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Work session on proposed revisions and transportation improvements to the rezoning submission for 430, 440 and 444 Maple Avenue West from C-1 Local Commercial Zone and RS-16 Single Family Detached Residential Zone to Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) Zone for the proposed 444 Maple project.
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BACKGROUND SUMMARY:
The applicant has submitted proposed revisions and transportation improvements to 444 Maple, the proposed MAC rezoning of a four-story, mixed-use building that includes 160 multi-family rental units located above approximately 20,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.
On July 9, 2018, Town Council held a public hearing on the proposed MAC rezoning. Town Council closed the public hearing on July 9 but kept the public record open until August 15, 2018 for written comments. The rezoning application was considered at the August 20 Town Council meeting, and with consent from the applicant, was deferred to a later Town Council meeting (currently scheduled for October 29, 2018) along with a work session prior to the regular meeting.
OVERVIEW:
The proposed revisions to 444 Maple include changes to the massing and landscape plans as well as proposed transportation improvements. Some of the more significant changes include opening the covered plazas to the sky on both Maple Avenue and Nutley Street, combining the two covered plazas along Maple Avenue into one larger plaza/green space (approximately 30’ x 68’), adding additional fourth floor terraces around the building, proposing to extend the left turn lanes on Maple Avenue and Nutley Street, and providing separate right and left turn lanes from the site onto Maple Avenue. The applicant will provide a presentation at the work session further explaining all of the proposed revisions and transportation improvements.
It should be noted that following the Planning Commission public hearing on May 23, 2018, the applicant made several changes to the project in response to comments made at the public hearing as well as those made at the May 17, 2018, Board of Architecture Review (BAR) meeting. Some of the most significant changes included the following: sections of the top floor were set back six feet; segments of the façade were recessed by five feet instead of two feet; a portion of the elevated walkway along Nutley Street SW was removed and landscaping added on both sides of the sidewalk; the rear elevated courtyard was eliminated; and a ten-foot-wide planting buffer with evergreens was added along the rear property line, therefore no longer necessitating the request for a modification of requirements for landscaping.