Zoning Administrator Public Hearing Opening Speech
Good afternoon, Zoning Administrator, neighbors, and fellow community members. My name is Adlai Grutas, and I am one of the owners of The Carnelian. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss with you how we responded to your suggestions and concerns regarding the Carnelian project. I am here today to update you on the tangible actions we have made and to highlight how these changes will benefit both our residents and the community as a whole.
Over the past several months, we have listened closely to your feedback. Our goal has always been to create a welcoming environment for our residents while maintaining the friendly, comfortable feel of this neighborhood. To that end, we’ve made specific improvements that address both the Zoning Administrator’s requests and the thoughts shared by our neighbors.
We heard that Warren Road can become congested, especially during our large events. To alleviate this, we relocated staff parking and all deliveries to Flora Avenue, which has significantly reduced everyday traffic on Warren Road. For our bigger events, we now use an offsite parking and shuttle service for our guests, creating a safer, calmer environment for everyone. We also did a parking study, which confirms we will have a capacity for 17 parking spaces — exceeding the county-required of 14 spaces.
We also recognized the importance of staying in close contact with neighbors about the design and potential impacts on the area. Following the Zoning Administrator’s recommendation, we held community meetings on May 27, June 10, and October 1, 2024, and personally visited over 200 homes to gather input and share updates. We also maintain an online project webpage where anyone can check our latest progress or provide feedback. This transparency helps build trust, and we deeply value every comment we’ve received.
In response to design-related feedback and the recommendation of the Zoning Administrator, we made several changes to align with the neighborhood’s character and to address concerns about building mass and solar access. The street-facing elevator shaft, for example, was relocated to the rear of the building, lowered by 2.5 feet, and made flush with the roofline to minimize its visual impact. We also conducted two shadow studies—one by HGCI and another via ShadeMap—to ensure we wouldn’t create unwanted shade on neighbors’ solar panels. Both studies confirmed that there is no shading impact during the summer solstice, and winter shading is largely due to existing trees rather than our proposed building.
Per Zoning Administrator recommendation, we explored the possibility of a single-story addition but found that it would reduce bed capacity, encroach on our very important garden space, and compromise the project’s financial viability. Instead, we lowered the overall building height by 1.5 feet to 25 feet, increased the second-floor setback from 10 to 14 feet, and resized certain ground-floor rooms to minimize the proposed building’s footprint. These measures preserve critical garden space for our residents with dementia or Alzheimer’s, meet our operational needs, and reduce the building’s overall visual impact.
Knowing how much our neighbors value the warm, residential feel of the Saranap neighborhood, we updated the exterior facade into board-and-batten siding, added more windows to break up the wall facade, and integrated dormers for a simpler roof design. We plan to plant Italian cypress trees along the east fence line for privacy and have partnered with a local landscape architect to create a lush softscape with full-grown trees, fast-growing vines, shrubs, and flowers. These steps will help the building reduce the perception of mass, blend more naturally into the neighborhood, provide a noise buffer, and maintain the distinctive charm of Saranap.
All these modifications help us meet three main goals: supporting our residents—particularly those with memory-related conditions—respecting our neighbors by keeping the project compatible with the area’s character and needs, and satisfying the recommendations of the Zoning Administrators..
We know that change can be challenging, and we appreciate the time you’ve spent with us—through public hearings, neighborhood meetings, and one-on-one conversations—to help shape a better project. While we recognize that we may not be able to meet every demand of our neighbors, we believe we have arrived at a compromise that benefits both parties. Therefore, we respectfully ask you, Zoning Administrator, to approve this project so we can move forward in creating a home that meets our residents’ needs and remains an asset to the neighborhood. Thank you again for listening and for considering these updates. We remain committed to continuing this positive dialogue and welcome any further ideas or concerns you may have.