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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransfer of zoning-related activities to Area Plan Commission from the Building Department LAWRENCE P. MAGLIOZZI EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Angela M. Smith Deputy Director PAGREAPLLAN COMMISSION OF ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, IN 227 W. JEFFERSON BLVD., ROOM 1140 COUNTY-CITY Bl![LDING, SOUTH BEND, INDIANA 46601 (574) 235-9571 Filed in Cleric's Office August 10, 2017 AUG 10 2017 Tim Scott, President KAREEMAH FOWLER Oliver Davis, Zoning&Annexation Committee Chair CITY CLERK,SOUTH REND,IN Common Council of the City of South Bend 227 W. Jefferson Blvd., Suite 400 S South Bend, IN 46601 Dear Sirs, Along with Chuck Bulot, I have been working on transferring the administration of the Area Board of Zoning Appeals, in addition to the responsibilities of the Zoning Administrator, from the Building Department to the Area Plan Commission. Attached is an outline of the re-alignment proposal, initially prepared for the Plan Commission's submittal in support of the 2018 Budget. Page 1, Summary, states the basis for the re-alignment. Pages 6-7 provide additional detail. I am requesting an opportunity to discuss this with the Zoning and Annexation Committee on August 28th,at which time I will be able to answer any questions, comments or concerns about this effort. Sincerely, Larry Magliozzi SERVING ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, SOUTH BEND, LAKEVILLE, NEW CARLISLE, NORTH LIBERTY, OSCEOLA & ROSELAND W W W.S I C I N D I A N A.C O M/3 0 6/AREA-P L A N RE-ALIGNMENT AND TRANSFER OF ZONING-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND PROCESSES TO THE ST.JOSEPH COUNTY AREA PLAN COMMISSION Filed in Clerk's Office FROM THE --- BUILDING DEPARTMENT AUG 10 207 KAREEMAH FOWLER CITY CLERK,SOUTH 1 014D,IN Summary The Area Plon Commission has provided planning services for its member jurisdictions since 1966. Among those services is the administration of the rezoning and subdivision process, interpretive support to the Zoning Administrators, general land use planning support to the member jurisdictions, and ordinance text changes. The Building Commissioner of the South Bend/St.Joseph County Building Department is the Zoning Administrator(ZA) for the City of South Bend and the unincorporated areas of St.Joseph County.The member towns each have their own ZA.The ZA is the individual designated as having the responsibility for the interpretation and administration of the Zoning Ordinance, which includes the pursuit of zoning violations. Successful pursuit of zoning violations are a particular concern. It is unusual that most, if not all aspects, of land use planning functions are not organized under one department.The benefits are obvious in that having land use planning, policy, management and implementation is a more efficient approach to conducting those activities. In researching surrounding communities, we are the only jurisdiction that follows our current structure. The goal of the proposal outlined herein, is to enhance planning services to the public and development community, by unifying all land use-related administrative functions under one department. In brief: 1. Assuming ABZA administration would require the services of a PTE. 2. Assuming the general responsibilities of the Zoning Administrator relative to interpretation of the Zoning Ordinance, can be absorbed by existing staff. 3. Assuming the responsibilities of zoning violations will require the services of one FTE. 4. All fees associated with ABZA and zoning verification would be new income. 5. Implementation of Improvement Location Permit fees would be new income. 6. Capital expenses: workstation(s); desk(s); cubicle partitions;vehicle for zoning violations This proposal does not address code enforcement. Code enforcement requires specialized staffing skills, in-depth training, a dedicated administrative process, and considerable capital support.There have been some discussions with South Bend Code Enforcement to contract this service out. Recommendation The general recommendation is to pursue to the fullest extent possible the integration of planning services. Depending on the level of support that the County is willing to provide,there are several options on how to accomplish this. Those options are detailed at the end of this analysis, but at a minimum: 1. Transfer the administrative function of the ABZA from the Building Department to the APC staff; 2. Transfer the position of Zoning Administrator from the Building Commissioner to the Executive Director of the Area Plan Commission. Page 117 RE-ALIGNMENT AND TRANSFER OF ZONING-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND PROCESSES TO THE ST.JOSEPH COUNTY AREA PLAN COMMISSION FROM THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT Area Board of Zoning Appeals Statutory Basis: The Area Board of Zoning Appeals (ABZA) is established by I.C. 36-7-4-901. Since zoning ordinances are in place for the member jurisdictions of the Area Plan Commission(APC),the legislative bodies of those jurisdictions must establish a board of zoning appeals-I.C. 36-7-4-901 (a). History: Between 1966 and June of 2009,there were two boards. A South Bend Board of Zoning Appeals,which heard appeals(variances)within the city limits of South Bend, and an Area Board of Zoning Appeals,which heard appeals for unincorporated St.Joseph County and the member towns of the APC. The boards were combined to ease the administrative burden of coordinating two boards, which met on different dates every month. In 2012,the APC implemented a Combined Hearing Procedure where petitioners seeking a zoning change could also request a special use and variances. Responsibilities: The ABZA hears petitions for variances from the development standards of the Zoning Ordinance, special uses/special use exceptions and conditional uses within the established zoning districts. Use variances are not permitted as long as a jurisdiction is a member of the Area Plan Commission. Administration: The Building Department administers the appeals process, from intake of petitions to file closure. Bldg. Dept. Tasks: Address initial owner inquiries that could result in an application for relief from the development standards—height, area and bulk; process applications; staff review; site visits;notifications and agendas;ABZA meetings;transcribe minutes; post- meeting tasks. Current APC Tasks: Coordinates with the Building Department to ensure sufficiency of the application; provide a staff report to the ABZA, and attend the meetings. Increased Tasks for Staff: Staff would assume all administrative duties relative to the application process, administrative duties,ABZA meetings,minutes,and file closure. The added burden is in the administrative duties and the time involved in transcribing the minutes. Support& Task Requirements: 1. Develop a proprietary data base. Will require IT support. 2. Additional PTE to attend meetings and transcribe minutes. 3. Possibly change meeting date and time of ABZA meetings. 4. Increase filing fees for 2018. Page 217 RE-ALIGNMENT AND TRANSFER OF ZONING-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND PROCESSES TO THE ST. JOSEPH COUNTY AREA PLAN COMMISSION FROM THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT Budget Impact: 1. The Department(County)will see an increase in income through application fees. Current Fee structure is $85 for the first variance, and$45 for each additional variance. Some variances are"bundled"by the Building Department. Staff would change that policy providing a slight increase in income.ABZA fees bring in approximately$15,000/year. 2. The hiring of a PTE will increase Personnel costs.ABZA and the implementation of an Improvement Location Permit Fee(see separate discussion on this process)will pay for the added administrative position. 3. Capital expenses would include one workstation, desk and chair. Other Considerations South Bend is considering re-establishing a separate board of zoning appeals to hear City petitions.Approximately half of the petitions are City petitions.A City BZA would be comprised of individuals better informed of the uniqueness of the zoning ordinance and land use issues facing the City. If the City chooses to proceed,the administrative burden would fall on City staff, relieving the APC staff from those responsibilities. Fewer petitions would result in less staff time needed to administer the ABZA process, but it would also reduce income. As noted earlier, "unbundling"variances and increasing fees would cover some of the losses in income. i Page 317 RE-ALIGNMENT AND TRANSFER OF ZONING-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND PROCESSES TO THE ST. JOSEPH COUNTY AREA PLAN COMMISSION FROM THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT Zoning Administrator/Zoning Administration Statutory Basis: The position of Zoning Administrator(ZA) is established in the respective zoning ordinances-Chapter 154.582 of the St. Joseph County Zoning Ordinance and Section 21-09.04 of the South Bend Zoning Ordinance. The Towns appoint their own ZAs. History: Prior to the merging of the South Bend and St. Joseph County building departments,the respective Building Commissioners also held the position of ZA. The Building Commissioner of the South Bend/St. Joseph County Building Department is the ZA for South Bend and unincorporated St. Joseph County. Responsibilities: The Zoning Ordinance establishes the duties of the ZA: 1. Enforce and administer the zoning ordinance 2. Investigate matters relative to the zoning ordinance(interpret&investigate) 3. Receive and review applications to the ABZA(administrative process) 4. Provide technical advice to the ABZA 5. Maintain ABZA records 6. Issue improvement location permits Administration: The Building Commissioner performs the duties of ZA.Two FTEs spend the majority of their time assisting the ZA in his duties. One on the tasks associated with the ABZA, and one on the enforcement of the zoning ordinances.As noted earlier,the Building Department does not perform zoning administration tasks for the towns. Bldg. Dept. Tasks: Make interpretations on permitted uses and development standards of the Zoning Ordinances; accept and process ABZA petitions including administrative tasks such as correspondence, agendas, meeting attendance and minutes; answer inquiries on variance and special exception filing requirements; investigate zoning violations and pursue fines when needed. Current APC Tasks: Offers opinions on interpretation issues;confirms zoning district boundaries and the zoning of properties. Since APC keeps records of past zoning actions,does research and zoning confirmation of those actions. Increased Tasks for Staff: Staff would assume all the responsibilities of the ZA, noted above. The ABZA burden was addressed in the previous section. Since the tasks associated with the balance of the responsibilities are varied, each requires a separate discussion. Task#1. Zoning interpretation—Staff works on a daily basis with the zoning ordinance and drafts all of the text amendments,and participates in Page 417 RE-ALIGNMENT AND TRANSFER OF ZONING-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND PROCESSES TO THE ST.JOSEPH COUNTY AREA PLAN COMMISSION FROM THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT many discussions dealing with interpretation issues.This task can be easily absorbed with current staff and within the normal workday. Task#2. Zoning inquiries—Staff receives many inquiries, approximately 11 per day,ranging from property zoning verification, questions on development standards and rezoning potential.The Building Department fields approximately 25 zoning-related calls per day. The increased call volume will substantially increase our daily work load, and impact the amount of time necessaroprocess petitions filed with the department. Task 43. Written requests—this task involves responding in writing(letter or form)to zoning verifications and State approvals(@ 100/year),business license reviews(@700/year), and legal non-conforming certificates (@11/year). This task in combination with Task#2,will substantially increase our daily work load impact the amount of time necessary to process petitions filed with the department. Task 94. Plan review—Twice a week, staff goes over to the Building Department to review project site plans that have filed for a building permit; one review session for the County and one session for South Bend. Staff,at this point does not see an increase in time required to perform this task. Task#S. Zoning violations—This new task would become the responsibility of the Staff,unless the County contracts with South Bend for Code Enforcement.The Building Department responds to about 1,000 violations a year. Violations mostly involve inappropriate land uses and junk vehicles. Site plan violations have historically not been addressed due to lack of staff time. This task would result in a significant increase in staff time, and cannot be accomplished without an additional FTE. Support& Task Requirements: 1. An electronic tracking system would be needed. It is not known at this time whether the South Bend system can be used. 2. Additional FTE to accomplish Tasks#3 and#5. 3. Implement an Improvement Location Permit Fee(Commercial only) to help cover the Staff time for Task#4. Budget Impact: 1. The Department(County)will see an increase in income from the implementation of an Improvement Location Permit(ILP)fee and zoning verification fees. Zoning verification letters are currently$30 or$50 depending on the amount of research required.At @ 100 requests per year,that equals$300 to$500.ILP fees could range from$10 to$100. Between site plan reviews and sign permit reviews, a conservative estimate of$35,000($100/ILP), could be collected. Page 517 RE-ALIGNMENT AND TRANSFER OF ZONING-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND PROCESSES TO THE ST. JOSEPH COUNTY AREA PLAN COMMISSION FROM THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT 2. The hiring of a FTE will increase personnel costs.The skill requirements of this position is different that the skill level of the one PTE noted in the ABZA discussion. Whether existing personnel could be re-organized to cover zoning administration duties is still being studied. 3. Capital costs: workstation, desk, chair, office panels,vehicle Other Considerations South Bend has had some brief discussions with Staff on them withdrawing their membership from the Area Plan Commission. If the City chooses to proceed, it most likely will not happen until 2019 or 2020, or after the adoption of a new zoning ordinance,whichever occurs first.The administrative burden of a City plan commission, City Board of Zoning Appeal, and Zoning Interpretation for the City will transfer to City staff, relieving the APC staff from those responsibilities. Fewer petitions would result in less staff time needed to administer the zoning and subdivision process, but it would also reduce income. On the other hand, it is possible that staff will have more time available to perform zoning enforcement. As indicated,zoning enforcement is a concern for the staff. Without a FTE, enforcement would VERY LIMITED, if non-existent. Code Enforcement,as envisioned by the Council, is not possible with the scenarios discussed here. Code is a specific task that requires specialized skills and a distinct process. Additional Information Status of Zoning Ordinances: Staff has been diligently pursuing modernization of the seven zoning ordinances it oversees:New Carlisle-January 2010; Osceola—January 2015; Lakeville—projected July 2017;North Liberty—projected November 2017. The South Bend ordinance will be updated,potentially next year,via a City contract. Staff will begin working on the County ordinance in 2018/19. The County subdivision ordinance is currently being re-drafted,and is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.The subdivision ordinances of the other jurisdictions will reviewed for potential replacement in 2019. Comprehensive Plans: Due to staff reductions over the past decade,the Comprehensive Plan (April 2002)and targeted,neighborhood-oriented land use plans have not been done.The age of the Comprehensive Plan is a concern, especially with the new focus on economic development in the County. Code Enforcement: Staff would encourage that if the County desires to implement a strong code enforcement effort,then a fair and equitable contract with the City of South Bend be pursued.APC does not available staff or expertise to perform that function. Page 617 RE-ALIGNMENT AND TRANSFER OF ZONING-RELATED ACTIVITIES AND PROCESSES TO THE ST. JOSEPH COUNTY AREA PLAN COMMISSION FROM THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT Recommended Action (Revised 712412017) APC staff is committed to merging all aspects of zoning activity within one department. It is our belief that this is the appropriate path to provide a more efficient service for planning-related functions.Keys to accomplishing this goal, is to transfer ABZA administration and ZA responsibilities to the APC staff. ABZA fees would be increased to cover the addition personnel costs of one PTE.Additional income generated by new fees could support one FTE that would assist in zoning violation tasks. Scenarios: Scenario One—Transfer ABZA administration to the Area Plan Commission. Will require one PTE to be supported by ABZA filing fees. Leave ZA responsibilities with Building Department. Income: $15,000 - $20,000(Increase fees from $85/$45 to $100/$45) Scenario Two—Transfer ABZA administration and ZA responsibilities to the Area Plan Commission. Will require one PTE and one FTE,to be supported by ABZA filing fees and commercial ILP fees.Zoning violation fees would provide more than adequate additional revenue to cover the FTE. Income: ABZA: $15,000-$20,000 ILP: $35,000(new$100 plan review fees) Business Licenses: $7,000 (new$10 verification fee) Auto&Alcohol License Verifications: $1,000 Other Zoning Verifications: $600($35 current fee) Scenario Three—Same as Scenario Two, but hire two PTEs. One for ABZA and one for zoning enforcement tasks.This scenario would provide 100%coverage of ABZA administration and limited/selected zoning enforcement. Income: Same as above Page 717 Filed in Clerk's Office Re-Alignment. Consolidation of Services �tN Q 2017 Board of Zoning Appeals and Zoning Administrator KAREEMAH FOWLER CITY CLERK,SOUTH BEND,IN Goal The goal of the re-alignment effort is to consolidate all aspects of zoning administrative functions under one department. Consolidation will occur under the Area Plan Commission. The Directors of the Area Plan Commission and the Building Department are in full support of the consolidation. Administrative Functions The consolidation of all land use and zoning-related administrative functions will eliminate duplication of services that are currently split between two departments at two different locations. All aspects of zoning-related activities would be within one organization, enhancing planning-related functions to the public and development community. Current Consolidated APC Bldg. Dept. APC Bldg. Dept. ABZA Administrator X X ABZA Review X X X ABZA Staff Reports X X Rezonings X X Subdivisions X X Zoning Administrator X X Zoning Confirmation X X Zoning Interpretations X X Zoning Violations X X Land Use Planning Land use planning (comprehensive and neighborhood plans, annexations, land use policy, etc.) will remain with the member jurisdictions of the Area Plan Commission. The APC and its staff will continue to provide support to those activities, as needed. Public Burden The public will benefit by obtaining all administrative zoning issues from a single department, and by having that department administer the application review process, such as legal ads and property notifications. New fees will be proposed for some of the zoning tasks, and that detail is provided on the accompanying spreadsheet (Re-Alignment Changes, Version 2).