12-08-03 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 8, 2003 Height and Area to `B" Heavy Industrial, "F" Height and Area to allow industrial uses including, but not limited to, petroleum refining and other industrial uses. The property contains industrial uses. Located to the north and west are industrial uses zoned "D' Light Industrial, `B" Height and Area. To the south are industrial uses and commercial uses zoned `B" Heavy Industrial, "F" Height and Area. To the east are industrial uses zoned "D" Light Industrial, "E" Height and Area, a restaurant zoned "C" Commercial, "A" Height and Area, and churches and single family homes zoned "A" Residential, "a" Height and Area. Access to the site is from Washington Avenue. Water and sewer are available to the site. The drainage has not been addressed by the Petitioner. The total site to be rezoned is 20.9 acres. Of that, the buildings will occupy 1.8 acres or 8.6% of the site. Parking and drives will occupy 19.1 % of the site, gravel, storage and processing areas will occupy 64.1 per cent of the site. Open space will occupy 8.2% of the site. A check of the Agency's maps indicates that no public wells, wetlands, flood or environmental hazard areas are present. The site plan is preliminary. At its October 21, 2003 meeting, the Area Plan Commission sent this Petition to the Common Council with an unfavorable recommendation. This property was previously zoned "B" Heavy Industrial. On June 18, 1991, the Area Plan Commission recommended approval of a neighborhood rezoning which was subsequently approved in July by the Common Council for the West Washington- Chapin Development Area. This property was down zoned to "D" Light Industrial with the expectation that, eventually, less intense industrial uses will emerge. The goals of the West Washington - Chapin rezoning were to protect the residential areas of the neighborhood by providing firm zoning district boundaries and reduce the Height and Area Districts. This current rezoning petition is directly against the original vision set forth by the Area Plan Commission, the Common Council, and by the residents of the West Washington- Chapin neighborhood in 1991. Mr. Anthony Zappia, Attorney at Law, 52582 State Road 933 North, South Bend, Indiana, made the presentation for this bill on behalf of Hurwich Iron Company and Access Indiana which is the land holding company for Hurwich Iron. Mr. Zappia stated that at a meeting held in September with the Near Westside Neighborhood Association the Petitioners thought they crafted an Agreement that was fair and equitable and permitted all of the parties to move forward and as part of that the ordinance was amended. He stated that Hurwich sought the continuation of the scrap metal junkyard and petroleum refining facility with permission to operate a facility for the crushing, grinding and storage of concrete, asphalt and related materials and grinding, shredding, and storage of tree, leaf and related organic materials including the coloring of treated mulch material and storage of compost on the site. He stated that there was not going to be a landfill or a transfer station. Mr. Zappia noted that Ms. Noreen Dean - Moran, President, Near Westside Neighborhood Association spoke in favor of this proposal to the members of the Area Plan Commission. He further noted that should there be any modification to this request they would have to go through the entire zoning process all over again. Mr. Zappia stated that property located to the north is zoned "D" Industrial, to the west is Batteast Construction and Ritschard Brothers, to the south is property zoned "E" Heavy Industrial and to the east is land zoned light industrial. Properties to the north, west, south and east are all zoned industrial and are trucking operations. Mr. Zappia advised that the property in question is composed of twenty -one (21) acres. The property was zoned "E" Heavy Industrial for decades and Hurwich has been on this site for over eighty -six (86) years. In 1991 the neighborhood decided to make this a "D" Industrial site and unquestionably, Mr. Jim Hurwich would never have agreed to that modification if he knew it would not include recycling. Mr. Zappia noted that the zoning classification at that site now is an open zoning classification. It permits fifty -three (53) different types of uses of which he stated a few that would be disadvantageous to the neighborhood. In addition to those proposed uses there are one hundred twenty -five (125) commercial uses of which he stated several. Mr. Zappia indicated that at the present time the Petitioner processes scrap metal which is shipped to an end consumer. It is a form of recycling. He noted that they were grandfathered to continue that operation and they will. He further noted that it did not make sense in 1991 that this was a scrap iron operation since 1917 but then it was down zoned to a "D" zoning yet Hurwich was permitted to use