There were approximately 25 in attendance at the February public meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association's (BRVA) Land Use and Development committee meeting. It was held on February 28 in the basement of Northminster Presbyterian Church. The BRVA does not approve or deny requests, but decides whether or not to support a petition that will be heard downtown by the appropriate City of Indianapolis department.

There were four items on the agenda, which is in bold below. Photos of all of the properties are on www.broadripplegazette.com

This item was a variance to allow Natural Born Juicers to open in the small building on the west end of 6528 Cornell Avenue. Currently this is the garage on the parcel that is home to Athletic Annex Running Centre [C5 on map]. Natural Born Juicers is currently on Mass Ave and is looking to expand into Broad Ripple. Using the garage at 6528 is very similar to the use across Coil Street by Rene's Bakery at 6524 Cornell.

There were discussions about lighting and signage. Everyone came to an agreement on all issues and the committee voted unanimously to support the petition.

B. 6311 Westfield Boulevard, Todd Morris, owner of the property regarding changes to the development of the property to provide commercial and residential spaces.

This item was for the apartments/retail/parking garage project scheduled to replace the building at 6311 Westfield [F6 on map], just to the north of Brugge Brasserie. The changes to the project since the last appearance before the committee were discussed. The project is currently planned to have 82 apartments, 4900 sq ft of offices, 3800 sq ft of retail, and 85 parking spaces in the garage.

There was quite a bit of parking talk. The parking spots along Riviera (runs from Westfield east to McDonald's) would remain, but would move south and Riviera would be narrowed to 22 feet to slow traffic. There was opposition to the proposed parking spots along Westfield on the west end of the property. It was suggested that the Monon Trail crosswalk could be reconfigured from crossing Winthrop and Westfield to crossing Riviera and Westfield. The parking garage for the project would generate only about 12 to 15 public spaces during evenings and weekends, with the rest used for the residents.

Another subject was the project's application for TIF funds. The developers are requesting $2.4 million. This is the kind of TIF where the City would issue bonds for the amount to be repaid by future revenues generated by the project. In the event of a shortfall, the developer would fill in the short funds to pay off the loan.

No vote was taken as this item was for information only.

This item concerns building a BurgerFuel restaurant in the space previously occupied by Quality Leasing at 6320 Guilford Avenue [G4 on map]. BurgerFuel is a restaurant created by Chris Mason in New Zealand. There are over 80 now around the world. This will be the first one in the United States. Chris described his restaurant and answered questions about landscaping and signage. He expects to be open on May 1. This item was also for information only.

This item was for the opening of HoiTea ToiTea in the space between Crackers Comedy Club and Louie's Wine Dive on College Avenue [H3 on map] in the old Peppers location. Owner Alexandra Harris described the renovations and said the tea room is expected to open on April 1. This item was also for information only.

The next public meeting of the BRVA Land Use and Development committee is scheduled for Tuesday, March 28, at 6pm at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 1660 Kessler Boulevard [KK28 on map]