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Planning Commission approves Union Depot Phase 3 construction plan, final plat and site plan
Summary
The Planning Commission approved three related items enabling Phase 3 of the Union Depot mixed-use development at 6896 U.S. Highway 70: construction plan approval, a 2.79-acre final plat, and a site plan for an 82-unit building with 10,608 square feet of commercial space. Staff recommended approval with conditions and the applicant agreed.
The Planning Commission approved three related items enabling Phase 3 of the Union Depot mixed-use development at 6896 U.S. Highway 70 north of Stage Road: construction plan approval, a 2.79-acre final plat and a site plan for an 82-unit mixed-use building with 10,608 square feet of ground-floor commercial space.
Staff told the commission the property is part of a 73.9-acre development that received a special use permit from the Board of Mayor and Aldermen in December 2021 and that the applications before the commission met staff standards subject to conditions. "Staff has reviewed this application and recommend approval with conditions," Director Detrick Taylor said.
The final plat and construction-plan approvals cover a 2.79-acre parcel within the larger Union Depot development and allow the developer to construct a mixed-use building with 82 loft-style apartments above the commercial space. The lofts will range from about 530 square feet to about 1,108 square feet; staff and the applicant said approximately 12 to 15 units are likely studio-sized. The parcel sits along the west side of U.S. Highway 70 with access from Union Depot Drive and Talcott Lane and will include a dumpster/trash compactor enclosure, EV charging locations and a streetscape along Union Depot Drive and Portage Drive.
Kim, planning staff, summarized the three, related requests and told the commission that staff had reviewed the construction, drainage, erosion-control and utility plans and recommended approval with conditions. The applicant, Roy Lamica of EFI Global, confirmed he had "no objections" to the conditions and told the commission the team was "good" with the staff report. "Conditions are all good for us. Conditions are all okay with us. No problem with the conditions at all," Lamica said.
Commissioners asked several technical questions during discussion, including the unit-size mix and how many studio units would be provided. Director Taylor said the detailed unit breakdown was included with the design-review submittal and estimated the smallest-unit range would contain "probably more like 12 to 15" units.
Staff also noted nearby traffic-signal work: a traffic signal at the site was scheduled to be placed in flash mode for roughly a week and then go into full operation, information staff said had been posted on social media; the commission did not take further action on the traffic timing beyond noting the schedule.
Each of the three items — construction plan approval, approval of the final plat/subdivision for 2.79 acres, and approval of the site plan for the mixed-use building — passed on roll-call votes. The commission recorded the following votes: Greg Easton — yes; Alderman Young — yes; Ken Demetrio — yes; Jim Lamb — yes; Paul Kaiser — yes; David Hunt — yes. No abstentions or no votes were recorded in the transcript.
The approvals allow the developer to proceed with construction documents and site work subject to the conditions listed in the staff reports. The staff reports and conditions were not read into the record in full during the meeting; those conditions are documented in the planning office files and the applicants acknowledged them on the record.
No public comments on the Union Depot Phase 3 items were recorded in the transcript. The commission deferred an unrelated agenda item (officer elections) to the next meeting and closed the session after routine correspondence and adjournment remarks.
