Laserfiche WebLink
REGULAR MEETING JULY 9, 2007 <br />with the City's five year plan. The Mayor has encourage the commitment to a five year <br />bike plan, and the Public Works Department is in the process of meeting again this week <br />to develop this five year plan. Right now there is no connectivity to it, but that is up to <br />the Public Works department. Ms. Robert stated that one thing she has come to realize is <br />that the Public Works in very innovative and far sighted with round-abouts. This plan is <br />not very innovative with regard to planning the streets, for example the four-way stop at <br />Napoleon/Eddy. The space for retail needs to be lowered and making the streets and <br />sidewalks a little wider and maybe even around-about or two. The three areas: The <br />congestion roundabouts vs. stop signs; bike racks; connectivity to other areas. The bike <br />rack plan is proposed to be on the corners. In all reality bike racks need to be in front of <br />the stores and in the rear of the stores for the employees. They had requested a bike pen <br />in the garage. Most of the employees will be low income retail and hotel employees and <br />they will want to come to work on their bikes and want to park their bike in the parking <br />garage and today most parking garages have secured pen, you lock your bike up and <br />employees may even have their own special cards and it's under a roof so you can go all <br />year round. Talking about new urbanism and green, this is how you begin. In terms of <br />accessibility that intersection at Edison/Eddy, you have all the students on bikes coming <br />from across campus to this intersection and you have coming along on Edison Rd. <br />coming along the 10' bike trail, they all come to this intersection because this is the main <br />crossing point. But what they are all fed into is a little street with a bunch of parking <br />spaces and there is no bike lane, it would be like all this traffic hitting in front of the <br />Chocolate Cafe in downtown South Bend. Where most people would go on the sidewalk <br />because you would be unable to get around those people backing up very easily, there is <br />really no need for parking there, this is apartments and offices, all the parking should be <br />in the back, the bike lanes should continue right down Eddy to connect with Napoleon <br />and the sidewalk should be wide enough for people to go on unless they are willing to put <br />bike lanes in through the City. <br />Ms. Kathleen Petitjean, 1115 Blaine Avenue, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she is a <br />member of the St. Joe Valley Greens and wanted to go on record as saying that the <br />Greens are concerned not only with issues of ecological wisdom, social justice, and grass <br />roots democracy. With respect to ecological wisdom, she is a little concerned that Kite <br />has so little experience with green architecture and wonders if they have consulted with <br />the Schools of Engineering, Architecture and Biology at Notre Dame to look at the most <br />progressive green architecture that is available. Where is the energy capturing <br />innovations, where is the roof top gardens to eliminate carbon. Given Kite's reputation at <br />Erskine Village, they may be proud of the development, but if you have every tried to <br />walk from the UPS store to the pet store across the way, slap on sunscreen, bring a bottle <br />of water, because it is an ocean of asphalt to get across from side to the other. <br />Commitments need to be in place to use porous materials and green architecture and <br />saving trees. Because what was promised at Erskine Village did not happen. Ms. <br />Petitjean urged the Council to get that in writing. With respect to social justice, are local <br />banks involved with the financing of this project. With respect to the 375 construction <br />workers are these people going to be local and are they are going to be paid a fair wage <br />for their labors? <br />Mr. Norman Crowe 315 Peashway, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he is an architect and <br />a member of the Congress of New Urbanism and has been in support of this project all <br />along, but urged the Council at this point to hold out the specter of their refusal so long as <br />they need to insure the quality of the project is as it should be and as the Council sees as <br />it is. Through the refinement of the PUD and simply by just holding vote on the project <br />until it is ready. He is concerned about the details and quality of design, the overall <br />design diagram is a good solid diagram that anyone from the Congress of New Urbanism <br />would be proud of However, if you look at some of the details for instances the housing <br />that is in the lower southeast corner of the project that was explained to be row-housing <br />and similar to what you would see in Chicago. But row-housing usually sits on a 120' <br />deep lots with at least a 16' alley easement behind it, so that one would have a yard <br />behind and service takes place behind. If you look at this proposed project the buildings <br />are squashed together so close that all you have is asphalt and parking behind without any <br />alley or yard. The same situation exists with respect to the housing that is against the <br />parking garage. Code would not permit that condition to take place without the presences <br />29 <br />