There were around 60 in attendance at the April 26, 2022, public meeting of the Broad Ripple Village Association [BRVA] Land Use and Development committee that was held in the basement of Northminster Presbyterian Church, 1660 Kessler Boulevard.

There were five items on the agenda, in bold below. This was a marathon event, lasting two and a half hours.

This item was canceled because the representative was unable to attend the meeting. It will be rescheduled.

This item was also presented before the committee last month. The converted house has seven therapists operating in it on a variance of development standards to allow for commercial use of a residential-zoned property. The owner of the building is selling it and asked the tenants to vacate. The tenants decided to purchase the property and rezone it as commercial (MU-2). No changes are planned for the exterior of the building. The petitioner stated that the rezoning (not just a temporary variance) is require to obtain commercial insurance and financing. the committee voted to support this request.

This item was to show the proposed layout of the new Broad Ripple fire station to be built north of the canal on the east side of College Avenue. This was the long-time location of Johnny's Market.

While the committee was generally in favor of the design, there was a long discussion about what could be done to minimize curb cuts on College and to widen, and continue, the sidewalk. The committee suggested that the sidewalk should be widened and the planting area between the sidewalk and the parking lot be reduced. Another suggestion was to remove some of the parking spaces to widen the sidewalk. It was stated that this station has room for fire apparatus expansions in the future and would need those parking spots when additional employees would be added.

Tom Healy, in the audience, suggested to eliminate the College Avenue entrance to the fire station's car parking lot, where employees and visitors would park, and only use the alley access. This would eliminate of the curb cuts along College, making it safer for pedestrians.

The committee requested that instead of ending the new sidewalk at the north edge of the fire station property, it should be extended to the corner of 64th Street, in front of the American Legion Post. The committee said either the City or the Legion could pay for this much needed pedestrian amenity.

All of this was considered and the developers agreed to rework the design and appear before the committee in May to show what could be done.

This proposal is to raze four homes, three along Cornell and one on Ferguson, to make room for a four-story headquarters building with a restaurant on the ground floor. The four properties would be re-platted to become one, L-shaped property. The larger portion along Cornell would hold the building. The smaller piece jutting to the west, across the alley, would be a surface parking lot. The alley would be vacated to allow for this development.

The committee was concerned about the vacation of the alley, as that would "permanently" remove this alley from vehicular or pedestrian traffic. It was stated that many times in the past, these types of alley vacations have resulted in removing pathways that would be useful today.

The building is planned to step down to three stories on the Cornell side. It would include interior parking for 20 vehicles. There are 25 additional spaces in the surface lot to the west.

The headquarters is expected to have 80 to 100 employees. The restaurant is expected to be open when the headquarters is not, easing the need to parking.

Six neighbors to this project were in opposition. One stated that this kind of development in a residential-style neighborhood is exactly what happened in Fishers. It is why they left Fishers to move to Broad Ripple, and now that kind of development will be across the street from them.

Tom Healy, in the audience, suggested that the Ferguson exit from the proposed surface parking lot be eliminated. This would allow the sidewalk to be continuous along Ferguson, without a curb cut, making pedestrian travel safer.

The petitioners agreed to take these items into consideration and come before the committee in May with an updated proposal and additional full-color renderings and request a vote at that time.

This property redevelopment has been before the committee a number of times over the years. This proposal is the latest design of a shipping container food court and entertainment venue for the site of the old Broad Ripple Steakhouse, which is on the southwest corner of Winthrop and Westfield.

The layout includes two storage containers along Westfield and two along Winthrop. These would be available for chefs to use as kitchens for the food court. A bocce field is planned for the courtyard area. There is a stage area for music. The existing small house along Winthrop, on the southeast corner of the lot, would become a kitchen for grilled gourmet sausages.

The committee has supported this proposal in the past and continued to do so tonight. It did request that the mostly monotone exterior be modified to add some color.

The committee voted to support this petition.

The next public meeting of the committee is scheduled for Tuesday, May 24, 2022, at 6pm, at Northminster Presbyterian Church.