04-28-08 Common Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING APRIL 28, 2008 code violation, homeowners will be able to call Code Enforcement and have the problem looked into. The following individuals spoke in opposition to this bill. Mr. Randy Przybysz, 1318 Canterbury Drive, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he is here tonight as the County Council Representative in District A that encompasses this annexation/rezoning. Mr. Przybysz stated that the County Council did rezone the property just east of this proposed development for Lake City Bank and a small strip center. However, to date only Lake City Bank has been built. Mr. Przybysz stated that he has heard tonight that there are not enough restaurants in the area. He stated that he counted and there are ten (10) restaurants within one block. He stated that if people think that there is no place to go and get something to eat in that area, they must be on the wrong road. He reiterated that there are plenty of places to get something to eat. The residents in this area have some major concerns with this proposed development and would like to have their questions answered. Mr. Przybysz urged the Council to listen to the neighbors concerns. Mr. Donald J. Napoli, Director, St. Joseph County Public Library, 304 S. Main Street, South Bend, Indiana, advised that he is opposed to Mr. Cooreman’s rezoning for a commercial shopping center at Cleveland Road and Lynnewood Avenue. He urged the Council to vote against the rezoning because the shopping center will bring a great deal more traffic to the intersection of Cleveland Road and Lynnewood Avenue than is now there or will be there once the Library’s new German Township Branch is completed. This proposed shopping center will generate much more traffic than the new branch library. Mr. Napoli estimated that the new library will generate approximately 150 to 250 cars per day, even on its busiest days, by way of Cleveland Road and Lynnewood Avenue. The propose shopping center will generate three to five times that number of 1,000 or 1,200 cars per day, based on the types of businesses that are being proposed, including a high-turnover restaurant with a drive-through window at the corner, and based on the number of parking spaces that will service the other proposed stores. Combined with the public library’s traffic, this creates a very unsafe condition on a very busy highway at this intersection, not just for Library patrons who will drive to the library with their children for our library services and programs, but for anyone traveling along the Cleveland Road highway. He stated that he has no objections to businesses such as business offices, a dental or medical office, an insurance agency, another hair salon, or other such businesses where the turnover and traffic tends to be light. The increased traffic created by this shopping center could generate another traffic light being installed. That would mean that there would be three (3) successive traffic lights within four (4) blocks along this strip of Cleveland Road creating a ridiculous situation for drivers traveling along this section of Cleveland Road. Mr. Napoli stated that this would turn into a situation like in Kokomo, Indiana, one that everyone complains about. He urged the Council to vote against this annexation/rezoning. Ms. Joan Aldridge, 52921 Lilac Road, South Bend, Indiana, advised that she has serious concerns regarding this rezoning because it will be directly in her backyard. Ms. Aldridge stated that currently she is having trouble with Lake City Bank and an outside parking lot light that is shining directly in her backyard. This light pollution is totally unacceptable. She stated that she is aware that the general area around Cleveland Road and Portage Avenue is rapidly becoming commercial, however it is clear that there is still a small area of private homes that is bounded by Lilac Road, Mays Drive, Lynnewood Avenue and Cleveland Road that will probably never be annexed into the City of South Bend, and thus never receive the benefits of being part of the City. She stated that she could live with a zone change to an office-buffer use since that would preserve some of her privacy. But the possibility of open-late businesses that would have food-waste that attracts pests and pollution by lights and noise is completely unacceptable. Ms. Aldridge stated that this would affect her property value as well as her personal safety. She urged the Council to reject any rezoning that would allow any businesses beyond the scope of office-buffer use. 12