12-16-74 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING DECEMBER 16, 1974 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING Be it remembered that the Common Council of the City of South Bend met in the Committee of the Whole on Monday, December 16, 1974, at 7:05 p.m., with nine members present. Chairman Odell Newburn presided. ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 4990 -68, AS AMENDED, COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA (CHAPTER 40, MUNICIPAL CODE) - 407 East Howard Street. Council President Nemeth indicated that he had received a telephone call from the petitioner regarding the rezoning, and it was requested that the matter be withdrawn. No one was present to make any presentation of the ordinance. Council President Nemeth made a motion that the ordinance be stricken from the files, seconded by Councilman Parent. The motion carried. ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 4990 -681 AS AMENDED, COMMONLY KNOWN AS THE ZONING ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA (CHAPTER 40, MUNICIPAL CODE) - 900 East Ireland Road. This being the time heretofore set for public hearing on the above ordinance, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. Mr. Jack C. Dunfee, Jr., Attorney at Law practicing in the First Bank Building, made the presentation for the ordinance. He explained that he was representing the Allens, the petitioners in the rezoning. He referred to the overhead projector showing the property to be rezoned being behind (south) of The Downunder. He explained that the rezoning was necessitated because additional parking facilities were needed. He stated that the additional parking lot would allow for 52 parking spaces, and the Area Plan Commission had favorably recommended the ordinance to the Common Council. He indicated that the decision to rezone was voluntary on the part of the owners. Access would be provided off Ireland Road through the existing curb cut. Councilman Kopczynski asked about an exit from the rear of the property, and Mr. Dunfee indicated that the only exit would be through The Downunder property and would come out on Ireland Road. He presented a preliminary site development plan to the Council members. Councilman Taylor made a motion that the ordinance be recommended favorably to the Common Council, seconded by Councilman Kopczynski. The motion carried. ORDINANCE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 1, SECTION 4, OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, PERTAINING TO THE DESIGNATION OF COUNCILMANIC DISTRICTS. This being the time heretofore set for public hearing on the above ordinance, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. Council President Nemeth made the presentation for the ordinance. He explained that the ordinance would redistrict the six councilmanic district: within the city. The Council has the legal responsibility for taking charge of the districts, and it was required that this be done prior to the end of the year because of the election in 1975. He indicated that the City Attorney had written an opinion regarding the redistricting, and he quoted from that opinion. He stated that an estimate of the population per district was as follows: 1st District - 21,200 2nd District - 20,800 3rd District - 17,000 4th District - 23,000, 5th District - 23,000 6th District - 20,000 Mr. James Roemer, City Attorney, stated that he felt the ordinance as drafted was legal even thoug] there was somewhat of a variance between the 3rd, 4th and 5th districts. Council President Nemeth also mentioned the possibility of various annexations coming out of court, at which time a full - scale redistricting would have to be accomplished. Councilman Taylor wondered if there were any figures available to show voting registration rather than just population estimates. Council President Nemeth stated that the voting count ranged from a low of 12,000 in the 6th to 14,000 in the 5th. Councilman Taylor stated that he felt the ordinance was not fair to two districts within the city. He stated that his district had only one representative for 23,000 persons and another district had one representative for only 17,000 persons. He felt that another meeting of the Council was necessary in 1974 and that the ordinance should be reconciled at that time rather than waiting for the conclusion of various annexations. Council President Nemeth stated that another reason for redistricting in this manner was because the maps have been drawn up for the county election. He indicated that the ordinance being considered conformed to the county precinct maps. Councilman Taylor felt there should be equal representation in each district. Councilman Kopczynski felt the districts were fair and that other factors besides just population have to be considered, such as the number of industries in a certain district, etc. Councilman Szymkowiak stated that there were three at -large councilmen who could help back up the district councilmen, and he felt Councilman Taylor's point was not justified. Councilman Taylor talked about setting a precedence and court cases, and he maintained that representation was being cut down for the peop14 of the 5th District. Councilman Horvath felt only three districts were being debated, and he felt the issue could be taken care of easily. Mr. David Wells,'Manager of the Bureau of Design and Administration, indicated that the figures used were merely estimates and were compiled in a short period of time. He asked that, if the Council wished to delay the issue, more time be given to the population distribution figures. Councilman Serge asked for a copy of the proposed maps, and Mr. Wells indicated that one copy of the maps was available in his office. Councilman Parent stated that he wanted to see the redistricting done in a proper manner, and he wondered if more time should be allowed for consideration; however, he also felt there was no major problem in the population variances. Councilman Kopczynski stated that he felt the Council should not delay the issue but should take action at this time. Councilman Kopczynski made a motion that the ordinance be recommended favorably to the Common Council, seconded by Councilman Szymkowiak. Chairman Newburn requested a roll call vote. The motion carried by a vote of six ayes (Councilmen Szymkowiak, Miller, Parent, Kopczynski, Newburn and Nemeth) and three nays (Councilmen Serge, Taylor and Horvath).