Special Exception - 925 South Webster St. South Bend, IN

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Area Board of Zoning Appeals -October 6, 2010 ' MR. RICHARD DEAHL: From Barnes and Thornburg with offices at 100 N. Michigan Street here in South Bend. I'm pleased and very happily to see the owner of the property and operator of Lacay Fabricating for the past 35 years on this site. As John mentioned Lacay is well aware that this is a General Industrial site and outdoor storage is permitted on the site and outdoor storage of even dirt and fill material is permitted to a, level on the site. The concerns that John mentioned, we look forward to discussing with Mark and John the concerns that we have with the existing use and storage of what's out there today as well as trying to eliminate any potential that these concerns be exasperated if the amount of fill for this property is expanded for additional storage area. I would like to share with the Board just a brief outline of some concerns and some photographs that will reveal what some of the issues that Lacay encounters what these issues are. PAPERWORK WAS PASSED OUT TO THE BOARD AT THIS TIME MR. DEAHL: You'll seek that the first photograph is an aerial photograph. Lacay fabricating is located on the west side. It's the site that is primarily shown with buildings that have the white roofing. The site in which this Special Exception applies is the site right in the center that shows some piles of dirt. What we have experienced in the last year is really evident by the next five photographs and that's really high piles of dirt very close to the property line between Lacay and the MM Blair site. And what has happened when there is a heavy rain there will be dirt runoff as well as water runoff that will carry dirt off of MM Blair site and onto the Lacay site and that has been what we suspect some of the cause of some sewer backup and issues because the drain pipes that between the sites have picked up a lot of water and mud that's come off the site. So the concerns that we have are primarily the erosion of dirt and we think that those can be addressed and we hope to discuss with Mark and John a concepts of biding by the development standards in this district to honor the setback and to discuss an appropriate setback for the dirt piles as well to discuss the piles that will be right on the property lines as well as some fencing to keep any kind of material from emanating from the Blair site onto the Lacay site. In addition to that there has been some experience at Lacay of dust, excessive dust in the air that has impacted their paint finish on some products that are drying right outside on the southern portion of their site. On a windy day they can see that there is more dirt than they would expect in the paint finish that is drying outside. So we're in hopes to discuss landscaping so buffering that can minimize that impact as well. But we appreciate you taking th°se concerns into consideration in evaluating your recommendation to the Council this afternoon. We're happy to answer any questions. MS. JESSICA EDMOND: I'm a controller at Imaginary Finish Technology. We're located at 1302 W. Sample Street. We're adjacent to Indiana Earth, MM Blair. We have the same concerns that Lacay has. Our property backs up and we share a property line. I know their attorney addressed the other fill material. We were concerned about the fill material, we didn't want it to be anything other than soil. We too have a painting facility, we have a paint line and it's been very dusty. I have some pictures here to just to show on the road. Our drywells are filling for with the dirt and the dust and so those are our main objections for the Special Use Exception. REBUTTAL: MR. LLOYD: I have no objections really and that we understand their concerns and we are going to try and work with. I still hope that you will still send this to the Council with a favorable recommendation. MR. PHIPPS: Is it Indiana Earth been using this then? MR. LLOYD: Yes. 47