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Staff Report APC # 2812 -17 Owner: Common Council of the City of South Bend Location: Text Amendment Jurisdiction: City of South Bend Public Hearing Date: 2/21/2017 Requested Action: 2/9/2017 Filed in Clerk's Office FEB 2 2 2017 KAREEMAH FOWLER CITY CLERK, SOUTH BEND, IN The petitioner is requesting a text amendment, amending Chapter 21, Article 3 of the South Bend Municipal Code to increase the allowable height of buildings within the Central Business District on what is commonly known as the Island. Staff Comments: The proposed amendment adds a new subsection that increases the maximum height for buildings located between the St. Joseph River and East Race waterway to 150', but maintains a maximum height of 60', or 5- stories, for properties zoned CBD that are east of the East Race Waterway. The maximum height allowed for CBD properties west of the river is unchanged. The staff continues to be concerned about the maximum allowable height of buildings zoned CBD east of the St. Joseph River. The Staff's position on this remains unchanged from two previous requests to substantially increase the existing allowable maximum height from 60' — the first as a part of the Commerce Center PUD rezoning request and the second as a height variance request. The Staff's position is based on the following actions: the adoption in 2004 of the zoning ordinance that established distinct height differences between the east and west sides of the river; the adoption of the East Bank Village Plan in 2008, and; the approval of two height variances by the Area Board of Zoning; and the lack of any new planning process seeking consensus on changes to the above mentioned plans. Adoption of the 2004 Zoning Ordinance — The adoption of the ordinance was a conscience decision to establish a different development character for the east bank area. Prior to 2004, the majority of the east bank was zoned with a maximum allowable height of 150', the same as the west bank. Contributing factors in establishing two maximum height standards was the height of the Commerce Center Building (60'), the lower density of the east bank area in general and the desire to maximize the use of the existing infrastructure, such as the parking garages, in the core downtown area. On a broad policy level basis, it is our opinion that those factors are still valid today. East Bank Village Plan —The East Bank Village Master Plan, Phase 1, adopted in 2008, was an amendment to City Plan, The Comprehensive Plan. The project narrative stated that: "The East Race area would greatly benefit froth having its own unique identity and should be re -named The East Bank Village (italics added). This branding of the neighborhood has exciting potential and should strengthen its identity as being independent of the Central Business District (italics added)." The combination of the preferred modeling concept and sample illustrations clearly indicate, in our opinion, that a APC 4 2812 -17 Page 1 of 2