07-09-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING July 9, 2018 Bob Davidson, 1337 N. Wilbur Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I've lived in my house for thirty- five (3 5) years. The City Code has come out two (2) or three (3)times and every time they tell me our hands are tied and they can't do this and can't do that. My neighbor has three (3) cars in their backyard. City Code said as long as they're drivable,there is nothing they can do. Mishawaka City Code says you have to have up to date license plates.Elkhart says you have to have updated license plates and it is working perfectly. They have eliminated thousands of cars from backyards. South Bend has hundreds of cars parked in backyards and, as long as they're drivable, City Code said there is nothing they can do. If you could help City Code update and change their rulings about that, I would appreciate that. The City Council should talk to the ordinance people to get them to change the bylaws to put updated license plates on the cars and that would eliminate a lot of old cars and would also help the West Side become a cleaner and neater part of town. Thank you very much. Jason Banicki-Critchlow, 3822 W. Ford Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I seems like a couple years ago that we were sitting here and the Zoo came to us wanting a Food and Beverage Tax. They went to all the tax agencies and were told no. Then I read a couple months ago that we are now talking about including the Zoo in a TIF District. A few years prior to asking for the Food and Beverage Tax money,they had asked to be out of the City of South Bend budget process. The Park Board thought they could do better on their own. Then how come every time we turn around,now, they seem to be trying to stick their hands back into our tax coffers? First (1St) through adding a new tax which is something we don't need any more of in this County. And now, this time, going for new property tax revenue instead of allowing it to go to the General Fund and to our schools that definitely need it. If the people of Potawatomi Zoo think they can do better on their own, let them and let's not include them in the new TIF District. We already have the most TIF Districts of any County in this State and of any City in this State. We don't need to expand them, we don't need more and we sure don't need to add one (1) for a pet project for the Zoo who decided years ago they were better off without our money and who now want to spend$50 million of our money, no questions asked. Sharon Banicki, 3822 Ford Street, South Bend, IN, stated, My first (1St) question is about the unlicensed cars. I have the other problem. If I call the police up because the cars are on the streets with expired plates,the police just tell you to move it on your driveway. Code says there is nothing they can do even though they aren't drivable because they're on private property. They park them so the front end is facing out and they can't see the expired plate, then they wait till nobody is around then they are driving them and take them out on the street. I called for a trailer that had no plates, lights, no nothing. I call the police and they came up and told them they have to put it on their yard. I call Code and Code says there is nothing we can do because it's on his yard. Right now he's got four (4) dead vehicles stacked up in his driveway and it just gets worse and worse. Something needs to be done with these vehicles and cars. Code and the Police Department need to work together to get it to go. My other main concern is that I've talked to a couple police officers but I have what you would call a rolling drug dealing corner.They pull up on one(1)corner parked, they come from another way, parked, they swap vehicles, they are there for thirty (30) seconds then they get back in their original cars and take off. I've made the police aware of it and have talked to an officer today and he said we know about your corner and another house I'm aware about. If you get there on drug day you're stuck in traffic as they just stand on the street and deal their drugs as you pull your car up. Police know about it but they continue to be very active. I don't know what can be done and something needs to be done before more innocent people get hurt. Marvin Crayton, 305 S. Lake Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I, too, am a member of the Lasalle Park Neighborhood Alliance. These requests and our concerns should be dealt with and continued on to a sub-Committee. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Council, President Tim Scott adjourned the meeting at 8:38 p.m. 17