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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-27-17 Zoning and Annexation � 010TH 8��0 U C W rFac�: �,e 1565 OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER,CITY CLERK ZONING&ANNEXATION NOVEMBER 27, 2017 3:30 P.M. Committee Members Present: Oliver Davis, John Voorde, Gavin Ferlic, Jo M. Broden Committee Members Absent: None Other Council Present: Tim Scott, Dr. David Varner, Karen White (late) Other Council Absent: Regina Williams-Preston, Randy Kelly Others Present: Bianca Tirado, Graham Sparks,Bob Palmer Presenters: Angela Smith, Mike Danch, Steve Henry, Michael Divita Agenda: Bill No. 68-17-Rezoning petition to 403 South Parry Street Bill No. 70-17-Rezoning petition to Northwest Corner of Niles Avenue and Cedar Street Bill No. 71-17- Rezoning petition to 1032 Wayne Street Zoning Ordinance Update Briefing-Mike Divita, Dept. of Community Investment Committee Chair Oliver Davis called to order the Zoning and Annexation Committee meeting at 3:30 p.m. He introduced members of the Committee and proceeded to give the floor to the presenters. Bill No 68-17- Rezoning petition to 403 South Street Angela Smith, Deputy Director of the Area Plan Commission, with offices on the 11th floor of the County-City Building, stated, The petitioner is seeking to rezone the property highlighted in red. She referenced a slide in the presentation(available in the City Clerk's Office). She continued, They are seeking to rezone from SF-Two (2), Single-Family and Two (2)-Family to LI , Light Industrial. It is located on the corner of Parry and Western Avenue. To the north and to the west of the site are properties zoned LI, Light Industrial. To the south of the site are properties zoned SF-2, Single-Family and Two (2)-Family. To the east of the site, across Parry Street, are apartments zoned MU,Mixed-Use. There used to be Single-Family home on the site which was demolished to make way for an expansion of the Robert Henry Corporation. There was another parcel rezoned to LI, Light Industrial, for the Robert Henry Corporation. It was rezoned with the stipulation that they do not bring on additional equipment or business. That happened in 1997. The condition when it was passed by the Common Council was that it would be used to clean up the site. Under the site plan they provided,the amount of parking would not 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.SouthBendfN.gov JENNIFER M.COFFMAN BIANCA TIRADO JOSEPH MOLNAR CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK OPERATIONS be permitted under the setbacks that were granted subject to the rezoning decision. The existing site is only zero point seven(0.7) acres and it is proposed to be a gravel storage lot that would be screened by an eight (8) foot opaque fence and landscaping along Parry Street. This comes to you from the Area Plan Commission(APC) with no recommendation on the rezoning and a favorable recommendation on the Special Exception use. This is a two (2)part ordinance that includes the rezoning to the LI, Light Industrial, and a special exception use for outdoor storage in excess of twenty percent(20%) of the total gross floor area of buildings on the lot. Since there are no buildings on the lot,that threshold is exceeded pretty quickly. Committeemember Gavin Ferlic asked, Is there a way that a special exception can be granted without a rezoning? Ms. Smith replied,Not in this because it was handled as part of a combined Public Hearing process. In this case if it wasn't rezoned from SF-1, the outdoor storage of the equipment would not be an allowed use in a SF-1 District. There is nothing in the SF-1 District that would allow for the commercial use of the property for outdoor storage like this. Anything that happens on the site would have to be accessory to the primary use. Councilmember Dr. David Varner asked, Is there a long-term plan for this? I think the expectations have been this will not remain storage in the long term? Mike Danch, Danch, Hamer& Associates,1643 Commerce Drive, stated, I am representing the petitioner, Robert Henry Corporation. We are asking to rezone from the SF-2 district to the LI district for approximately only 3,000 square feet of area. We are trying to take the lot that had a house on it and make it a better area. The owner had received support from the Department of Community Investment at the time of purchase. We wanted to be sure we did exactly what we need to do to be able to move forward with the gravel area. We are committing to an eight(8) foot high wood screening fence. The setback coming back from the sidewalk right-of-way line on Parry Street is about ten(10) feet. It will be a landscaping area. Not only would we have the wood screening fence but we would have the landscaping. We are also asking Council for that special exception for the gravel area. The Robert Henry Corporation has spoken to the neighboring residents as well as the Howard Park Neighborhood Association. There have been some neighbors worried about how this might affect their neighborhood plan. This rezoning is only temporary as is the gravel. This temporary status gives the ability in the future to move forward with the neighborhood plan. Steve Henry, Robert Henry Corporation, 404 S. Frances Street,provided a handout (available in the City Clerk's Office) depicting Frances Street in the past. He stated, The City closed off this area. What I am trying to do, in the near future, is to vacate the portion of Western Avenue that is no longer used. We want to vacate the property up to Parry Street and put a fence across it. There are other nearby properties zoned LI, Light Industrial. He then referenced the presentation and briefly gave context to the zonings of nearby properties. He continued, I know our business won't be there forever. However, I don't want to have to pay to move. Councilmember Tim Scott asked, The two (2) residential houses south of the property, are they occupied right now? 2 Mr. Henry replied, They are and I have had conversation with both of them. Committeemember Jo M. Broden asked, With regard to not paving this property, why does this property continue to exist with gravel? Was that prior to the rezoning? Could someone clarify for me the requirement in the zoning for the paving? Ms. Smith replied, Prior to 2004 with the ordinance change,the regulations were different. The change since 2004 is that all parking and storage shall be paved. The justification for that is to keep dust and debris out of the nearby streets. Committeemember John Voorde stated, I think this is the kind of thing we ought to encourage. To me, it hastens the day it will be transformed into something else. By the assemblage of this property, we end up with a consistency that makes it easier to deal with down the road. I like and support this. Committee Chair Davis opened the floor to members of the pubic wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. Tim Corcoran, Director of Planning for the Department of Community Investment with offices on the 1401 floor of the County-City Building, stated, In your packet of information,we originally recommended unfavorably based on the current plans in place including the Comprehensive Plan as well as the Howard Park Neighborhood Plan. Since that point, we did meet with Mr. Henry to talk with him about his plans. Also at that time, we encouraged him to reach out to the neighborhood group to have them understand what is happening. While not consistent with the plan,we can accept this as an interim use of the property. We would not support further expansion of the Light Industrial use, especially along the east. We would like to retain as much residential character along Parry Street as possible. The future plan and character is upheld by these older homes. We support this. Committee Chair Davis turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motion. Committeemember Broden stated, There is a neighborhood plan in place. There are two (2) existing neighborhood groups and I think that it is important that both groups be visited and worked with. I don't know if that has been the case. I don't want to have to correct mistakes. I do acknowledge this is transitional. I trust the comments that have been made to me by the petitioner. But again, I do have some issues when plans and visions are in place. We need to work within the existing tools. Committeemember Ferlic made a motion to send Bill No. 68-17 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Voorde seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No 70-17- Rezoning petition to Northwest Corner of Niles Avenue and Cedar Street 3 Angela Smith, Deputy Director of the Area Plan Commission, with offices on the 11 th floor of the County-City Building, stated, The petitioner is seeking to rezone just over an acre at the northeast corner of Niles and Cedar. This would be a parking lot to serve the Beacon Health Employees nearby. The site is currently split zoned between CBD, Central Business District and MU, Mixed- Use. This rezoning would bring it all under the CBD, Central Business District zoning. To the north and east of the site are properties zoned MU, Mixed-Use. To the west and south of the site are properties zoned CBD, Central Business District. The site is currently vacant. There is a grade change the petitioner would need to address during the development process. The one point two (1.2)acre site will be used for a parking lot for approximately one hundred and seven(107)parking spaces. The site plan shows the appropriate landscaping and, for the majority of it, the setback is consistent with that. There is a small area where the property lines don't follow the rest of the property lines. If rezoned,they received a variance for a setback reduction subject to the rezoning being passed by Council. This comes to you from the Area Plan Commission with a favorable recommendation. Rezoning the site to CBD, Central Business District will bring the entire parcel under a common zoning destination and allow for a cohesive development of the site consistent with the character of the area. Committeemember Broden asked, How were the parking numbers arrived at by the petitioner? Mike Danch,Danch,Harper&Associates, 1643 Commerce Drive,replied,Just trying to maximize the area of what they own. They looked at what the setbacks were. What we are trying to do is have a consistent zoning for this particular area. What Beacon Health would like to do is add additional parking. They have an administrative office just about a block north of this site that employs about one hundred and seventy-five (175)people. That facility only has about eighty-six (86) parking spaces so what they would like to do is get additional parking for their employees. We would make an underground retention area for drainage to avoid any runoff into Niles Avenue. We did receive that variance for the setback. Committee Chair Davis opened the floor to members of the pubic wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. There were none. He then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motions. Committeemember Ferlic made a motion to send Bill No. 70-17 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Voorde seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Bill No. 71-17-Rezoning petition to 1032 Wavne Street Angela Smith, Deputy Director of the Area Plan Commission,with offices on the 11th floor of the County-City Building, stated, The petitioner is seeking to rezone the property located on the southwest corner of Wayne and Eddy. It is a small parcel that contains a residential structure currently zoned SF-2, Single-Family and Two (2)-Family. It was rezoned from the MU, Mixed- Use District in 2009 to the SF-2 District. The owner at the time believed that would help them with their property taxes so they rezoned. To the north and east of the site are homes zoned both SF-1 and SF-2. To the south of the site are offices zoned MU, Mixed-Use. The side of the residence facing Wayne has residential character but as you move south along Eddy Street, you can see a more business-like character to the side of the property. Parking is located to the rear of the site. 4 The site plan proposes no changes to the site. This comes to you with a favorable recommendation from the Area Plan Commission. Rezoning this site to MU,Mixed-Use,will allow for the adaptive reuse of a structure that could be used for offices and residential that is consistent with the character of the area. Committee Chair Davis opened the floor to members of the pubic wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to the legislation. Tim Corcoran, Director of Planning for the Department of Community Investment with offices on the 14th floor of the County-City Building, stated, There was an issue brought up in the Area Plan Commission about parking. We eliminate the parking requirement for Mixed-Use Districts so it is not required anymore. Committee Chair Davis then turned the floor back to the Committee for further comment or main motions. Committeemember Broden made a motion to send Bill No. 71-17 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Committeemember Ferlic seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four(4) ayes. Zoning Ordinance Update Briefing-Mike Divita,Dent. of Community Investment Michael Divita, Planner with the Department of Community Investment with offices on the 141h floor of the County-City Building, stated, This is just a quick recap of where we are at. You may recall we committed to doing six (6)zoning quick fixes. Three (3) of them were approved at the last Council meeting. The last three (3) are in the process. One (1) addresses procedural amendments. Another addresses the Mixed-Use Districts. Finally is the controlled uses variances. Those are expected to go before the Area Plan Commission and this Council in late January 2018 or early Febr�uar�. He then provided a handout (available in the City Clerk's Office)that overviewed those upcoming and proposed changes. With no further business, Committee Chair Davis adjourned the Zoning and Annexation Committee meeting at 4:14 p.m. Respec ll Submitted, 601'Veravi Committee Chair 5 I