11-14-16 Zoning and Annexation - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Kelly asked, What about in particular? Did they get into details like the grocery store, and those kinds of things? Ms. Smith responded, They do not. It just called for a Mixed -Use building. It showed a two (2) or three (3) story building wrapped around a parking garage, with the buildings kind of being on LaSalle then wrapping around Sycamore, and then a public parking garage in the center. Councilmember Kelly asked, Okay, but with regard to the East Bank Plan in general, it never talked about the grocery store or... ? Ms. Smith responded that a grocery store has been a goal for downtown in general. Mr. Magliozzi stated, Each block was identified with specific uses in the East Bank. Those are a guide. He stated, The East Bank Plan only mentions height in one (1) area, for one (1) particular aspect of it, but when you look at the language, the charrettes, the samples of what people were actually building on the tables and all of the illustrations, they are essentially three (3), four (4), maybe five (5) story buildings at the most. Councilmember Kelly stated, And obviously important to note that those are wish lists, because it comes down to what developers are willing and able to do. Mr. Magliozzi responded that it is very difficult to put specifics on any kind of plan. Councilmember Scott interrupted the proceedings briefly to inform the Council that food had been brought for the Council to eat before the Common Council meeting later in the evening. Committeemember Jo Broden stated, Planning is more than academic. It's more than wish lists. It drives, it gives predictability, it gives developers a template; a vision, in this case, to distinguish itself from the West Bank of our Central Business District. As a Fourth District Councilperson, I can speak to the benefits of strong and good planning. Committeemember Broden continued to make the case for planners, and for plans in general, crediting planners with successfully drawing developers into the city. She stated, Smart developers rely on planning. Smart investors rely on planning. She stated that the East Bank Plan has been looked at by the South Bend Common Council possibly over eight (8) times since its adoption. Each of those times, the Council had a chance to reevaluate the plan and "come down on one side or the other, to grant the variance or not." She stated, There are plans in place. There are routes to get to height variances, and you can see them in this neighborhood specifically. She clarified that she could not say enough how much she felt that this project should happen. She stated, It is an awesome project, in terms of concept. I'm not second - guessing the smart folks of the Regional Cities Plan or the money that is opening up for this project, but I am going to rely on some of the smart planning that goes behind that. We want to attract residences to downtown. One - hundred percent (100 %) agreement across that. There are two (2) really shiny cool things with this — they're long on South Bend's wish list: a drug store, and a grocery store. We can make this happen, but the PUD that this is riding on is not the way to go if we want smart development. I want a win for the 4th District, but even moreso I want a win for the City, and I want to do it in a 9