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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-12-17 Zoning and Annexation O�SpiJ T$ � � d ti U C W rFacE r" it ■ 1865 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK ZONING&ANNEXATION JUNE 12, 2017 4:00 P.M. Committee Members Present: Oliver Davis, Gavin Ferlic, Jo M. Broden, Jerry Phipps Committee Members Absent: John Voorde Other Council Present: Regina Williams-Preston, Karen White, Dr. David Varner, Tim Scott, Randy Kelly Other Council Absent: None Others Present: Aladean DeRose, Bob Palmer, Kareemah Fowler, Graham Sparks Presenters: Angela Smith, Tim Corcoran Agenda: Substitute Bill No. 09-17—Rezoning at 1237 & 1303 Ironwood Discussion of Possible Text Amendment for Indoor Storage Committee Chair Oliver Davis called to order the Zoning and Annexation Committee meeting at 4:00 p.m. He introduced members of the Committee and proceeded to the items on the agenda. Substitute Bill No. 09-17—Rezoning at 1237 & 1303 Ironwood Committeemember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to continue Substitute Bill No. 09-17 to July 24th. This motion was seconded by Committeemember Jo M. Broden which carried unanimously by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Discussion of Possible Text Amendment for Indoor Storage Angela Smith, Area Plan Commission(APC) with offices on the 11th floor of the County-City Building, stated, Over the past several years we have had several developers approach us wanting to reuse some of the big box retail stores which are currently sitting vacant in the City. The purpose would be for indoor storage. The old Target at McKinley and Hickory has been converted to a storage facility. The challenge we have is that the first place most self-storage general warehouses are permitted are in the GB— General Business District. It sounds great, but retail establishments are not allowed within that district. So, when you have a building that wants to be part retail and part storage,they can't work within that zoning district. That is why the McKinley and Hickory Road instance is in an area zoned PUD— 455 County-City Building-227 W.Jefferson Boulevard-South Bend,Indiana 46601 Phone 574-235-9221 •Fax 574-235-9173•TDD 574-235-5567•www.SouthBendrN.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN ALKEYNA M.ALDRIDGE JOSEPH MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS Planned Unit Development. We have been talking about this for a long time and there are couple upcoming projects that have pushed this schedule a little faster. We are proposing the Area Plan Commission initiates a text amendment but we wanted to make sure we had Council support before we take that action. The text amendment would be to add a third use which is `many self-storage units with internal access.' It would maintain the outward appearance of the building. They come in through the main internal access and there would be a series of pods inside the building that all have their own doors and access points. The developers like this because they can utilize the existing HVAC systems in the building, the shell is set up, climate control is possible and it is a great re-use of these spaces when there isn't a retail space that can go in there. The old K-Mart on Western Avenue has been repurposed as a Planet Fitness and a Dollar Store, but there is still a large amount of space available within that building. That is a prime example. This has also come up with the old VA Clinic as well. They would like to do something to utilize these buildings with large ceilings and large loading docks. This is a proposal of how we would define that use. There are two (2)key components that are important to making the re- use of these buildings fit. The main point is there is no direct access to the outside or no appearance of direct access. We don't want developers to put a bunch of holes in the walls for the doors. It must remain looking like a retail store. The second point is that there would be no outdoor storage. These are both incorporated into the definition. We propose for these to be permitted in CB—Community Business, CBD—Central Business District, GB—General Business, LI—Light Industrial and GI— General Industrial zoning districts. There will be development standards applied as well so developers don't convert the building and make it look inappropriate for a retail setting. Committee Chair Davis asked, What is the process to get this officially approved? Ms. Smith replied, This would be a text amendment. If the Council didn't have any concerns or objections, we would do it at the Area Plan Commission. So at the next APC meeting, which is June 20th, there would be action to initiate it. It would then be in front of the commission in July and back to the Council immediately g followin that. It doesn't really matter if a Council member sponsors it, but we wanted to bring this forth to you before we began the process. Committee Chair Davis then opened the floor to questions from the Committee or the Council. Councilmember Tim Scott asked, Are you seeing this trend elsewhere? Ms. Smith replied, We are. In fact, when we started researching this there were many interesting things about this process. Everything from grocery stores to car dealerships were being converted. Councilmember Scott followed up, Is it getting a positive response and are the values around the properties getting affected? Ms. Smith answered, I'm not sure about the assessment values other than the fact these were vacant buildings that weren't generating much use anyway. The thought would be that as the market changed, they could be reconverted into a storage facility without a whole lot of deconstruction. Councilmember Scott asked, Is there anyone from DCI that would like to comment to this? 2 Tim Corcoran, Department of Community Investment with offices on the 14th floor of the County-City Building, stated, We helped craft the language with the Area Plan Commission. Different things were brought up as we talked about it in our weekly meetings. Councilmember Dr. David Varner asked, Would these conversions have accompanying value reassessments? Ms. Smith replied, We aren't involved on that side of things. What we see is mostly from the developer side and how they would utilize the building and how they would best invest into the building. With no other discussion, Committee Chair Davis adjourned the Zoning and Annexation Committee meeting at 4:09 ectfu ly Sub ed, 0 * e avis, Co At Chair 3 I