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REGULAR MEETING JULY 9, 2007 <br />Do you plan to include sprinkler systems in the row houses so that fires will be controlled <br />more quickly? If not, would it be appropriate to break up these Cityhomes into smaller <br />groupings? This would not only improve fire safety, but would also allow more light and <br />ventilation in some units and break up the appearance of a wall of houses. <br />A: The units will be designed to meet the current South Bend code requirements <br />for fire safety fora 2 hour fire wall separation between the individual units. There are <br />many statistics that indicate that the newer homes due to construction techniques, due to <br />the fire walls have less of a chance of having a fire than homes built prior to 1970. The <br />appearance of a long building will be compensated for by adjusting the set back of the <br />units by pulling them back and forth a little bit and varying the offsets so that it doesn't <br />look like one contiguous long block of residential units and varying the exterior material <br />or material color. <br />5. Q: The parking garage is supposed to be screened from view to the south by a <br />single building that appears to be either apartments or retail with apartments above. In <br />either case, it the plan to have windows or doors in the back (to the north) facing the <br />garage? How feasible is this? What air handling provisions are to be included in the <br />garage design to direct exhaust fumes away from the surrounding homes and apartments? <br />What guarantee can you make that you will not later decide that there will be no building <br />there and the garage will be visible from the street? Why not leave a strip of mature trees <br />from the woods there as a parking garage screen instead? <br />A: The buildings located to the south and east of the parking garage contain <br />condominiums. The garage and the condominiums will be constructed as two separate <br />but connected buildings. The design will meet City of South Bend code requirements. <br />We anticipate that the condo units will be accessed off of a corridor that runs parallel to <br />the parking garage. This corridor would be similar to what may be seen in an apartment <br />complex. The doors will be located off of the corridor, but we do no anticipate windows <br />in this corridor. If trees were to be left, they would most likely not survive due to the <br />surrounding conditions. The construction of Napoleon and the parking garage would <br />disrupt their root system. The width between the garage and Napoleon is approximately <br />30'. <br />6. Q: One of the major tenants of New Urbanism is the inclusion of civic and <br />recreational space along with housing and retail development. What plans do you have <br />for provision of either type of space? Would any planned recreational amenities be open <br />for use by the larger neighborhood as well. <br />A: We will provide a location for a pocket park within the Eddy Street Commons <br />development during the July 16, 2007 presentation. In addition, there are several pocket <br />parks included within the Triangle, as well as City parks in close proximity to the project. <br />The close proximity of the Town Commons and DeBartolo Performing Arts Center on <br />the Notre Dame campus are great benefit so the project and neighborhood. <br />7. Q: If Marriott and its parent corporation are going to operate both new hotels, <br />what is the expected extend of Marriott's continued commitment to its current downtown <br />location? Is the use of the 8,000 sq. ft. and 4,000 sq. ft. meeting space projected to come <br />from new uses or is it likely to take existing business away from others such as Century <br />Center downtown? <br />A: Many cities have two of the same hotel, for example Indianapolis has three <br />Marriott's. The hotels can benefit from one another. The Marriott at Eddy Street <br />Commons is not anticipated to take business away from existing locations in South Bend. <br />We anticipate that it will bring additional tourism and events to the City of South Bend. <br />8. Q: How do you plan to humanely manage the removal of wildlife from the <br />woods? During the road construction there were numerous instances in the surrounding <br />neighborhoods of skunks and raccoons pushed into the neighborhood, causing concern <br />and expense fro the neighbors. What are your plans for preventing a larger recurrence of <br />this? <br />16 <br />