw you bring it

in. The existing materials, so I'm happy to share them if you'd like. The brick and the stone, but we're matching the existing materials that are there with the exception of some new concrete that will match the adjacent building. Materials might be what you're most interested in and they're the smallest so we can pass those around

the concrete base around the two signs that is concrete

Correct. So the samples that I passed around, it'll be a dark gray stained concrete base and it'll match the adjacent 8182 Maryland of the same building owner.

Well, it'll be very nice space and I think we all agree to it. So we can go ahead with a recommendation.

I'll make a motion to recommend as submitted. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay. Thank you. When will we see the finished product?

As soon as the weather warms up, hopefully we can get started. Awesome.

Okay. Good luck. We'll look forward to seeing it. Thank you. Well, let's move right on to the discussion session.

All righty. Let's take a look back at 2024. So there are seven members that serve on both the Planning Commission and Architectural Review Board. Members are appointed to three-year terms by the Board of Aldermen. In 2024, saw a member change with the departure of Carolyn and the arrival of Jim. The Planning Commission was established in order to make adequate provisions for and to stimulate, guide, direct, arrange, and beautify the city and the future development and growth thereof, which the Planning Commission primarily focuses on things like rezoning, text amendments, site plans, conditional use permits, The Architecture Review Board was established to ensure that construction renovation activities are of high quality design and materials, and in general conformity with the style and design of surrounding structures. So primarily focusing on materials and character. Let me move this out real quick. So the change from 2023 to 2024 saw the largest decrease in 20 years, but 2024 is closer to the 20-year average, and that's for a variety of reasons. So 2023 was a record high, and it had a lot of multi-application projects. So, for example, 2024 saw fewer PUDs, and those can sometimes have up to six applications. Additionally, there was in 2024, there was an increase in administrative review of projects like front yard alterations, which already meet the architectural review guidelines. So all application types saw a decrease in 2024. Architectural review remains the most common type with single family constructions and additions being the most common types of projects. We can come back to that if you guys have any questions about it. I know that there's a lot of info on the page. Projects are mostly residential. In 2023, it was a bit more commercial with all of the PEDs going on, but this past year, predominantly residential. But new construction, new residential construction actually saw an increase from 2023. There were six new homes constructed, or sorry, approved in 2023, and there were nine in 2024. And so in 2023, you saw a lot more projects that... maybe had site plan review, but were not necessarily new constructions. So large additions or large yard alterations, whereas 2024 was a lot more consistent of just new homes or additions that were so small, maybe they didn't need site plan review. And that is your 2024 ARB wrapped.

Pretty simple and direct. We like it that way. Very good. I do have a comment. If you go back to, I think it was the second page. This one? No, keep going. Keep going. Further back. There. Okay. Sometimes I think that the responsibilities that the Plan Commission and the ARB paragraph should be included on our agenda because I think sometimes people come in and they don't really understand what is to be done and what our responsibilities are. I don't know if they could be condensed very small or put at the end, just sort of an information piece. Other comments?

Just that I was, I mean, I was, I guess, surprised that there was such a decrease. I feel like we've been, I mean, there've been a few quiet meetings, but we've been relatively busy. And I think that's probably largely because of the overlays. You know, Beamiston was a big project that came back to us multiple times. So I guess I also just wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of you for being on the board. I know this is a um time consuming um so i can't tell you how much just again on behalf of the board of aldermen how much we appreciate um you guys being here because i know it is a lot of work and um it's hard to find people willing to do it um people that have the ability and the experience so um thank you um i know it has been even though you guys are telling us that we are down 40 percent um it was definitely a time-consuming year with again the overlays the comprehensive plan it was you know, we spent a lot of hours in here. So thank you.

Yeah. I mean, I was surprised too, but I guess like we eliminated like all the retaining walls and things like that. Is that in these numbers? Okay. That makes sense. But yeah, it's exciting. All the things we've done and all the numbers that were reflected back. It's been a busy year for sure.

I just want to thank everyone for welcoming me in July, and hopefully I hit the ground running. There's definitely a lot to pick up on fast, but I can tell even on the projects that I work on just how much I've learned from this process and the questions that I ask now when I'm involved in projects in other parts of other cities and stuff like that, just how much more knowledgeable it's made me on all this. So I appreciate all you guys. Thank you.

Any comment from the staff? Oh, Helen, yes.

Yes, I do have a comment. I think it's good to see that we're We have an average that we're consistent. There is a consistency, even though it goes up, we haven't dropped down drastically looking at total applications from 2005 all the way to the present. I think we're doing well. And I think some of the drop is just basically the cyclical nature of construction and the delays with workforce materials. And two, I don't know if you've looked at the correlation of election years and whether that brings us up or down. I would think more down because the uncertainty, which usually inhibits lending. So I think we're doing well and I think everybody deserves a pat on the back for all the time and energy involved. That's it.

Thank you. I do have a comment about all the appointees, including our automatic representative. and this is looking back over many years of being in this room, I think we've had the best group of people on the Planning Commission ARB that I can remember. I think we've handled or our group has handled all the applications very competently and in a timely manner. And there have been times in the past before many of you that it was not always that way. So I appreciate everyone's efforts to go into this and the time, as Bridget was saying. And I think it was very good. I hope the next year will be just as good, whether we're busier or not really doesn't matter. We'll take it as it comes. Do we need to make a motion or will this just simply go to the board?

So you'll make a motion and then we'll figure out when to put it on an agenda for the Board of Aldermen. But I'll let you guys know because you're welcome to attend if they might have questions for you. I'm not sure.

Thank you for the comment. Do we have a motion?

motion to approve the report.

All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Okay, great. Jim, any further comments?

Nothing

further, thank you. Amy?

Bridget?

Ellen?

David. Nothing tonight. Ryan. Nothing further. Anna. Okay. Well, we'll see everyone in early March and we'll go from there. Okay. Thanks, everyone. Thank you. That may have been the shortest meeting on record.