02-11-19 Zoning and Annexation - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK been here, and I believe probably since before my time and we really appreciate all the hard work they've done. But, with the uptick of development in the City and the different priorities we have in our neighborhoods, and the different development pressures that come with that, we think it's important that the City get these things done right and with the City's objectives in mind. The Historic Preservation Commission, for instance, is an example where we brought a County Department into the City. I think it's been working more effectively than it had been while it was in the County. We also wonder, potentially, with the circuit breaker happening in 2020, whether or not the staff will have the same capacity to deliver the same level of service. That is not to say they wouldn't be doing it as best as they can, but again, I think it is one (1) of these things where we feel we have a lot of the talent in house and, with the new staff, we will be able to provide that level of service we are accustomed to and, in many ways, help the County deliver a better quality of service to the unincorporated areas and the smaller towns, as well. He continued, The zoning ordinance overhaul, for instance, and this (referencing a slide in the presentation) is an example of our zoning ordinance to date, this is one (1) of our key initiatives this year. One(1) of the things we've analyzed in the past was not only whether or not some of the rules were really wrong, and we've been working on that, but the usability and readability of the document is,well, as you can see, not great. So, Mike Divita who is well-known here has come to you with different fixes to the ordinance. He's been working very diligently and also with members of the Area Plan Commission, the consultant we've hired and myself to start relooking at how this is. So, it goes from something like that (referencing the presentation) to this (referencing a new slide in the presentation).We want to get something much more visual that shows people the intent behind each of the districts. We want to make it more graphic by using more charts and diagrams and really find the best practice zoning ordinance that we can. He went on, So, we've looked far and wide at what other communities have done and have taken the best things from other communities while tuning it for the City of South Bend. We will have a very unique document that is honed to the South Bend environment. If people want to copy it, great, but it probably won't work for them because it is for us. It, too, is a living document. When we see something that is wrong, we want to fix it as fast as possible. That is one(1) of the things. All zoning ordinances should be a living document. Our current one (1) has had various fixes or amendments to it up until the last couple of years. We want to see this as something that keeps evolving over time. He continued, In terms of staff capacity, the Planning Department already makes a lot of recommendations you see in your packets and we will continue to do that. The quick fixes really have reduced a lot of zonings and variance requests. The new staff will help us fill some of the day-to-day administrative needs and what we intended is for the new staff to actually help with the zoning ordinance overhaul. So, they will be intimately involved with the update of the document as well as creating the processes and procedures that happen behind the scenes so that,day one(1) when the Commission begins,the staff are already up to speed, and they aren't learning on the fly. We also had a meeting with other City departments including the Legal Department and IT. We wanted to measure what the affect will be on each of those departments and we will continue working with the Area Plan Commission to help those departments understand any impacts that might come. That is part of that internal working group. Also, there are fees the Area Plan Commission collects and last year, I don't know the total and they don't make the department revenue neutral, but it could certainly help offset the cost of one (1) of the positions or maybe the extra hours that maybe one(1) of our lawyers has to put in. Something along those lines. EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574 235 9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 vwwv.southbendin.gov 3