The Urban Design Commission on July 23 recommended approval to the Planning Commission for SPUD‑01748 at 2108 Southwest Eleventh Street (Stockyard City area) but required several changes intended to reduce outdoor storage impacts on an adjacent residential block and to add landscaping and controlled access provisions.

Planning staff presented the application and said the applicant had removed several initially requested uses, but staff urged elimination of the “automotive and equipment storage” use from the SPUD’s permitted uses because that category can include truck and taxi storage, outdoor parts storage and similar intensive vehicle storage uses. Staff noted a tall concrete block screen wall already exists but said even behind that wall the use would intensify impacts directly across the street from single‑family residences. Staff also opposed introducing a new driveway from SW Eleventh Street, preferring access remain on Exchange Avenue only; staff recommended requiring street trees at 30 feet on center along SW Eleventh Street to replace some previously failed plantings.

David Box, attorney for the applicant, told the commission the current on‑site condition is largely outdoor storage and that the applicant’s plan is to build indoor storage and a building that would end outdoor storage. “We actually view it as a better way to develop the site than what's there now,” Box said, and the applicant agreed to landscape the frontage. Box also said the applicant needed the ability to provide a single access point on Eleventh Street for a potential second tenant and offered to condition that access with controlled gated entry and a site‑proof fence along Eleventh.

Commission discussion focused on neighborhood impacts, precedent and the mix of industrial uses near residential blocks. Commissioners asked whether a gated entry would remain open during business hours and whether allowing access on Eleventh could prompt additional industrialization of the block. The applicant replied that any gate would be intended for security (closed at night) and that the proposal represents a down‑zone from prior on‑site outdoor storage because the plan builds enclosed structures.

The commission voted to recommend approval to Planning Commission with these conditions: (A) remove Use 8,300.21 (automotive and equipment storage) from the allowed uses list; (B) allow access from Exchange Avenue and one gated, controlled access point on SW Eleventh Street (applicant committed to gated access control); (C) require street trees along SW Eleventh Street at 30 feet on center as part of landscape compliance; and (D) rezone Lot 5, Block 8, Stockyards Addition, removing it from the Scenic River Overlay Design District (SRODD) and putting it in the Stockyard City Transitional Overlay District (SYT). The applicant agreed to the landscaping and removal of the outdoor storage use and to commit to a gated, controlled access point if approved.

Staff emphasized the revised SPUD will be forwarded to Planning Commission on short notice (the item was scheduled for the Planning Commission meeting the next day), and asked that the commission’s recommended conditions be included in that submittal.

Clarifying details in the record: staff cited a prior SPUD that allowed outdoor truck/parts storage on the site (SPUD 00185) and stated the trees required along Eleventh had been planted previously in some places and had failed in others; the applicant agreed to replant per the ordinance requirement. The commission’s recommendation will be recorded in the Planning Commission packet for its next hearing.