Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

the TV and Oh, the screen just

That's cool. Now before. All right. Hey, Commissioner Dick or Commissioner Woo, could we do a quick sound check?

Can you hear me now? Yeah. Great. Thank you. Can you hear me?

Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Anytime. Okay. Okay. Uh, right on the dot. Uh, good afternoon and welcome to the planning commission meeting for November 4th, 2025. This is the briefing portion of the planning commission meeting. Uh, and before we get started, we'll just do a quick sound check. Uh, and I guess roll call. Uh, Commissioner Blackwell, Chair Burton Faulk, Commissioner Dick

here. Thank you. Commissioner Maza here. Commissioner Gam, uh, Commissioner O'Neal here, Commissioner Cantonia here, Commissioner Ruiz here, and Commissioner Woo here. Thank you. Okay. So, we have one item on for briefing today. This is BDA-2025-01290 located at 121st Street. This involves the construction of two mixeduse buildings in the strip district and presenting that is Mr. Canilla.

Thank you, Vice Chair O'Neal. This is project development plan application BDA-2025-01290 that was filed by Indina Associates Architects on behalf of Midwood Investment and Development, the property owner for construction of two mixeduse buildings in the strip district neighborhood. The buildings will contain a total of 464 dwelling units, 3 thou 37,000 square ft of ground level retail spaces, and improvements around the multi-use trail to the rear of the property. Per section 905.04.C3 of the zoning code, the planning commission shall review and approve as a project development plan all new construction of 15,000 square feet or more in gross floor area within the riverfront industrial mixeduse district. The site is located at the corner of 21st and railroad streets. The site is bordered by the multi-use trail to the rear and a six-story multi-unit residential building to the eastern side of the property. The development site includes two parcels that are to be consolidated. The parcels are currently occupied by a one-story warehouse building and a lot consolidation was approved on October 21st, 2025. The project site is located in the flood plane overlay district. The applicant has submitted a flood plane permit application and the permit is currently under review by the department of permits license and inspection or PLI. This is located in the Rivu district where at least 60% of the building frontage must be within the build 2 zone which is imposed between 0 and 10 ft inward from the property line. The building the proposed building frontages uh for this site are comply with this requirement. The applicant is proposing one building which is building A with a building height of 65 ft and a second building B with a building height of 85 ft. Uh the Rivu zoning district requires

a 10-ft stepback at 65 ft in building height for buildings that exceed 65 ft in height. The applicant is compliant with the upper story stepback requirements on building B. There are no upper story setback requirements on building A. The applicant is required to seek eight performance points for the following, three for the additional building height. Three uh points for the 30-foot riparian buffer reduction and encroachment into that riparian buffer. The applicant is utilizing the following building points. Those will be two points for rainwater, two points for riverfront access uh amenities uh by providing uh accessible restrooms uh that will be open to the public. uh two uh points for the urban fabric us utilizing the design of the structured parking to be converted for other uses and two points for fresh food access as the applicant has designed the ground floor retail space of building A with the intention of the tenant being a fresh food market. Uh section 905.04.e.4 for provides regulations for the placement of buildings within that riparian buffer zone that is required to be 125 ft from the project elevation from the river. Uh the applicant is reducing utilizing performance points to 95 ft and then additionally uh encroaching into the repairarium buffer in conformance with the conditions outlined in 905.04E.4.1C. The project proposes integral parking spaces in each of the two buildings containing a total of 344 parking spaces. This is in compliance with the parking requirements of chapter 914. Additionally, the applicant is compliant with the bicycle parking spaces both uh for the number of protected spaces as well as the overall number of of bicycle parking spaces. Additionally, the

applicant is compliant with the landscape and screening standards of chapter 918. The applicant is providing 10-ft sidewalks that are required in the Riv district. Uh they're proposing 10 foot wide sidewalks along Railroad and 21st Street. This project was reviewed by the contextual design advisory panel. The panel was in favor of the design of the two buildings uh with the proposed use of the materials that the panel noted created a cohesive and restrained design. Additional recommendations by the panel included further emphasis on the access areas to the riverfront trail with a particular focus on pedestrian safety. A copy of the seed summary report is attached to the report submitted to commissioners. There is no registered community organization in the strip district neighborhood and no development activities meeting was required. The proposed development also is compliant with the off- streetet loading standards in 914.10.A. There are proposed uh six off- streetet loading spaces within the loading areas within that are contained within the buildings. Uh the section 92210.2 outlines the review criteria for the planning commission for project development plans and those criteria are included in the report submitted. Um and with that I'll hand it over to the applicant team. Good afternoon. Bill Siddig representing uh the developer applicant is Midwood Investment and Development. Um this is the existing produce consumer produce terminal recently vacated and as you can see it extends um nearly two of those large city blocks. So it extends where you know 22nd Street would be from 21st on the left through where 22nd would cut through almost all the way to 23rd. So

um what happened as a result of the design efforts um and the Indina Associates architects are are here today and Ryan and Rob Indina and Marty Buser and Ryan and Marty will be presenting. But as a result of the design process with Midwood and the community, it became two buildings. Um it's a reflection of that that long uh front frontage there. It's also uh was a collaboration u coordination with uh brick works and Macaffrey who has the development across railroad street. So as um as will be shown in the presentation, there's an alignment there. Um the uh so it not only breaks up that block but provides more river access and part of the u concerns and we're going to be we expect to receive poll we will receive for the hearing a support letter from strip district neighbors. Um they were interested obviously in that riverfront access. We've been very clear that that access needs to be controlled. Um that's internal. It's essentially a courtyard. It will be public access but it will be controlled in uh so that's normal normal hours but for security purposes will be you know evening overnight um will be restricted. Um don't want that to become a gathering place for sure for for uh and and want to make sure our residents uh feel safe. Um the other concerns were the normal in the strip district with which is parking. Um as Mr. Canilla mentioned, this is compliant all respects with the performance points with the code. There's no no ZBA action was needed. Um so um as a result of that process and uh you know it was fruitful but ended up being extensive because we went first it was a single building and then through that process trying to meet visual access corridor requirements which we don't think applies to this block but nonetheless um we decided to comply with them anyway uh resulted in this design

which we think is uh you know is much improved um and um it's fortunate with all the development we were able to control these very large adjacent projects. So with that, turn it over to Ryan Indina.

Afternoon, Ryan Indina, India Associate Architects and Marty Buser, also Indina Associates architects. We're excited to be here this afternoon uh on behalf of Midwood Development as well as Midwood Design uh who we've worked with quite closely in the development of the project. Um so just to familiarize everybody, Big Red Box is uh is our site. It's consisting consumer produce site. Uh it fronts along Railroad Street to the southeast and 21st Street on the southwest. Uh the Helm multif family residential project is to the northeast and the river is to the northwest. Should use the little clicker here. All right, there we go. Uh here's just an aerial view of the existing conditions and we'll get into a little bit more detail of the site uh conditions. uh particularly this being a unique site with the uh with the marina actually to the northwest. Uh so our site is basically one of the only sites along this whole uh zone of the river that actually has another use uh along the river between itself and the water. A couple site views of the uh existing conditions. So in the upper left corner, this is a view looking uh to the northeast along railroad. Uh the existing site is to the left uh big white building with railroad tracks. uh on the right hand side, upper right hand upper right hand side uh is railroad looking back towards town. The site is on the right hand side. Uh lower left is at the end of 21st Street essentially at the uh border between 21st and the uh existing trail that then buffers against the river. Uh and then the last view is uh actually prior to the construction of the helm. Um, so the building there uh is basically occupying where the car is, but there was previously a service parking lot and is now uh a structure there. Uh, the site is kind of the last uh zone within the Riv IMU. Everything to the southwest is part of the SP8 district, especially planned district uh of which there are a number of large multif family projects as well as town houses

that run along railroad which is named Waterfront Place within that zone. Um so as was mentioned in the overview our subject is our site is subject to the rivu height and um design standards and such which we'll get into. Just a big overview here um on kind of the minor components here. The setbacks there's zero setbacks uh required other than the 10-ft sidewalks of which we're providing throughout the the project on the on the street sides. The base height in district is 60 ft. The max height is 150 ft. So, it's an unusual site within the Riv that permits a much taller structure. Uh, however, we are providing two structures, 165 ft, which you'll see, and 185 ft. Um, and so those are again two independent buildings. One quick note, you know, for buildings that are larger than 40,000 ft in this district, buildings are limited to 65 ft. In our case, we have two buildings that are less than that square footage. So, that section is not um uh not uh relevant. Um bonus points here. Uh so as was mentioned in the in the initial overview um we have a number of bonus points that we're pursuing. Uh the standard height uh bonus points in this case needing three points for the 25 ft height for the 85 ft building. Um we need additional three points for this repair and buffer setback which we'll go through that site plan analysis to indicate what that means and and how it affects this particular site. Um and then the further two points for a further encroachment on the buffer. Again, you'll understand sort of as we go through the site plan. Um our plan to acquire those points as was mentioned is utilizing the urban fabric point or two points which is the convertible ground level of parking. Uh fresh food access for an additional two points. Uh one of our main anchor anchors within the retail space at the ground level would be a grocery store. uh presently looking at rainwater for an additional two points and then the riverfront public access easement trail and amenities

which is gets two points uh for uh on-site publicly accessible restrooms. Uh just quickly kind of go an overview of of the various components of the project. Um so and you'll see this in our stacking plan from a parking standpoint again fully compliant with the requirements within the Riv. We have a total of 344 spaces across the two the two buildings. Uh spaces are allocated on both level one and level two of both buildings. Uh with level three of building 2 having an additional 71 spaces. Uh bike parking is correlated with that provided all at ground level for a total of 100 spaces. Um we have a little just quick analysis of what our parking requirements are uh where we have number of units residential, our grocery requirement, our retail requirement and our total counts uh within the Riv you have a 50% reduction permitted. Um so we are uh in excess of that um of that base minimum within the Riv. And then similar with the bike parking we are uh in in uh compliance with bike parking. And finally, uh, loading. Uh, in this case, we have 37,000 square feet total of retail space. Uh, as a result of that, we have two loading spaces on site required for retail and then additional four loading spaces for uh the remaining residential components for a total of six on-site loading spaces. And we'll go through where those are in the site as we get into the plans. Um, this is just uh kind of snippets from the zoning code. Again, high level. Uh the site is subject to the repairarian buffer zone uh which is basically the setback distance from the river uh a point located within the river not necessarily the river's edge but an actual uh datam elevation within the river uh that establishes where the building can sit. Um so we'll go into that uh fairly briefly here to explain how we are uh citing citing the building and how we are achieving our points to uh provide that sort of greater coverage

within the site. Um everything else uh the street build to zones, pedestrian sidewalks, etc. As was mentioned before, we are in compliance with um just some diagrams for uh within the zoning code that dictates how we are to achieve our uh coverage along the the the street sides of the building. So that in this case would be the southeast and southwest sides, the railroad and 21st sides of the building. Uh and then finally uh as Bill mentioned, there's a visual uh visual access corridor. So this is again a unique site where we have the remnants of 22nd Street which dives into Smallman uh and that was then um dying into the uh the site to the southeast I guess uh which has been demolished at this point. Uh that project is pursuing uh the continuation of the vis visual access corridor and through our design process in coordination with the community group uh as well as our neighbors uh felt it was also useful to continue that visual access corridor through to the to the river. Um so you know different differentiation from what was there previously where 22nd died into a large industrial site uh and then railroad to the river was also a large industrial site and then in this case the construction of both projects will allow for continuation or at least a visual continuation of that street through um through to the river. Uh quickly just solar study I think I actually skipped one here. Nope, never mind. Um so just quick solar study. The building is located sort of on the northwest corner of the parcel. So has very limited impact for the majority of um of the solar conditions primarily in the late afternoon. uh would we have any impact on our neighbor which is the Helm uh multi-unit residential to the northeast? Uh worst case scenario being uh kind of in the in the height of the uh winter December 21st when all the buildings were casting large shadows

and in those renderings we did include the helm uh so the building to the northeast is the existing helm.

Yep. just for yeah just for further clarity of the scale of our building relative to um to that building. Okay. So we'll get into the site analysis here. I got a lot of slides uh that I'll try and go through quickly for everybody. Um this is the existing uh site condition as it as it sits today. Um it's rather large kind of Jshaped uh singlestory warehouse uh with a large turnaround space that's in the middle of the site uh provided for vehicular truck vehicular access. Um the site currently does not have sidewalks along its entire railroad side of the of the site. The helm that was developed to the uh northeast uh their sidewalk dies into the adjacent uh into this parcel. Uh so one of the you know obviously main benefits of this development will be continuing that pedestrian access all the way to 21st and similarly from 21st back to the river. Um you also know to the north of this uh existing structure is the bumpout at at uh basically a lower level which is the uh existing marina. Um so again kind of a unique site here uh in that there is a use to the uh to the north. Uh our proposed layouts are the two gray boxes here. So a larger footprint uh building A and smaller footprint building B. Start going through the repairarian buffer analysis here. So uh because we do have a unique condition where the water edge and the elevation associated with the water edge is bumped out by the uh the surface of the marina parking area um it creates kind of this hat-shaped setback condition. So the base uh within zoning is 125 ft setback. We are um then pursuing points to get a 95 foot setback where you see here in yellow. And then we have a further 50 foot or further setback um that we're permitted to do with additional points uh which basically pushes us up to um that uh I guess the north or it would be the northwest corner of our site which is really the only point that would

encroach within that green line. Um we're also you know pursuing this in the same sense as the helm. So as you see on the right hand side of this this plan, the dashed footprint uh to the northeast is the helm. So we're essentially meeting the setback that achieved with that existing building and continuing that context along the uh along the the railroads or yeah along the trail side of the site. [gasps] uh just this little hatched area is just indicating our uh our portion of the proposed building within the 50- foot setback which is basically those two uh corners at the left and right uh of the two buildings. Uh we're also in the flood plane as was noted. Um so the zone EE is the dark blue. The zone uh the lighter blue is also zone AE the flood plane versus the floodway. Uh so our building is not within the flood way. Obviously that's a much more stringent requirement. uh and we'll go through how we're achieving our uh our flood plane considerations in the architecture uh for building situated within the zone E flood plane. So shifting over to the section here. Um so this is a section cut through the buildings as they're facing north. So 21st Street is on the left side, the Helm is on the right hand side and the two buildings are situated here. Um, as was noted previously, uh, both buildings have parking at ground and second level, which is highlighted here in kind of this tan color, uh, with them, building A having additional four floors of residential, uh, comprised of kind of two large wings. And then building B has an additional, uh, level of parking and then five floors of units above that. So the distinction between the two structures is 65 ft and 85 ft. And then we have our pass through space between the two that visual access corridor that I mentioned uh which would occur um at its tightest point at the ground level and then actually the building sets back as we go upward uh with the residential units. And then similarly, we have a a rather significant setback for the

majority of building B uh between our site and the Helm site to provide nice, you know, contextual breathing room and more of uh more of a feeling of a street dimension more so than a direct uh property line to property line dimension on that northeast side of the project. Uh cut through the opposite direction. So the rivers on the left, railroads on the right. Our grocery store occupies essentially two floors, two vis vertical floors uh with a parking uh to the left of it. Um so again, we have our requirements from a groceryer standpoint to have large scale height available within that space. Um and we're able to achieve two levels of parking within that. Uh we'll also see as we go through our plan here on the far left side in purple are residential uh townhouse units that front on the river side. Uh so the intent there is to articulate the um the the trail side the riverside with a pedestrian scaled access and residential space uh rather than just looking at parking or some you know ground level apartments. Uh next slide here this is the uh building B section. So again two twotory uh retail twotory lobby and then fitting three stories of interstitial parking within two levels of residential and then the remaining five floors above. Uh as was mentioned this building uh building B is subject to that uh 10 foot setback above 60 ft which you see uh 65 ft excuse me which you see on the right hand side of the plan. All right. So here we're shifting into our landscape plan. Um so essentially this this site is a blank slate. As I said the the existing industrial building has no sidewalks. that has a railroad spur uh that occupies the entire length of the uh railroad street side of the site that will be removed and our new sidewalks will then continue the existing Helm sidewalk from east to west um running across the entire site. We will have an indent uh for the the length the majority of the length of our

site along Railroad Street for uh surface um publicly accessible parking. That'll uh allow us, we basically worked with uh DOI as well as with the brick works development to realign the entirety of Railroad Street from the intersection of the helm all the way to 21st. So it's much more much more conducive than the existing condition with jersey barriers and a shift in the in the drive aisle, etc. So this will allow for much more pedestrian and vehicular uh friendly and organized space. Um, as we wrap around 21st Street, our sidewalk continues, uh, all the way up to the trail side, uh, uh, where we have additional surface publicly accessible publicly accessible parking on 21st, as well as our primary loading access for the grocery, which you see with the two large, um, highlighted uh, trucks. So, that's for large scale devel. And then we have our access to the parking garage a little bit further than that. And then as we get to the riverside, we have the entire north side of the building lined with the two-story town houses wrapping back into this this visual access corridor which has an vehicular access point along railroad at its southern side. That'll continue for about a quarter of the the site where we have this larger sort of octagonal space which provides direct access to both uh residential lobbies for the building. So it's essentially an internal residential lobby. Um those cars could then continue and have direct access into the parking garage on the building B side and then it would continue to a pedestrianon zone where we have residential town houses on both sides of that visual access corridor landscape environment all the way to the uh to the north side of the site along the trail. And there we're going to, you know, greatly improve that experience uh and work um in conjunction with that parcel which the trail parcel which we do not control uh to make that a um a very you know attractive and and enticing space along the uh the public

side of the building. Shifting over to this is just a an overview to indicate the accessibility of the site. Um so essentially our entire uh southern side of the building B has direct atgrade access to our retail space. That retail space will actually be situated below the base flood elevation or reference f elevation, excuse me. Um whereas the larger grocery store space in building A is actually elevated above the base uh the reference f elevation. Uh we're doing that with a raised uh platform essentially with a grand stair as well as uh accessible ramps similar to the terminal building redevelopment further down the street. Um in the sense that we have uh to create a grade differential, a grade change from railroad street to our building footprint. Um and we are also achieving that grade differential as you go through the vehicular access corridor to the main lobby space of these buildings. Um all those will be within ADA compliance for access for the sidewalk, slopes, etc. grocery store will be be provided with accessible entrance points. The lobbies to both buildings are accessible uh and have direct access to the elevators servicing all floors. Um it's a little hard to read up in the top there, but um this building from a residential standpoint uh the total number of units is required to be uh accessible across the board. So we'll have 10 type A units which are fully accessible units and the remaining remaining units are type B convertible units. uh which again means that any uh any potential tenant is able to provide grab bars and clearances as required for the type B construction. Next slide here is uh just going to our ground level plan. Um just kind of highlighting what I mentioned here before the let's say darker pink purple colors the retail spaces fronting on railroad and wrapping the corner on 21st parking garages uh spaces are in white our building lobby and service areas are yellow and then the residential uh town

houses lining uh the the visual access court as well as the north side of the site are in light purple. Um, so again trying really trying to activate all sides of the of the site and the building as much as we can uh from the public perspective. So we go upstairs, this is the interstitial space with double height grocery store spaces within our our parking garages and upper floors of the residential town houses. When we get up to the first level of uh building A's residential units, it's essentially a two courtyard scheme. Um, so you have two wings extending out to the to the river within a common uh plaza deck and pool on that side. And then there's an internal courtyard uh on the southern portion of the site which units face out to. And then uh the equivalent side on building B is going to be the additional floor of parking. And then when we get upstairs see a little bit more clearly. Um it's essentially an upside down A on building A and then uh an I shape on building B. Uh the idea here being we're pulling the building back as it gets higher uh to provide a lot of breathing space, a lot of patio space uh and a lot of functional area for uh for the residents. As we keep going, same floor plan, same floor plan, and then we get to the top of building A uh which is have a green roof assembly combined with our utility components uh while building B will continue for another two floors. Uh shifting over to the uh materiality here. Again, it's a [snorts] little tricky on the screen here to see. I think it's a little bit clearer on our presentation, but um the building is comprised of full depth brick facade at the ground level um with a kind of darker color. It's a Belin Belden black diamond, which is kind of a uh manganese iron spot looking material. Um that works in conjunction with aluminum window frame, storefronts, uh all clear glass, etc. As we shift to the upper floors, uh we're looking at using a a Beldin clarret, which is basically a

kind of a purplish red color, I'd say, um for the remaining floors. And this would be on both buildings. Uh and then we have sort of an accent condition within these triple zones uh to kind of reduce the scale of the building. uh that will be clad in in an open joint raincreen fiber cement system uh with aluminum windows or yeah we're working through the windows right now but uh it could be aluminum could be fiberglass um so we're working through that on a budget standpoint but again uh carrying the sort of materiality through the entirety of the building that's on all exterior uh facades of the structure u really making a point to make sure we have long-term high quality materials on the on the facade um shifting to the just flat at elevations here and we do have some renderings further along here. Um this is the railroad side. So ground level uh of both buildings are you know large large zones of glazing really uh articulated and clear um for our grocery and retail experiences and then the buildings extending from upward from there uh have a little bit of different treatment. Uh the upper floors on building A uh have sort of three floors of verticality that that's punctuated by a horizontal band and then a single floor of sing punched openings with some indented areas for balconies. And then the uh building B is treated a little bit more like a grid elevation. Um so we have both vertical and horizontal uh overlays uh in that but using the same materiality and coloration uh to really tie the two buildings together. Um, as we wrap around 21st Street, uh, on this side, we have the retail that wraps around about a third of the facade. Uh, before we get to the, uh, loading loading dock zones, uh, for the large large truck servicing the grocery store. They're located roughly the same location across the street from the, uh, district, no, not the district, uh, edge 1909 building, which has its loading along 21st. Uh, our parking garage

access is directly adjacent to that. And then we have our town houses that start from there. Uh in this view, you're actually seeing the the five floors of the building A and then seeing the taller building beyond. So, uh you can kind of see the courtyard side or the the the al the view corridor side of the building on building B is really heavily glazed utilizing that same grid assembly and really making sure that we um we provide a good experience for the residents. wrapping around the riverside. Again, same materiality wrapping around the corner here. Um, really want to make sure this is visible and clear for all uh experiences, people across the river, on the bridges, on the trail, etc. Um, and making this, you know, an exciting and unique uh color and and and grid assembly of the building. So, just delay it here. Oh, there we go. All right. So uh this is just a quick rendering at the corner of railroad and 21st. So the edge building is in the foreground to the left. You see the cork factory and the helm in the distance. Um so again you're seeing the sort of expression of the material expression of the glazing uh on the upper floors as well as the the clarity of the ground level for our retail space. Um it's a little challenging to see here, but we do have that that sort of ups that that um raised plinth along the retail space uh on this building A here. Uh which will be provided with multiple access points uh throughout that length of sidewalkked so people can access that from all different directions. Uh this is a view essentially from the brick work site looking across the street and down that view corridor. So there is a slight grade differential here. So you're seeing kind of a a slope upward of the vehicular ramp there. um to the uh to the access point for the lobby. Uh and then you do have the buildings uh on both sides. Um and building B benefits from having a large balcony along this side with then the sort of massing the higher massing of

the building set back that 10-ft uh buffer zone. Another view. This is from across the river. Uh so you kind of see it more in the context of the other larger scale neighbors. You have the large zone of the cork factory, the tower portion uh to the to the northwest there. The helm is adjacent to this parcel which is you know roughly the same size and then the edge as we uh as we sort of step the building down from the highest building the cork factory down to the lowest the edge 1909 to the uh to the southwest. And then last view here is of the trail side of the building. Um so we really want to zoom in and and show um what we're trying to do here from a pedestrian experience from the public experience. Uh right now for those who are familiar this is a rather overgrown portion of the trail uh because of the proximity of the building existing structure to the trail uh becomes very narrow here. So we're trying to enlarge that tie it more so into what happens across the street on 21st where there's much more expansive space on the edge site as well as what's happening on the helman cork factory. Uh we do have a a great differential here as well. So, we're accommodating that with sort of stepped concrete planters and steps uh where then we get up to the residential townhouse zone which will have kind of small front yards. Uh so, really trying to bring down the scale of these buildings and make this a nice really attractive space for uh for people walking by, biking by and and for those who uh who reside here. So, I think with that that is our presentation. So,

thank you. Uh, at this time during briefing, we do not take public testimony, but we do hear comments from the commission. And just before we open it up to other commissioners, uh, I did want to note that my firm has represented the property owner on unrelated matters that have since concluded. Um, but I won't be commenting substantively on this uh, application, just to be clear. Uh, but I think we have a commissioner, Commissioner Dick's hand is raised. Please go ahead. Okay. Yeah. Several just short questions. Um, first of all, do you have a working title for this building, these buildings, I'm sorry, this project? A working name, you mean?

Yes. Um, I do not believe so. Uh, Scott is on the call here as well. He he can certainly chime in, jump in if he needs to. No, we we are not working with the working marketing title for the Okay. Okay. Am I correct in assuming there are there this is all market uh uh rate uh expense rentals and and so on that you don't you do not have uh affordable housing included in this correct? Okay. And uh you you have you have explained I guess pretty well what you're going to do within the the flood plane too.

Okay. Um yeah I think that's oh I know the the other other question was how many uh town houses are there as opposed to apartments? 23 23. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Maz. Nope. Okay. I'm going first. Okay. Sure. How you guys doing today? Um, great project to me. Looks like you're going to open up at uh the river. Real nice. Um, I like the design. Why was the one building higher than the other one? because of how how you're set back on the property or what space you had left on a property.

Uh it's really a contextual thing to kind of create that step down and it also helped us achieve the number of units that the developer wanted so that those two extra floors really helped. But when we really looked at it, the contextual step made a lot of sense. Uh the parking garage, it's all above ground. Yes. Okay. Lieutenant, are there any other commissioners with comments or questions? Uh, Commissioner Woo.

Yeah. Um, great looking projects. Uh, I echo Commissioner Maz's, uh, um, sentiment on that. Um, I think it blends well with the existing architecture in the area like the pork factory and like the retail component along Railroad Street. I did have a question uh to Mr. said um a comment in the beginning about the um open space uh being private. Um does that that does not include the riverfront trail, correct? Or how how is um how's that going to be uh separated from?

Yeah, yeah. No, that's a that's a great distinction. No, the the uh riverfront piece is totally open to the public u along what I was referring to is the internal piece which is actually going to be public but it's just going to be restricted. So so it's going to be normal hours but the trail itself no restrictions. Okay. Thank you. Uh seeing no additional comments from commissioners, uh thank you so much for the presentation. We will see you back here in two weeks. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you.

It is. [clears throat] Thank you. Uh it is 1:37. Our hearing and action portion of the meeting does not begin until 2:00. So we will take a short recess and pick up there at 2. Um before we come back, if you are here for the zoning text amendment for the signs in the Northshore Entertainment District, that item has been postponed until November 18th, 2025. Please check the website for updated agendas and details. I'll announce that again during the hearing and action portion, but I will see everybody back here at 2. Thank you. Alexa, schedule. Alexa, schedule a Um,

There are there are no minutes. Okay. Thank you. Was that no good this week? Okay. I missed it. Oh, actually that's the only one I saw which was excellent. It's true. All right, I'll get up.

If the court reporter is online, Oh, that's loud. If the court reporter is online, could you please raise your hand so we can promote you? Hello. Hello. Thank you so much for joining. All right. Are you all set?

Oops. Great. All right. Uh, good afternoon and welcome to the hearing and action portion of the planning commission meeting for November 4th, 2025. Before we get started, I'll do a quick access check. Uh, slash roll call. Commissioner Blackwell, present. Chair Burton Faulk. Commissioner Dick, present. Commissioner Maza, Commissioner Gam, present. Commissioner O'Neal, present. Commissioner Cantonia, present. Commissioner Ruiz, present. And Commissioner Woo, present.

Great. Uh so on today's agenda we will be starting with approval of commission minutes followed by correspondence uh plan of lots and then hearing and action. Um we will start with approval of commission minutes and there are none so check that off. Uh second item is correspondence. uh planning commission is in receipt of correspondence uh from the following regarding DCP-mp225-0000195. That's council bill 2025-93 in Hazlewood. And we received correspondence from Aaron Breen, Janet Lundday, Rick Weiss, Abby Noise, Dennis Burke, and Kush Panda. Uh we also received regarding uh citywide items correspondence from Mary Lions. The next item up is plan of lots. We will be hearing uh the application for DCP-lot-2025-0000253 at 7061 Lamington Avenue. This is a major subdivision in the Lincoln Lamington Belmar area and presenting that is Mr. Shepki.

Thank you. Um, so this is the 7061 Lmington Avenue subdivision. This is the proposed subdivision of one parcel into two parcels. The proposed lot one would have front frontage on Churchland Street. It would be 40,19 ft in area. The proposed lot two would have frontage on Lamington Avenue and would be 79,646 ft in area. A school building is located on the subject property and this is a major subdivision that was first reviewed by the planning commission on October 21st, 2025. Staff's recommended motion is to approve the 7061 Lvington Avenue subdivision. Thank you.

Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve? So moved. So moved. Commissioner Dick. Do I have a second? Second. Second. Commissioner Cantonia, I'll take roll call. Commissioner Blackwell, present. Sorry. Regarding the uh subdivision, I or nay. Commissioner Blackwell. Oh, I'm sorry. It's forgive me. No worries. Yes. Yes. Okay. Uh, Commissioner Dick, I. Uh, Commissioner Gam, I. Commissioner O'Neal I. Commissioner Cantonia

I. Commissioner Ruiz I. And Commissioner Woo. I.

All right. And the motion carries. Uh, next up on our agenda is the hearing and action. Um, initially there were two items. Uh, we'll read the first in and then note that the second has been postponed. Um the first item is DCP-HN-2025-0000208. Uh this involves multiple parcels uh for the historic nomination of the Alageney Arsenal in Lawrenville. And then just before we move on to that, uh we do want to note that the zoning text amendment for signs in the Northshore Entertainment District, uh that's DCP MPZC 202500230 has been continued until November 18th. Uh please continue to check the website for updates on that uh item and agenda details. Um, skipping back to the historic nomination of the Alagany Arsenal, we'll be hearing from Miss Reek.

Thank you, Vice Chair. Um, I'm here presenting the historic nomination DCPHN 202500208. It's for the Alageney Arsenal Officers Quarters, wall segments, and magazine structures. There are multiple properties with multiple owners. It's located in the Lawrenville, Lower Lawrenville, and Central Lawrenville neighborhood. Um, it was submitted on August 20th, 2025. The historic nomination of the Alageney Arsenal Officers Quarters, wall segments, and magazine structures. The nomination was attached to the staff report for commission review. The property owners were sent notice of this nomination by the city on August 12th, 2025. A development activities meeting was not held as there is no registered community organization in this area. A hearing for finding a reasonable cause before the Historic Review Commission was held on October 1st, 2025. And a public hearing is being held tomorrow with the historic review commission, which is November 5th, 2025 with regards to a recommendation to council. Uh per 11:01.03G 03G of the zoning code. The planning commission or of the preservation code. The planning commission shall consider the effects of designation on adjoining properties and surrounding neighborhoods within the framework of established planning, development, and land use objectives for the city of Pittsburgh. Uh the recommended motion is that the planning commission of the city of Pittsburgh votes to provide a positive recommendation to city council regarding this historic designation.

Now I'm going to do the presentation.

Thank you. All right. Uh, next. All right. So, uh, we're looking, as I already said, it at the Alageney Arsenal property, which is located right on the border of central and lower Lawrenville, where that red um, identification thingy is. Next, this shows the full extent of the property. Um, so this nomination is only for certain elements within that Alagany Arsenal area. just for um for for sort of information's sake, we have here in the middle uh the Arsenal Middle School and this has already been landmarked um individually landmarked locally in 1999. And then this section up here uh which is sort of the core of the historic structures was individually designated in um 1977. So next. All right. So this is one half of the site. This is the area up towards Pennav. You can see in here identification of all the resources that are nominated. There are a great many wall segments that you can see with the dashed lines. There is um there are two magazine buildings and there's an officer quarters building. Um so this this shows the part up towards Pennav. You can see them identified there. Next. Then this is the part that's south of Butler or south south of no north of Butler, sorry. This is the part that is on the other side of Butler between the river and Butler. And this shows the officer's quarters and uh several more of the wall segments. Next. Okay. The resources included in the nomination, the stonewall segments, which are circa 1814. There are 10 located on 39th Street, three on Penn Avenue, one at the corner of Penn Avenue and 40th Street, and five on 40th Street. Also, the Officer's Quarters,

which was built in 1866, the Powder Magazine, which was built in 1814, and magazine buildings 1 and two, which are circa 1860s. Next, here are some historic photos showing the arsenal. The one at the top is from 1908. you can see sort of uh the wall sections or the full wall at that point in time there. And the one on the right hand side shows uh a wall segment that's currently existing on 39th Street. Next, uh the picture at the left is a historic photo from 1937 of the Powder House structure. And the one on the right is the Powder Magazine um as it currently appears uh at this at this time. Next. And here are some current images of the other buildings. There's the first one at the top on the left is magazine one. The one on the right is magazine 2. And then the one at the bottom is the officer's quarters building. Next. Okay. Where we are in the process. So, as I said before, this went to historic review commission for um a determination of viability or reasonable cause on October 2nd, 2025. Today it's coming before a planning commission regarding a recommendation to council and tomorrow it will go to the historic review commission for a recommendation to city council and then after that it will go on to city council for a public hearing and eventually a vote. Next [gasps] um just to reiterate per title 1101.03G 03G. The city planning commission shall consider effects of designation on adjoining properties and surrounding neighborhoods within the framework of established planning, development, and land use objectives for the city of Pittsburgh. Next, these are the criteria for designation. Uh the property um meets these criterias for designation. Um its location number one, its location is a site of a

significant historic or prehistoric event or activity. its location as a site of an important archaeological resource, which is number six. Number seven, its association with important cultural or social aspects or events in the history of the city of Pittsburgh, the state of Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic region, or the United States. Criteria number nine, its representation of a cultural, historic, architectural, archaeological, or related theme expressed through distinctive areas, properties, sites, structures, or objects that may or may not be contiguous. And number 10, its unique location or distinctive physical appearance or presence representing an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood community or the city of Pittsburgh. Next, uh also there uh determination there's been a determination of integrity. Um the the the piece of code for that is uh the commission shall consider the integrity of historic structures, historic districts. It's actually the um historic review commission should look at the integrity of historic structures, historic districts, historic sites, and historic objects. Um, and the nominator feels that Alageney Arsenal's office quarters, wall segments, and magazine structures have sufficient integrity to be listed as a historic property under the five criteria identified above. Next, that's it. Thank you. At this time, we take public comments. If you are making comments, you will have three minutes. Please state your name, any organization or entity that you represent, and your address. We do not have anyone in the room. Does anyone have their hands raised to speak online? None. Uh then we open the floor to commissioners. I have a few questions if there are no other commissioner questions. How many property owners are included in the area being nominated?

Um, one 2 3 4 5 6 7. I can list them off if you'd like. Yeah, I think that'd be helpful because I understand the city and the school district include are included in that list, but there are other Yeah, the I I just have the names and the parcel numbers, but I'll is just the names. Okay, you want the parcel numbers? Okay. Uh, [snorts] Arsenal 2011 Phase 1 LLC, Arsenal 2011 Phase 2 LLC, Cannonbutt LLC, Butler and 40th LLC, the Board of Public Education of the School District of Pittsburgh, the City of Pittsburgh, and the County of Alagany.

Okay. And there was I don't have any correspondence on the list. There was no correspondence or communicate I'm sorry, no follow-up correspondence or communications with those entities after the notices were. Okay. Um a little surprised by that with We do send them uh we do send them notification of the um the meetings. Yes.

Um uh yeah. So we uh I uh this changed staff partway through so things are a little disjointed. So, we know that they received uh notification of nomination. Uh they may not have received notification of the meetings, but they will receive notification now that we're back on track of the council um public hearing. So, they will still have one opportunity to speak publicly if they feel that they've not been okay. Properly uh informed.

Okay. Yeah. I I'm surprised with Arsenal 2011 that there hasn't been any follow-up communication. I know that the officer's quarters was discussed when we saw the second phase of that project. Um, so I I'm just a little surprised that we haven't heard from them. Um, but normally I rely pretty heavily on what the historic review commission says about these applications and not having heard from them. Um, our scope is pretty limited to determining whether this, you know, negatively impacts the adjacent properties. Um, and not having heard from them, I, you know, I can't say that I need to vote against this. Um,

yeah, the code actually doesn't designate which has to go first. So, planning commission can Yeah, the situation has um, and then I think I just had a quick follow-up question that I'm now forgetting. Um, something else. Okay, so the Oh, who was the nominator? I'm The nominator was Pittsburgh Water. Pittsburgh Water. Pittsburgh Water and Sewer, but now they're going by Pittsburgh Water. Okay. But they don't own any property here.

They do not. This was I believe this was a piece of um uh remedi not remediation. Why am I blanking on the word? Um mitigation for previous work that was done. This nomination was an agreement was agreed upon as mitigation for a previous project. Interesting. Okay. I was also just wondering because the officer's quarters was discussed as part of Arsenal 2011 if it was related to that project, but um and maybe but it wasn't that owner. Okay. Well, we'll make sure for sure that they get written notification again about the council, right? Um hearing public absolutely public hearing council.

Okay. Are there any other commissioner comments? If not, do I have a motion to rec recommend historic nomination? So moved. So moved, Commissioner Blackwell and seconded by Commissioner Dick. I'll take a roll call. Uh Commissioner Blackwell I. Commissioner Dick I. Uh Commissioner Gam I. Commissioner O'Neal abstain. Commissioner Cantonia I. Uh Commissioner Ruiz I. and Commissioner Woo. I

Okay, the eyes have it. We are recommending historic uh designation to council. There will be, as Miss Reed noted, a hearing before the historic review commission tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. And then this will be heard uh by city council. Uh thank you so much. Uh that concludes our hearing in action portion of today's meeting. Do we have a director's report?

Uh I'll be very brief. uh you know chair uh just to give commissioners an update on uh PGH 2050 uh the city's comprehensive planning effort. Um we will be coming uh before you to give kind of a more detailed update and briefing uh just some highlights. Um we did pass uh over 25,000 uh residents and and people uh stakeholders in the city that we've engaged uh through this process just over this year. uh which you know I'd say is a pretty impressive number uh you know that you know both uh in the 5,300 people that we've reached digitally in the almost 20,000 that we've had that we've had participate through meetings uh you know with the city around the comprehensive planning effort um you know has been and that that those numbers are through the beginning of October so we haven't included uh what we've had over the last month which uh you know I know uh some commissioners were involved uh but um We did just conclude holding a round a round of scenario planning workshops. Uh you know we had uh two at the MG innovation center. Um we had one in the west end and one virtual uh scenario workshop where um you know residents really worked through uh three distinct scenarios. um you know one around uh the attainable city which is really focused on how we build uh and and look at a look at a future uh which sees you know is kind of focused on housing growth. Um the prosperous city which is really you know how we as a city uh look at how we grow focused on economic opportunity and diversity or economic diversity and opportunity and a scenario that was the climate ready city which is really how we focus our you know what the future of the city is you know based on adaptability and resiliency. So, um, we did just conclude those four workshops. We'll be coming back to the commission with an update as to what we've heard,

you know, through those workshops as well as, uh, you know, since the last time that I presented kind of a a longer director's report. Um, but did want to number one signal that we'll be coming back for a larger briefing with the commission on the comprehensive plan and our progress. Uh number two, express you know kind of you know the the you know the milestones that we've hit as far as engagement and number three just kind of walk through uh the work that we've done with scenario planning with the public. So happy to take any questions now. again, you know, I think we will, you know, whether that is in December or in January, be coming uh to, like I said, to the commission for for a more full uh briefing with a lot more detail.

Great. Thank you. Any questions? All right. Thank you so much. And with that, do I have a motion um to close the hearing? So move. So moved. Second. Second. All in favor? I Thank you so much, everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Have a good day. Bye. If you haven't already, go vote. Go vote. Bye. Bye. Bye.