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CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS STAPR REPORT <br />APPLICATION -- 1995-0707 <br />PROPERTY -- 962 Riverside Drive <br />South Bend <br />OWNER -- Diane Corbett <br />DESIGNATION -- RSD-LHD, CP-NRHD <br />STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE/HISTORIC CONTEXT <br />This eclectic period revival residence was designed by W.W. Schneider in 1913 <br />for Calvin & Etta Clauer, who owned a jewelry business in downtown South Bend. <br />It is rated Significant S/12 in the Indiana Historic Sites and Structures <br />Survey and is a contributing structure in the Chapin Park National Register <br />Historic District as well as the Riverside Drive Local Historic District. This <br />location is likewise noted in the South Bend Historic Trees Pilot Survey for a <br />stand of oak.. trees -which form a forest canopy older than the housing <br />development. <br />PROPOSED CHANGE <br />The owners. propose--to.-remove a mature maple. tree from the .rear of the yard <br />near the crest of the bluff. <br />STANDARDS <br />I.B.2 Recommended - ....Plant materials and trees in close .proximity to the <br />building that are causing deterioration to the building's_ historic fabric <br />should be removed. However, tree and landscaping elements that must be removed <br />shall be immediately replaced with suitable flora. <br />RECOMMENDATION <br />The tree in question is leaning at an extreme angle due to its having been <br />undermined at the root system by soil erosion which is endemic to this general <br />location. Although a mature tree, this specimen also represents an intrusion <br />into the oak.stand and its removal is not detrimental to this characteristic <br />of the neighborhood. Staff recommends approval for the removal... of. this tree <br />however continues to -have serious concern for the integrity of the houses in <br />this vicinity due to the continual threat from erosion. <br />Although the commission has not yet been able to find funding for the proposed <br />study to recommend homeowner actions which may arrest thee problematic erosion <br />in this area, we do know that as a general rule; woody plants with deep <br />spreading root systems are typically utilized in this type of. situation and <br />surface grounding such as sweet fern, rock spray, Dwarf bush honeysuckle, <br />Running euonymus, Arnold Dwarf Forsythia, English ivy, creeping juniper, and <br />coralberry may stabilize topsoils. Staff therefore recommends. replacement of <br />the tree with new planting where existing soil and plant material is disturbed <br />by this activity. <br />DBD <br />7/11/95 <br />