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REGULAR MEETING JULY 9, 2007 <br />of fusible link closures or doors with automatic closures on them that the doors <br />themselves would have to be hollow metal doors with hollow metal frames and if they <br />have any glass in them or on that side of the home, it would have to be limited in area and <br />have to be wired glass. All of that is not very good housing. What has happened is that <br />the plan has been drawn without the knowledge of what the buildings would be like. Mr. <br />Crowe stated that it is the Council responsibility to follow up on many of these details, <br />which because of the inexperience of the developer haven't been solved before it got to <br />this level. What is needed in architectural language in those two sections are transfer <br />sections that show actually how those buildings would be built and how they would work <br />and the kinds of materials that would be used to be built. He also is concerned with the <br />land that border the project and how they would interface with the near by neighborhood, <br />but perhaps this will be addressed on the 16~` and would be much easier to address then <br />the problems that he described earlier. He urged the Council to pursue these issues and <br />hold out on their vote until these problems are solved. <br />Ms. April Lidinsky, 536 S. Sunnyside, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she is very <br />concerned about economic impact on Downtown South Bend. She hopes the Council <br />will ask for more rigorous economic analysis. She find it a little eerie to here the phase <br />"time will tell." She knows from experience that you can get people for the University <br />Community to go off campus to go downtown and you can students hooked on the <br />Chickory Cafe pretty easily. She would like to think of the role of Notre Dame and the <br />people who visit the City of Notre Dame to be in support of the City of South Bend. She <br />stated that the City has a potentially vibrant downtown that will be drained by the super <br />sizing (Kites says updated) it seems like super sizing to her, of a facsimile of a downtown <br />which looks like Downtown Disney when we already have beautiful buildings, we have <br />empty retail space all over the place and it is hard to see this project as nothing more than <br />a drain on the downtown areas. Some of the people who work hard to support those <br />businesses downtown are very concerned. She urged the Council to ask for more <br />rigorous economic analysis. <br />Ms. Mary Beth Dickey, 1105 N. St. Joseph, South Bend, Indiana, stated that we are all <br />pretty tired and it is getting pretty late and it is hard to make a complete sentence. Ms. <br />Dickey thanked the Council for asking the difficult questions tonight and to please <br />consider pushing Kite Realty for these concessions. She apologized for her remarks this <br />afternoon mentioning an educated group; she never meant to offend anybody. She was in <br />defensive mode because people have challenged us, how dare you question this <br />development. She stated that they just want to make this development better for <br />everybody. Ms. Dickey stated that she feels like she is here to fight a lost cause, and <br />feels like she is standing in front of a tank with a cross and a dollar sign on it. She stated <br />that her passion is the woods, there are magnificent trees in this woods, when the fence <br />came down with the construction of the new road last fall, and she went into the woods <br />and found that it has a beautiful amount of trees, supports and amazing number of birds, <br />flowers and wildlife and it is going with this project. Ms. Dickey pleaded to save as <br />many of these magnificent trees as possible. The woods has been abused in the past, <br />illegal dumping, coal ash, it could be cleaned up. There can be quality development that <br />is green development, that is beautiful and that involves saving the trees. A study in <br />Chicago showed that large mature trees in development actually reduced crime in inner <br />cities. There are economic reasons for saving trees; research has shown that mature trees <br />increase the worth of a property up to 12 percent. Notre Dame states that there is nothing <br />worth saving in these woods. There is a lot worth saving in these woods, they could be <br />incorporated in the project and saved. She stated that the estimated life span of a mall is <br />approximately 30 years. These are mall developers, what we are going to have in thirty <br />years, if we destroy all the trees, we have empty buildings, we don't know. But if we <br />save these trees and make an inner city park within the development, our children and <br />grandchildren will thank us. Slow down, where is the fire that everyone keeps running <br />from? Why is everyone saying do it now or it is not going to happen, do it slowly. She <br />understands that this plan has been many years in the making and she appreciates <br />everyone's effort to help the triangle, but we need to slow down and do it right. She is <br />protesting the Apri12007 plan which increased tremendously without green space. She <br />appreciates Mr. Compton saying that they are going to work on putting in parks, and <br />work on sustainability. She wondered how many people in South Bend have even seen <br />30 <br />