07/09/07 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING JULY 9, 2007 Eddy and Edison, with a signalized intersection today and a signalized intersection after the proposed Eddy Street Commons and the Tech Park is complete the level is a proposed at "C". Napoleon/Eddy is proposed to be four way stop will still function at a Level "C" during peak rush hour times. Napoleon/SR 23 a signalized intersection proposed to be a level of service `B". What is important to realize in regard to this is that they just didn't look at the Eddy Street Commons, they asked Troyer to look at the Tech Park because of the traffic that it intends to generate. They also have engaged Walker Parking Consultants with regard to the parking garage. It is important to remember that after this community is developed Kite will retain ownership of the retail. So, having adequate parking for people coming to the retail, hotels and the other mixed use elements is very important, in the long term of this development. A little information on Walker Parking Consultants, they have worked for the City of South Bend with regard to downtown parking. They were actually hired by the Urban Land Institute and the International Council of Shopping Centers ICSC to be the lead team in developing their manual on shared parking. What is important in shared parking is that this garage would have multiple users. It won't just be the hotel, the retail, the office, the apartments, or the garage wrapped condos, each one of these users peaks at a different time. Think about the office, that is going to peak about 8:00 a.m. and be full space wise until about 5 or 6 p.m. On the weekend the ratio goes down to about 10% of the total demand. They expected 270 spaces to be utilized for the office. On the weekend that drops to 27 spaces. The apartment homes in this area were targeted to young professionals. They worked hard with the University of Notre Dame to help put restrictions actually in the development agreement which would actually restrict the number of unrelated people that can live within the apartments. Additionally, the apartment offering will be a premium offering which may not be attractive to students. Also, they have been working with Buckingham Companies is actual apartment builder, who has experience in dealing with apartment settings that are close to campuses. The bottom line is that people within this area will be gone during the day, getting back to the parking issue. Walker took this into consideration and they wrote the book on this issue and came up with the following results: That a garage is needed that has 1,288 spaces. The City of South Bend Parking Code, requires 1,287 spaces. The code takes into account a mixed use development and those different peak and off-peak times that are utilized. The development provides a parking garage that has 1,281 parking spaces, and an additiona144 surface spaces behind the garage on the west side of Edison. The proposed project has enough parking, and does not count the 210 spaces that are along Eddy as you drive north and south, Napoleon as you drive east and west and other spaces within the development. The firmly believe that there is enough parking and will provide a copy of the parking study to the Council and City Engineer's Office for review. In regard to green buildings, they are in the zoning process, they are not that far along in the design of the actual buildings. There are some things that they are taking into consideration in regard to green buildings. In site development, structured parking reduces the amount and they are able to compact things in. There have been numerous questions on the loss of trees. New Urbanism encourages less reliance on the car. By making a walkable community, you are encouraging walking and biking. Porous pavement has been considered and they are looking at the climate issues to see if that kind of material can be used. They are looking at planting using deep much beds and using drip irrigation instead of spray, so there are different ways to develop the site in order to be green. In the building design, by seeking to use local contractors and materials they can conserve fuel on transportation to the site. They are implementing plant grade material on some of the roofs in select locations. The building operation is also important because once it is built, how much energy will this building use. It is as simple as using energy efficient features, fixtures to conserve energy, motion sensors and certain light fixtures in the public areas and public facilities, battery powered transportation equipment. In addition, the bikes paths and will be connected to TRANSPO, pubic transportation. The mixed use setting reduces the reliance on the use of cars. The will provide the opportunity for the residents and people visiting using the site to recycle. Before Apri120, 2007 and since then, they have had multiple meetings with concerned residents in the area, and what has resulted from that is some of response to public comments. They have formalized the commitment to bike paths and bike racks within the project. They have enhanced the four sided architecture on the west side of the buildings along the west side of Eddy Street. They have met with Dr. Harmon on two different occasions which as a result of those meetings they added architectural features 13