Parking lot landscaping requirements as set forth in the city ordinance faced variance requests from two individual business projects during the Plymouth Board of Zoning Appeals meeting on Tuesday night.
Architect Mark Peters speaking on behalf of the Pilgrim Manor Nursing Home explained the expansion project which includes improvements to the front parking area. They were granted three variances to skip the shrubs, reduce the setback from the right-of-way from 10 feet to 7 feet and not have to have the require curbs and parking barriers.
Richard Hebard, architect from South Bend spoke on behalf of the New Tennis Court Project in Centennial Park. They too were seeking several variances with the first one being a reduction in the number of required parking spaces. The City ordinance calls for 280 and the variance approved was for 64 spaces. The other two variances approved were for landscaping, eliminating all trees and the interior parking island and landscaping.
Incidentally, the Plymouth Plan Commission discussed some of the parking lot landscaping requirements. Ralph Booker, Plan Consultant said people are always asking for exemptions including the city on the Bauer building parking lot.
Commission president, Doug Feece said, “It’s cost prohibitive and confusing.”
Fred Webster said, “Some of the parking lot landscaping requirements could be safety issues in some areas.”
Booker will look at parking lot landscaping requirement from other zoning ordinances and report back to the Plan Commission.
