04/12/76 Board of Public Works Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING APRIL 12. 1976 is not compatible with the houses in the .neighborhood, but looks like a Pizza Hut. Mr. Brennan said both the Republican and Democratic Precinctcommitteemen have remonstrated against this vacation. Mr. Brennan said the property owners in the area have lost about $10,000 valuation on their properties because of this building and they are going to ask for a reduction in their property taxes. Mr. Brennan said the Area Plan Commission staff said there were no public utilities in the alley but the petitioners now are talking about the public utility pole in the public right-of-way. He said there have never been problems with maintenance of the alley. Mr. Brennan said he and another property owner, John Horan, drove the alley with an LTD Station Wagon, after marking the fourteen foot line with barriers. They had no difficulty making the turn into the north -south alley without going on private property. Mr. Brennan said Earl Wilborn, a property owner who has a business on Lafayette Street, purchased a private lot to provide parking for his customers. Mr. Brennan said the petitioners have said the property owners can use the alley if they do not abuse the privilege and he questioned what would be considered abuse in'the use of the alley. Measurements were made of the curb installed by the contractor and it is out in the public right-of-way. Mr. Brennan said the contractor removed a wire grate for surface water drainage from the alley and asked the Board to order the removal of the curb and the replacement of this grate. Mr. Brennan said the neighbors do not want a permanent easement right. They want the alley to remain open for everyone's use. Councilman Joseph Serge spoke against the proposed vacation. He said he felt the alley should remain a public right-of-way. He said if the petition is granted, the doctors could close the alley if they wanted to. Mr. Serge said the building was constructed in an area where the neighbors are trying to preserve the heritage of the City. He said the matter should have been studied before permission was given to put the building up. Mr. Farrand noted that this Board is not the body to hear a rezoning matter. He said the property is properly zoned and the matter before this Board is the matter of vacating the alley. Mr. Serge said it was his opinion that the alley should be left open for the public. Mr. Brunner asked Mr. Brennan what his feelings were regarding the offer of the petitioners to grant permanent easement rights to the property owners. Mr. Brennan said the property owners feel that they now have more than a permanent easement. They have a public alley and they would like that alley to remain open. He said he would ask the Board to decline that offer. Mr. Mullen said, if Mr. Bancroft's value of the alley was set at $6,000, the tax would be figured on one-third of that figure, or $2,000, and the tax would amount to $240. Mr. Bancroft agreed that that figure was correct. Mr. Brunner asked Mr. Bancroft how the owners would limit the use of the alley to property owners if the easements were granted. Mr. Bancroft said there would be no attempt made to limit the use of the alley or restrict it to property owners. Mr. Brunner said it would appear the only problem the petitioners would have if the vacation is not allowed would be to reorder their parking arrangement. Mr. Bancroft said the parking situation would be more difficult if the alley is not vacated. He said the petitioners would have to eliminate a major part of their landscaping plans and he said they feel this landscaping is very important to the neighborhood. Mr. Bancroft said it may be, if the alley is not vacated, that they will have to remove the curb the contractor installed and that curb is a safety factor in keeping cars away from the utility pole. He said without the vacation, parking will be more difficult and there will be less parking spaces. Mrs. Joseph Stratigos, 527 N. Lafayette, spoke against the vacation. She said her husband had sent a letter of remonstrance to the Board. Mrs. Stratigos said they are directly next door to the doctors. She said they have daughters living at home and there are four cars in the family. Because of the one-way streets, they use this alley all