08/23/82 Board of Public Works Minutes

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•6141 REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 23, 1982 light at St. Peter and LaSalle to slow down traffic coming into the facility. He stated that he was not pleased with the proposed vacations and was concerned about their effect on his property. He also expressed concern about adequate fire protection. Mr. James Nafe, Attorney at Law, 320 W. Jefferson, representing the Western and Southern Life Insurance Company which owned property at the northeast corner of St. Peter and LaSalle Streets, advised that his client was concerned not so much about the alley vacation as it was about vacation of a portion of St. Peter and Madison Streets. He advised that, a couple of years ago when other alleys in the vicinity of the hospital were vacated, an easement was granted to the life insurance company for ingress and egress rights over a portion of the vacated east -west alley between Notre Dame and St. Peter Streets. He stated that his client was concerned that, with the vacation of a portion of St. Peter and Madison Streets, the accessibility of the ,insurance company's property would be detrimentally affected. He stated that customers of the insurance company come to the office from the north and northeast into the parking lot at the rear of the business because LaSalle is such a heavilly traveled street and it is difficult to enter the parking lot from that direction. He felt that the closing of the streets in question would cause traffic congestion on St. Peter. Mr. Hill asked about the parking lot in relation to the insurance company offices, and Mr. Nafe explained that the office fronted on LaSalle Street and the parking lot was at the rear of the property. Mr. Donald Larimore, Senior Vice President of St. Joseph's Medical Center, explained that the expansion program allowed for 570 parking spaces. He stated that many of these people were handicapped and would need to utilize the front entrance which would be off St. Peter Street because it would be more accessible. He stated that this.was the main reason why the hospital had proposed the main entrance off St. Peter Street as it was felt traffic could be best channeled into the facility. He stated that many problems had been encountered with the proposed expansion project and the hospital had tried to solve these problems to alleviate potential concerns of surround- ing property owners. Mr. Harold Summer, speaking on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Rappelli, felt the Board should address the increase in the number of cars parked on the hospital grounds and the increase in traffic on St. Peter Street. He wondered if the increased traffic and lack of any other entrance would cause a problem to surrounding businesses. He felt the hospital should be required to provide property for a turning radius if the westerly half of the alley bounded by St. Louis and St. Peter was vacated. Mr. Tebelak explained that the hospital would have several exits to and from its parking lots but that there would be no exits in the area of the alley proposed to remain open. Mr. Levin wondered what would happen if two trucks entered the portion of the alley which was proposed to be left open and met at the corner. He stated that, even with additional property for a turning radius, the trucks would have to back all the way out the way they had come. He stated that all he was asking was that consideration be given to the other property owners in the area of the hospital. Mr. Leo Scanlon, owner of the property in the vicinity of the proposed vacation, stated that he had operated a business on LaSalle for over 50 years, and he hoped that the hospital would be willing to meet with the surrounding property owners so that they would have a clear idea of what the hospital's plans were. He wondered how much access would be available to the small businesses south of the alley, and he hoped that some of the concerns of the property owners could be satisfactorily addressed prior to Board action on the proposed vacations. Mr. Leszczynski stated -that such a meeting would be beneficial to all concerned. Mr. Summer asked if an engineering study had been made to determine how much land would be needed for the turning radius for the alley. Mr. Larimore stated that a plan could be designed to accommodate this request, and he advised that he would be happy to discuss this matter with the property owners.