Board approves lighting and landscaping plan for 550 West Broad Street with staff conditions

The East Franklinton Review Board approved a lighting and landscaping certificate of approval for 550 West Broad Street (COA2500464) after staff recommended conditions to reduce glare and add plantings to screen adjacent parking and headlight glare.

Staff summary and board action - Planning staff said the proposal would retain existing street trees on West Broad, add eight small planted beds of assorted annuals, and install new downlighting along first-floor and garage facades consistent with East Franklinton plan recommendations for fully shielded, downward-directed fixtures. - Staff recommended approval subject to replacing proposed up/down fixtures with fully downward-directed fixtures (the "L2" style in the staff discussion), adding additional landscaping along the North Mill/Gift Street facade to mitigate headlight intrusion from adjacent parking, and generally conforming the submitted design to the board's discussion on corners and sidewalk activation. - The board approved the application with those staff conditions. The motion directed staff and the applicant to remove turf shown in a number of plan areas and replace it with planted material and to arrange plantings so commercial bays on Broad Street read as an active urban edge.

Why it matters: The conditions aim to reduce light pollution adjacent to an existing park and to improve pedestrian and street-level activation along Broad Street as new sidewalks and street trees are installed under the new district code.

Discussion highlights - Staff explained the application also interacts with…