The July public meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association (BRVA) Land Use and Development committee was held on July 23, 2013, at Broad Ripple Park. There were three items on the agenda.

1) 911 Broad Ripple Avenue - This request is from the restaurant Sushi Bar (pictured above), between Triton Tap and Subway. A variance of development standards is being requested from the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development to provide for a 350 square foot outdoor deck (200 square feet permitted with current zoning) along the Broad Ripple Avenue side of the building.

The plan for the deck calls for leaving the existing concrete steps (currently covered by mulch) in place and building the deck over them. The lower deck wrap would hide the steps from view. The deck will add 28 to 30 new seats for the restaurant. There was a commitment added to not enclose the deck to make it into a year-round room.

The committee voted to support this request.

2) 5915-25 College Avenue - This agenda item was for information only. Tom Willey and Scott Lindenberg came before the committee to discuss their plans to build a 2.5 story office building on the lot just to the north of Fox Stained Glass at 59th and College Avenue. There are currently two houses on the two lots that would be combined for this project.

The proposed project would be two floors approximately 2400 square feet each. The top floor would about 1200 square feet, set back from the College Avenue side. Plans are for the ground floor to be a small retail business and the upper floors to be office space, including the office space of the project's developers, Reliant Partners. The building would occupy about 1/4th of the lot, with the remaining space used for a parking lot for 21 cars and a dumpster. The committee was receptive to the idea and offered many suggestions and design elements to consider.

3) 1111 E. 61st Street - No one from Buckingham Development appeared for this agenda item. The committee explained that concerns have been raised about tree and foliage removal on the site during the apartment expansion taking place along 61st Street at the Monon Trail. In 2010, commitments were agreed to about the removal and replacements of plants. The committee is following up to assure that those commitments are being adhered to.

The next public meeting of the committee will be Tuesday, August 27, 2013, at 6 pm at the Broad Ripple Park Family Center.