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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/16/07 Council Special Meeting MinutesSPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 Be it remembered that the Common Council of the City of South Bend, Indiana, met in the Council Chambers of the County-City Building on Monday, July 16, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was called to order by Council President Timothy A. Rouse and the Invocation and Pledge to the Flag were given. ROLL CALL COUNCILMEMBERS: Present: Derek D. Dieter Charlotte Pfeifer Roland "Randy" Kelly Ann Puzzello David Varner Ervin Kuspa Al "Buddy" Kirsits Timothy Rouse Karen L. White 1st District 2nd District 3rd District 4th District Vice-President 5th District 6~` District At-Large At-Large President At-Large Chairperson, Committee of the Whole OTHERS PRESENT: John Voorde Mary Beth Wisniewski Janice L Talboom Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand City Clerk Chief Deputy Deputy City Clerk Council Attorney RESOLVE INTO THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE At 7:25 p.m. Councilmember Dieter made a motion to resolve into the Committee of the Whole. Councilmember Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. Councilmember White, Chairperson, Committee of the Whole, presiding. Councilmember White explained the procedures to be followed for tonight's meeting in accordance with Article 1, Section 2-11 of the South Bend Municipal Code. Councilmember White stated that a brochure may be found on the railing in the Council Chambers explaining those procedures. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand read into the record the following guidelines for tonight's meeting. 1. Report from Zoning and Annexation Committee 2. Accept a motion & second to accept the new Exhibit A referenced to in the last sentence of Section I of Substitute Bill No. 26-07, which is on file with the Office of the City Clerk. 3. Presenters shall provide additional information to questions raised at the 07-09-07 public hearing and any questions raised at the Zoning and Annexation Committee hearings. Also request that a summary of the New PUD conditions included into Exhibit A be given as part of their presentation. (Not subject to time limit) 4. Public Hearing continuations: IN FAVOR: Persons who did not speak at the July 9, 2007 Common Council meeting on this Substitute Bill will have the right to speak first. Each person must give their name and address for the record. Each speaker is limited to a maximum of five (5) minutes. If after every new speaker in favor has spoken, anyone who spoke at last Monday's meeting who wishes to add any NEW information may SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 address the Council, again providing their name and address, and shall be limited to a 5 minute maximum. Total time of those speaking in favor will be noted by the Chair. IN OPPOSITION: Persons who did not speak in opposition at the July 9, 2007 Common Council meeting on this Substitute Bill will have the right to speak first. Each person must give their name and address for the record. If their subject matter has been addressed by a PUD condition incorporated into Exhibit A, the Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole shall advise the speaker of that, and ask them to address a concern which he or she believes has not been addressed. Each speaker shall be limited to a maximum of five (5) minutes. IF after every new speaker in opposition has spoken, anyone who spoke at last Monday's meeting who wishes to add any NEW information may address the Council, again providing their name and address, and shall be limited to a 5 minute maximum. Total time of those speaking in opposition will be noted by the Chair, and shall be limited to the time of those speaking in favor this evening or 30 minutes whichever is greater. 5. The Committee of the Whole Chairperson shall CLOSE the public hearing. 6. The presenters shall address any additional concerns in a FIVE (5) MINUTE REBUTTAL. 7. Council portion. 8. 3~d Reading by the City Clerk. Motion, 2nd Reading and Roll Call Vote by the Council. Councilmember Al "Buddy" Kirsits, Chairperson, Zoning and Annexation Committee, reported that this committee held a public hearing on July 9 and continued that public hearing on July 16, 2007 and voted to send this substitute bill to the full Council with no recommendation. Councilmember Kuspa made a motion to accept the amendments to Exhibit "A". Reference to the last sentence of Section I. of Substitute No. 26-07, which is on file in the Office of the City Clerk. Councilmember Rouse seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. PUBLIC HEARINGS BILL NO. 26-07 PUBLIC HEARING ON A BILL AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE FOR 24.345 ACRES GENERALLY LOCATED BETWEEN ANGELA BOULEVARD/EDISON ROAD AND NAPOLEON STREET, AND APPROXIMATELY 200 FEET WEST OF EDDY STREET AND 700 FEET EAST OF DUEY STREET, EXTENDED, COUNCILMANIC DISTRICT NO. 4 IN THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA Mr. David M Compton, Vice-President, Kite Realty Group, 30 S. Meridian, Indianapolis, Indiana, stated that they appreciate the opportunity to be before the Council tonight to talk about the exciting Eddy Street Commons Development. The time and commitment that the Council and staff have put into the project as well as those in favor and opposed are greatly appreciated. Mr. Compton announced that Dr. John Affleck- Graves, Executive Vice-President, Notre Dame will be the first presenter. Mr. Compton noted that at that time he will come back to the podium and provide the changes that have occurred during the presentation and address the three questions that were asked during the Zoning and Annexation Committee as part of his presentation. Additional members present tonight are David Lesibe, Vice-President, Buckingham Companies. Buckingham is the for rent apartment developer. Tom McGowan, CEO, Kite Realty Group. Victor Buckholtz, Looney Rick Kiss (LRK), Lead Architect and Designers of the development SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 and John Leszczynski and Chris Walden from the Troyer Group, Civil Engineers, based out of Mishawaka, Indiana, will address issues specifically to the traffic study and to issues to the east side engineering that has been done to date. Mr. John Afleck-Graves, Executive Vice-President of the University of Notre Dame, Room 400 Main Building, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, stated that he is pleased to be here tonight to offer Notre Dame's support of the Eddy Street Commons Project. This project is the culmination of many years of work by many people, but especially the dedicated members of the Northeast Neighborhood Council. For over 20 years they have labored to provide opportunities for this area and restore it's vibrancy that it possessed when South Bend was at its peak as a manufacturing center. This is not a new project, for the last seven years at the University of Notre Dame and their institutional partners in the northeast neighborhood revitalization organizations has assisted in this effort. They are delighted with the proposal that they have come up with and whole-heartedly support it. Speaking on behalf of Notre Dame, and being very frank that Notre Dame has not always appreciated how intimately that their fate is tied up with that of South Bend. He stated for the record, if South Bend does not thrive, Notre Dame cannot achieve the ambitions that they have to remain one of the leading American Institutions of Higher Education. This project is all about both thriving. Over the last three decades the campus Notre Dame has grown enormously in physical size. Notre Dame has grown and will continue to grow; they have now placed a limit on that growth. This development will be a wonderful example of the new cooperation between the community and the university that allows each to grow and to fulfill their missions. There is growth for future buildings on campus. But as they grow and deepen their research activities in selected fields of study they will be bringing more and more young faculty members, technical research staff and more graduate students to the campus. These young professionals will need housing; they will need retail outlets and other amenities. That is what this project is about. Eddy Street Commons with its urban atmosphere, its mix of housing types, its shops and places of gathering and entertainment is essential for the University to attract those faculty and graduate students in the first place and equally important in retaining them in the future. Even if Notre Dame wanted to be an island, they couldn't be because the people that they need to attract want to be part of a City. This new development is not intended for undergraduate students. They are currently building a new 230 bed residence hall on campus that will open in the fall of 2008. They will open another residence hall with 250 by the fall of 2009 and have plans for two more halls by 2012. These new residence halls will provide additional housing for undergraduate students which will relieve some of the overcrowding on campus as well as accommodating new students. As part of their commitment on building stronger ties between the University and the Community they are constructing a new town commons south of the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts and just across Edison Rd. from the Eddy Street Commons Project. This new park will serve as a welcome place for both the University and the South Bend Community. This Park will be open to everyone whether connected to the University or not. It will replace an unused open piece of land that was divided by a road and was no use to anybody. They believe that this park will be a great community feature. It will replace the woods that unfortunately have to go if this project is going to move forward. Dr. Affleck-Graves stated that they truly regret that, but are replacing them almost acre for acre with the Town Commons. The woods occupy almost thirteen acres and the commons will occupy twelve acres. The commons will have more than 200 trees and the entire 12 acres will be open and accessible to the public. The woods which over the years became the site for illegal dumping and other even more unsavory activities has not been available to the public for decades. Eddy Street Commons is an expensive undertaking, but he wanted to make one thing clear, it is not a money making venture for Notre Dame. Quite the contrary, the University has already spent almost 10 million dollars on the project and 4 million dollars to straighten Angela Blvd and Edison Rd. By the time the New Town Commons is ready to be dedicated by this time next year, the University will have spent another 3 million dollars. They do not expect to recoup these costs. Making money is not the point of this project for the University. What is the point, it to create a place and an atmosphere that will be attractive for people to live, shop and recreate, a place that will catalyze growth beyond its own boundaries that will re-invigorate the Northeast Neighborhood and so benefit all of us in the Community. Their goal for this project is not to for this project SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 just to succeed for five or ten years, but for decades to come. That is why the scale of this project is so important. Reducing the scale of this project would doom it to failure. A small scale project simply cannot sustain a thriving retail environment that serves both the community and the University of Notre Dame staff and students. It is in no one's interest, especially the local residents to undertake a project that ten years from now fails because of lack of scale. This project needs to succeed from day one, to do so; it needs it to have sufficient scale to hold the drift of consumers to the northeast and to pull them back towards the center of South Bend. Eddy Street Commons will be almost literally at Notre Dame's front door. He noted for the record, that it is not and will not be Notre Dame's only involvement with the City and the citizens of the South Bend. Most obviously, they are working with both the City and the State on a new innovation park "A Technology Incubator." They are involved in Downtown South Bend Ina (DTSB) and have a downtown center which houses their community relations office as well as outreach operations for the School of Architecture, the Department of Art History and Design, The Snite Museum and the Institute for Latino Studies. The Law School maintains legal aid clinics in the area and the Business School offers tax help to residents. There are a myriad of other ways that the University interacts, and clearly Notre Dame and South Bend must stay connected. He thanked the Council for the opportunity to speak tonight on behalf of the Common's Project. He stated that he if fully aware that the Council does not have to vote on this issue tonight, but encourage them to do so, because even a small delay in the project now could lead to large problems down the road. Leases to the various merchants in the Eddy Street Commons are premised on completion of the buildings in the spring of 2009. Failure to meet this deadline means that the retail stores will miss the Fall 2009 season, the most important time of the year for them. As a result if the deadlines cannot be met, they will use some of the prospective tenants, consequently timely action on this proposal is crucial. Every project has risks; this decision has large ramifications everyone is looking at South Bend. Is this a place where private enterprise can invest, is this a place where private enterprise can grow and succeed? Everyone is looking at us. The University has much at stake in the success of this project as the City of South Bend, it is at their front door. They are equally committed to this being as successful as the city is; and equally concerned about the architectural controls; equally concerned about students living in the area. The University because of the nature of their industry is not leaving South Bend. Notre Dame is in South Bend, Indiana and they are not going anywhere, they are here for the next 100, 200, 300 years. They have as much committed to the success of this project as the City does, and are equally concerned about all of the issue that have been raised. But there comes a time when one has to take a decision, when one has to say, is this the type of development that we want as a City and want as a Community. He urged the Council very respectfully to consider all the information that has been presented, contemplate what the Council wants for the City of South Bend. He stated that they know what they want for the University of Notre Dame, they want this project, and hoped that they will be able to vote for this project, because time is very, very important. Mr. David M Compton, Vice-President, Kite Realty Group, 30 S. Meridian, Indianapolis, Indiana, stated that he will cover the changes and evolutions that have happened since the last meeting of the Council and the three questions that were brought up at the Zoning and Annexation Committee. He noted that the plan has evolved over a 30 year period. The last seven years being very important in its evolution. Today, they enjoy the support of the NNRO and the NENC. One question that was brought up was that of Kite Realty Groups experience. Kite has over 40 years of retail construction, development and leasing experience in the Central Indiana Area and now across the country and became a real estate investment trust in 2004. Kite currently operates 53 shopping centers and an additional 12 properties are under development. In the area of mixed use development this is a relatively new venture for Kite. They currently have three developments currently in process, one in Delray Beach, Florida, one in Cary North Carolina and the proposed Eddy Street Commons Development. As with any company the composition of a team is the key to its success. They believe with the inclusion of LRK as part of the team as well as the other team members is the best to go forth and execute the plan before the Council today. Buckingham Companies are a For Rent Residential Partner based out of Indianapolis founded in 1984. They own or manage SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 over 13,000 units' in house property management. Their recent mixed use projects include Providence and Gramercy, both in Carmel in Indiana. They were selected as Property Manager of the Year by Indiana Apartment Association for Overlook at Valley Ridge. They feel that Buckingham is a strong for rent residential partner that has a background in mixed use developments. White Lodging is the partner in the full service and limited service hotels. They were founded in 1985 and based in Merrillville, Indiana. They manage over 114 hotels totaling over 15,500 and were named Marriott Developer of the Year. Looney Rick Kiss (LRK) is the lead architect firm established in 1983. They provided expertise in all components of a full community design. They have extensive urban and mixed use project experience. They have received the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Award for Excellence for 2005 for their Harbor Town Development in Memphis, TN; in 2004 for Baldwin Park in Orlando, FL; and in 2002 for their Memphis Ballpark District in Memphis, TN. The Troyer Group has been engaged to be the Civil Engineer. They have 30 years of experience and are based in Mishawaka, Indiana. They have experience working with the City of South Bend and the University of Notre Dame. They have provided their Civil Engineering experience for the development as well as performing the traffic impact study, which has been submitted to the Department of Public Works. They have also engaged Walker Parking. They are the largest parking consulting firm in the nation. They have 40 years of experience in designing parking garages and have design experience with the City of South Bend. Mr. Compton reiterated that they feel that they have a great team put together to follow through and execute on the representations, the land plan and the information that has been submitted to the Council, the Zoning Committee and the Planning Commission through this process. He stated that it is important to look at the development process because this is not just a straight zoning. The purpose of a PUD is to encourage creativity and design and encourage efficient use of land and provide for unique uses not otherwise contemplated or allowed. They believe the live, work; play contemplated in the Eddy Street Commons Development accomplishes these goals. The PUD also represents smart growth making a walkable community. They had great input from the Biking Community and some other individuals to improve the connectivity for this development. The PUD also represents smart growth and accommodates transitional densities as they talk about the hierarchy and how this steps down to different densities, that will be seen in the massing study. The PUD is model after the mixed use district in the City of South Bend Zoning Ordinance, with unique adjustments added for the unique setting adjacent to the Notre Dame Campus. All PUD's require secondary approval of all development by the executive director, who may refer any fmal plans to the Area Plan Commission for a determination. If not consistent, the executive director can refer it back to the Area Plan Commission. This is the difference between going through straight zoning and going through the Planned United Development Process. Mr. Compton stated that they have added a commitment #12 which further clarifies and strengthens this obligation. The architecture of the project will maintain its general style, quality and integrity of design from information presented to the Council to date. There is a current site plan developed by LRK and Mr. Victor Buckholtz is here tonight and can address any questions that the Council or audience may have. Another change that Kite has committed to in the plan is commitment #2 The height of the buildings along Eddy Street will not exceed four stories (65') except for the corner of Angela/Edison and Eddy Street, which will not exceed five stories (75'). The corner of Napoleon and Eddy will be four stories in maximum height. What was deleted from the original zoning was the ability to put a five story element at Eddy and Napoleon. All the five story elements on the main street are now located along Angela/Edison closer to where more of the massing is located. Additionally, to clarify the Hotel and the proposed condominiums have been limited to nine stories, the original zoning proposals submitted in April provided that they could be as tall as twelve stories; those have been reduced to nine stories, maximum height for both the hotel as well as the condominiums on top in total. They also proposed a limitation on the limited service hotel of six stories along Edison. In regard to the apartments, David Lesibe, Buckingham Companies is present tonight to answer any questions that the Council or audience may have. Their goal is to provide a premium offering available in the market. Two market studies indicated that there was ample demand in the South Bend market. Outside the demand placed upon the market and the University of Notre Dame with the market growing at the rate of 200 units per year just in general. The offering that they are proposing in regards to apartments would be about fifteen to twenty percent above the SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 highest average rates offered in the City today. The target market for the apartment residence is young professionals, graduate students and new professors at the University of Notre Dame. Their target market is not students; however, students may live in the apartments because they cannot forbid students because of the fair housing act. However they will follow the South Bend City Code regarding the number of unrelated parties within a given unit. Regarding the woods, unfortunately for this development to go forward, 13 acres of the Notre Dame Woods will need to be taken down. Mr. Compton stated that in commitment #8, Kite is commitment to the two weeks prior to commencement of construction to doing live trapping within the woods and relocating those animals that can be trapped in advance of construction. For a period of sixty days after the completion of any tree removal they would also at the request of any resident who has an unwelcome visitor in their house at Kite's sole expense will remove the new residents. The cost of such animal capture, relocation, and release shall be covered by Kite Realty Group. In commitment #6, in conjunction with the live, work, play and the New Urbanism theme, Kite has included a commitment that has to do with the incorporation of bike lanes along Napoleon between Eddy and SR 23, a bike path connecting Napoleon and Edison, along the east edge of the project and bike racks along Eddy Street, and bike cage actually in the garage so that people who ride their bike to work will have a safe secure place to park their bike while they are at work or shopping. Community open space with regard to the Eddy Street Commons also takes in the Town Commons which will be located directly diagonal from the retail and the apartment homes. The triangle redevelopment occurs due to the fact that there is tax increment financing and the increment provided by the Eddy Street Commons paying property taxes in a TIF area will allow for the triangle to be redeveloped to the south of the main development. In Commitment #7 the wooded ravine area west of the development adjacent to Eddy Street Commons will remain in a natural state subject to approval by the University of Notre Dame Board of Trustee's and the Department of Public Works for the City of South Bend. They have been working with the University of Notre Dame and the Department of Public Works to create a natural filtration area, which will aid the storm water actually seeping down into the ground through green development. Their goal is to maintain the area in its natural state as set forth in commitment #7. With regard to the open space within the origina125 acres, Kite committed to adding an additional open space or pocket park area within the development of at least 5,000 square feet in size. They have engaged LRK to look at two alternatives in the City home area. This is Commitment #4. Some of the changes in the architecture and massing made in the last development on Napoleon/Eddy. In the original plan there were two five story buildings, these have been deleted and will not be included. The height of the buildings along Eddy will not exceed 4 stories or 65' in height except at the corner of Angela/Edison where the proposed welcoming to the University of Notre Dame Campus will be. Some questions have been raised on the project's impact on Downtown South Bend. This location is a central location approximately a mile and a half from Downtown South Bend. Mr. Compton stated that they believe that this project will bring people back to Downtown South Bend to shop, dine and enjoy the amenities. They firmly believe that the Downtown Marriot Hotel will benefit from this development. With more rooms available, they will be able to expand and accommodate conventions and tourism that wasn't an option before. The traffic input was not in the original PUD process; Kite worked with the City of South Bend's Department of Public Works and engaged the Troyer Group with over 20 years of experience to conduct a traffic impact study. They not only looked at the Eddy Street Commons Development, they also looked at the impact on traffic in the surrounding neighborhoods of the triangle redevelopment as well as the innovation (tech) park at Notre Dame. The study analyzed current conditions including Notre Dame traffic while school is in session as well as traffic generated by Perley School. The traffic study did not look at the seven days a year when there is a Notre Dame home football game. The reason for that is because the traffic signals are switched off and law enforcement officials aid in the process of the direction of traffic. Mr. Compton referred to commitment #5 that states "all recommendation in the Troyer Group's Traffic Impact Study dated July 12, 2007 have been incorporated into the site plan and will be constructed. The study showed minimal additional trips to neighborhood streets. Notre Dame Avenue between Angela and Napoleon went up approximately 60 cars at peak times. However, this was done with the assumption of S.R. 23 being built. The have also engaged Walker Parking for their design expertise in the construction of SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 parking garages. The parking garage is located in the center of the project and serves the mixed use area, the apartment homes located on the top of the parking garage, the full service Marriot as well as the condominiums homes that wrap around it. There were some questions regarding the height of the parking garage. It is proposed because they are still finalizing it to be one story below ground; one story at grade and three stories to be above ground. They are committed to the zoning commitments that are on record with the City of South Bend, that it does not exceed 65' in height. It is currently three stories above ground. Walker Parking performed an analysis to determine appropriate garage size. They sized the garage based on it being shared by the retail, restaurant, office, hotel, apartments and condominiums that wrap the garage as well as the condominiums that are on top of the hotel. The study showed that with shared parking the City of South Bend Code would require 1311 spaces. They have 1,325 spaces that are planned within the parking garage and west surface lot. The limited service hotel parks in the surface lot south of the hotel and the balance self park with guest parking being located on the street within Eddy Street Commons or in the surface lot south of the limited service hotel. The City of South Bend has an ordinance in place that states that should parking become a problem in residential neighborhoods next door, there is a petition process that exists, where permit parking can be developed. Mr. Compton stated that they will work with Gary Gilot, Director, Public Works, should this be necessary. But at this time they are evaluating and Kite is in a unique position here, they are not like a typical developer that maybe developing some condo's around the City of South Bend. They will be the owners and be involved in this retail after the development. How quickly parking turns over, how easy it is to park is very important for the long term viability of this development. In commitment # 10 a commitment to 19 green principals have been included in the amended PITD. The site & building principals include creating a new vegetated infiltration basin (.5 acre) adjacent to exiting ravine located in Area 7. Utilize native Plant materials around basin. Incorporate infiltration planters alongside buildings and as sidewalk furniture. Provide three green roof gardens as part of the mixed use buildings and one green roof garden on the full service hotel Incorporate native prairie plants and drip irrigation to reduce maintenance and water usage. Mr. Compton stated that a recapitulation of commitments # 11, 12 and 13 were added as a part of the development. Eddy Street Commons specifically the two hotel concepts will collaborate and cross-sect with the existing hotels in both downtown and other parts of South Bend, in an effort to expand the existing hospitality market. They believe that it is important to discuss this as they begin to increase the size of the pie. It means not only working with the Marriott but working with the Holiday Inn Downtown and other stakeholders that are apart of the City of South Bend to bring more business into the City. Additionally all components of the project will work to create an environment to benefit businesses within the City of South Bend as a whole and continue economic development throughout the community. They want to take an active role in supporting downtown business for South Bend. Downtown business in South Bend in important to this development and they believe that they are important to it. Prior to this meeting they reached out and had their first preliminary MBE meeting prior to tonight. They reached out to the community in apro-active manner to involve local contractors, minority contractors within the development. There has been discussion on guaranteeing what is being shown to the Council is what is going to be built. The architecture of the project will maintain its general style, quality and integrity of design from the information that has been provided to the Council to date. Those would not only include the renderings that have been presented in the past, but also the proposed drive-through of the development, for 50 seconds, a virtual walk of Eddy Street and what the project would look like. Provide clarification that any use that serves alcoholic beverages would be prohibited from Area 1 of the proposed development. Kite has agreed to subject to the approval of the IU Med Center, a buffer of mature trees, 10' minimum height of planning will be installed at the West property line between the Eddy Street Commons and the IU Med Center. There was a considerable amount of discussion concerning sprinklers within the development. The commitment as is reads to today before modified indicates that the hotels, garage, the garage wrapped condo's and the stacked flats will be sprinkled. After consideration and discussion between meetings, Kite Realty Group would proposed to formally amend commitment #9 to include Area 5, which is the City homes. It is easier to say that the entire project will be sprinkled except for the 2 '/z story Courtyard Town homes that are South of Napoleon Street. Phase I of the overall SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 development has a projected investment of over $200 million dollars. That does not include the triangle which they estimate to be another $12 - $15 million dollars. The project provides for the elimination of 25 vacant homes, including the triangle within the development. They believe that the project will employ approximately 375 construction workers during the construction of the retail, office, hotels and parking garage. 500 new jobs will be created and supported during the construction of the apartments and for sale residential homes. The project will allow for the creation of 330 permanent jobs with an anticipated average annual salary of $28,500.00. On going spending for the new households in the development and triangle development will support approximately 630 jobs after this is even completed. The tax base created can be potentially be used to fund infrastructure improvements for the triangle development for the 61 single family homes in this area. They believe that the positive ripple effect which they cannot totally measure will extend way beyond the scope of this neighborhood and to other areas of the City of South Bend. In conclusion, they believe that the Eddy Street Commons accomplishes the goals and objectives set forth by the City of South Bend, NNRO, NENC, and various interested parties established over the last 20+ year period. It represents a private capital investment in the City of South Bend of over 200 million dollars; the project did receive a positive recommendation by a vote of 8-1 from the Area Plan Commission. It is supported by the NNRO and NENC and believes that it provides extensive economic benefits for the City of South Bend. He also addressed two issues that came up at the Zoning & Annexation Committee. Mr. Compton stated that Councilmember Varner had a question about the Architectural Review Board, the Architectural Review Board is proposed to have three members, one would be a member from Kite, one from the University of Notre Dame; and agree to one member being appointed by the City Council. It could either be someone from the Council or an interested person from the public who has followed the project, but one would be an appointee made by the City Council. It would be a three member board that would follow the zoning commitments regarding consistency. The architecture of the project will maintain its general style quality and integrity in design. With the third and fmal appointee, they imagine that they will have good set of eyes and ears' regarding the development as it goes forward. Mr. Compton stated that he will have Dick Nussbaum address the questions regarding the Marriott. Dick Nussbaum, Attorney, 210 S. Michigan Street, South Bend, Indiana, explained the context of his speaking before the Council tonight. Mr. Nussbaum stated that last week at the Council Meeting there were some concerns about the impact of the Marriott in the Eddy Street Commons Project on the Downtown Marriott Hotel. He stated that he is here tonight not as a representative of the Marriott Corporation, he doesn't do any work for Marriott, he is not here tonight as a representative of Kite Realty, he doesn't do any work for Kite Realty, but he did have a relationship with the President and Chief Operating Officer of Marriott International, Bill Shaw, as a result of some work that they do together at Notre Dame. He placed a call to Bill Shaw the night of the lgt Council Meeting and he was gracious enough to return the call the next day, and he explained to him what the question was. He was very familiar with the project; he has been to South Bend and Notre Dame many, many times. He referred him to two individuals, the first Mr. Tim Marvin, Senior Vice-President, North American Development, for Marriott International and to Rob Stigerwold, who territory in North America is actually encompasses Northern Indiana. So he had a number of conversations with those individuals and asked if they would submit a letter to the Council, explaining their process of consideration of how it relates to a Marriott facility. Specifically what there conclusion was at this point, as it relates to the impact of the Marriott in the Eddy Street Commons Project as it relates to the Downtown Marriott. He received this morning a letter from Mr. Marvin, a copy of that letter was provided to the Council and the Council Attorney, the original of that letter will arrive tomorrow morning and would ask the Council Attorney to substitute the copy with the original when that gets delivered. The letter is three paragraphs, the first paragraph addresses the reason for the letter and he believes that there has been some discussion here tonight about respect and about honesty, and he thinks that Marriott taking the time to send this letter does show respect for this project and in particular respect for the questions that have been raised by the Council. It is highly unusual for them to write a letter like this. The second paragraph of the letter does indicate that it is not uncommon, it's common place for there to be a SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 number of different Marriott facility. They indicate that there are eleven brands of Marriott that exist. If you think about it, here in town there are three of those, the Marriott Downtown, Residence Inn by Marriott over on Niles Avenue and the Courtyard by Marriott which is located in Mishawaka. It was mentioned that they are in Indianapolis, well let the record show that they are well represented in South Bend as well. One of the things that Marriott brings to the table is there ability to help the owners of these various facilities because some of them are privately owned, some have ownership connected with the Marriott International Group. But they can cross market and help strengthen each one of their facilities within a community. Also in the second paragraph that individual hotels are encourage to work together to maximize their performance. In fact, in commitment # 11 states that is what the owners of the Marriott facility at the Eddy Street Commons are going to do. The last paragraph is the most important one, it reveals somewhat the thought process that goes into a Marriott facility and there are committees that look at these things and make a decision whether or not they make sense to allow the Marriott brand to go with that particular facility. As the letter indicates there has been some preliminary review at this particular Marriott at Eddy Street Commons, but since that still do not have a final plan because that plan has not been approved yet, they have not made fmal decision with regard to the Marriott at the Eddy Street Commons. White Lodging is one of the developers of that facility and one of the most successful and largest operators of a Marriott facility across the country, and one can assume by this that their plan that they are going to bring to the Marriott is going to be well received. Mr. Nussbaum quoted from the third paragraph "We believe that this hotel will be able to operate successfully in South Bend without significantly impacting the existing Marriott. It also states that the current owner of the Marriott in downtown South Bend is aware of this situation and finally it says in the commitment that Marriott will if their analysis is found incorrect, that if there is an adverse impact upon the downtown Marriott that they will take appropriate action to make sure that impact is addressed. Mr. Nussbaum reads this letter and based upon the conversations that he has had with Mr. Marvin that their goal is our goal and that is for the downtown Marriott to thrive. The Eddy Street Commons Marriott thrive as well and that the two of them together are going to be able to provide opportunities for the Century Center downtown who has to sometimes turn away conventions and events, because they don't have enough hotel space, just like the University of Notre Dame sometimes has to turn down certain events because they don't have enough hotel space. Mr. Nussbaum's thinks that the Marriott has addressed the concerns of the Council and if the Council is looking for something more than this, in the interest of honesty, he doesn't think that he is going get anything more than this, such as a ten year commitment not to close the Marriott downtown, this is a unique circumstance and he appreciates the Marriott and their undertaking. Commitment #11 that Kite is proposing to work together with the various Marriott's and hopefully this addresses the concerns of the Council as it relates to the downtown Marriott. Mr. Compton read into the record three item changes: Under Development Standards on Page 7 of 24 (B) Add an item #3 Fire Suppression "All City homes should be equipped with an automatic sprinkler system." Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand advised to clarify for the Council the commitment summary summarizes all of the new language that has been placed in the 24 pages document which is Exhibit A which the Council already has. In light of the recommendation that Mr. Compton made as part of presentation, he was referring to both documents, to make it clearer, the Council has accepted Exhibit A the 24 page document. Ms. Cekanski-Farrand has asked the presenter to read into the record the amendments that are similar to what has been stated verbally. Because that is the document that the Council has already accepted, so Mr. Compton is making reference to page 7 and page 21. SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 Mr. Compton stated that on page 21 Item # 19 entitled "Architectural Review Board" An Architectural Review Board "ARB" shall be established for Eddy Street Commons, the proposed added language is as follows: "Consisting of three persons; one person from Kite; one person from the University of Notre Dame; one person appointed by the South Bend Common Council. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand recommended that procedurally a motion to accept the amendments as read into the record. Councilmember Puzzello made a motion to amend Exhibit A which is attached to the substitute bill. Councilmember Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. Chairperson White stated that this is the time for anyone who wishes to speak and did not speak at the July 9, 2007 Common Council Meeting, has the opportunity to share concerns, viewpoints and questions. The speaking will have five (5) minutes. Councilmember Derek Dieter will be the time keeper, and he will give you a signal when you reach down to the one (1) minutes mark, and she will ask the speaker to bring closer to their remarks. Stephen J. Luecke, Mayor, 14~` Floor County-City Building, 227 W. Jefferson Blvd., South Bend, Indiana, advised that he is speaking tonight in enthusiastic support of the Eddy Street Commons. He supports the long hours of planning that has gone into this, the partnerships that have grown. He supports the new commercial and retail investment of $200 million dollars in the community. He supports the new jobs, both in construction and permanent jobs. He supports the commitments that have been made and in particular applaud this process that has refined and raised expectations for this development. He applauds Kite, for coming and making some of those commitments including just recently the commitment to sprinkle the town homes project as well. He supports the redevelopment of the triangle area which Eddy Street Commons will help to make possible. He believes that this development will draw from suburban retail more than from downtown. He believes that it will draw new people back to South Bend and closer to the downtown area. Especially with the neat phase of the development that will bring new retail to the reconstructed five-points area. He believes that this project will create vitality, energy, enthusiasm that will help to grow the market for retail, restaurants and convention and hotel use. He believes that this project will help to attract other development to the City of South Bend. He believes that it complements the research park. A number of the issues that have been brought up, some of those are things that can be addressed by the City administratively as they look at parking issues that may expand out into neighborhood, they can create residential neighborhood parking districts that would limit parking to the residences and their guests in those neighborhoods. They mentioned the connectivity to downtown and how can this support growth in the downtown. Mayor Luecke stated that TRANSPO does provide a bus loop that not only goes through campus, and all Notre Dame Students can ride the bus for free, but then will connect the Eddy Street Commons to the downtown area and help to bring people into the downtown. He believes that these will be new residents in South Bend that will fill these residential units, people that otherwise may have located in suburban areas. They will not only shop and work at the Eddy Street Commons, but he also believes that they will come into the downtown area and take great advantage of that. He believes that they cannot be afraid of new development and retail that in fact he thinks that they are creating a new model that reaches the calls for the retail that they have had all over the city, that people want retail in their neighborhoods, this is a great model for that. He doesn't believe that it is in strong competition with downtown, but again will support downtown. He stated that we need to believe in our downtown and continue to support the existing businesses down there, to seek new businesses there. He believes that this project will create two great paths that will see growth and development and continue to support the downtown area. He asked the Council for their favorable consideration of this bill. He 10 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 asked everyone to welcome the $200 million dollars investment. Mayor Luecke stated that this is really unprecedented in the City of South Bend in recent times and to show the City's vitality, growth and development here in the City of South Bend. Councilmember White asked Mayor Luecke if he would further explain that Notre Dame Students get to ride TRANSPO free of charge. Mayor Luecke stated that is correct, that it is part of their fees that they pay to the University of Notre Dame. The University has a contract with TRANSPO, so they do not pay each time they ride the bus. Mr. Charles Hayes, 1634 E. Jefferson Blvd., South Bend, Indiana, stated that about eight years ago he started buying parcels of land around the five-points area, he believed that's where he thought that the project was going to start. He has been waiting for a long time for this project to go forward. He thinks that it is very consistent with what is being done at the five-points area. He stated that he is one of the biggest single private land owners in the area and is anxious for this project to move on, and work with the developers in Phase II of the project. He thinks that it is exciting as an investor and for people who want to stay in South Bend. Mr. Solomon Anderson, 612 N. Jacob St., South Bend, Indiana, stated that he is a life long resident of the northeast neighborhood and currently the Treasurer of the North East Neighborhood Council (NENC). On behalf of the NENC he presented the Council with a Petition from residents from the Northeast Neighborhood of South Bend acknowledging support for the side development plan of approximately 25 acres located near the intersection of Angela Boulevard/ Edison Road and Eddy Street also know as "Eddy Street Commons.", along with a map of where most of the supporters reside. He urged the Council to vote favorably on the Eddy Street Commons Project. Ms. Mary Beth Saunders, 204 Tonti, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she is really heartened by what the representatives from Kite have commitment to in regard to green building techniques. She can't tell you how many university towns that she has been in and they all look the same, and they are all wonderful and vibrant, and now the City of South Bend has the opportunity to create a national model for green building techniques for a university town. She also stated that once the wooded area is gone it is gone forever. She stated that she has done some research on the catch and release process and animals more than likely once they are let go in another area they die, because they don't know where to fmd shelter, water or food. So keep this in mind when this process is taking place and to respectfully request a small wild life sanctuary in the wooded area that is left. She address the effects of the development on Downtown South Bend, she thinks that this is a really creative opportunity for downtown to embrace this opportunity. She for one is very excited about it, it gives the folks that already own businesses in the Downtown to come together and the one thing that is going to make it all come together is City Plan. She respectfully requested the Council to think about how City Plan will continue to move forward in regard to the Central Business District. Mr. Greg Jones, 53384 Olive Rd., South Bend, Indiana, stated that he works as the Coordinator of the Indiana Plan, an affirmative action plan that works with the Indiana State Building Trades which is located at 315 N. Lafayette Blvd. He is reading a statement from the Community Forum for Economic Development. A lot of thought has been put into this statement. The Community Forum for Economic Development is an organization which includes participants from St. Joseph County. What unites them is their desire to increase living standards and opportunities for area residents, in other words, to support economic development within the community. In particular they support projects that can contribute to the revitalization of economically distressed areas of the City and the Eddy Street Commons is capable of being such a development. It is located in census tract 10 and according to the Census Bureau; tract 10 has a poverty rate of 29% and an unemployment rate of 16% and median household income $13,726.00. Since the Eddy Street Commons will be located within the northeast neighborhood TIF District, it is expected that the tax increment from the Commons will be used for infrastructural improvements in the triangle area, an area long in need of revitalization 11 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 efforts. It is also expected that the Tax Increment will be used for the five-points project a second area of historic concerns of the residents of the northeast neighborhood. Because of its location this project has the potential for providing employment opportunities both during construction and upon its completion for residents of the immediate neighborhood as well as for inner-city residents using public transportation. They urge Kite Realty to make a written commitment to promote the hiring of local residents and particularly minority employees. Other benefits to the community that they urge Kite to address in writing are a pledge to use contractors that will pay construction workers a prevailing wage level, a pledge to use contractors that maintain a written affirmative action plan that conforms to those required of federal contractors as specified in executive order 11246 and the federal code of regulations, and third a commitment to construction that meets energy efficient building standards at the silver level or higher as prescribed by the U. S. Green Building Council's current leadership in energy and environmental design LEED rating system. The Eddy Street Common's plan they defer to the residence of the area. They are respectful of the role of the NENC and of the process that has taken place among members of the NNRO. They applaud the development process that has included stake holders at the table and continue to keep community representatives involved in the decisions that will be made as the project is developed. Jobs that will be created by the proposed hotels, retail establishments and offices should be good jobs, paying self- sufficient wages and provided health and retirement benefits for employees. Green space should be maximized with input from residents as to the location and use of unpaved areas. Only continued community involvement will insure the Eddy Street Common will improve the city by increasing living standards and opportunity for area residents. Ms. Christine Fiordalis, 1705 Wall St. South Bend, Indiana, stated that she is speaking tonight in her capacity as President of the Sierra Club, a Michiana Group located in Northern Indiana and includes St. Joseph County and which there are several hundreds of members. Frankly, she stated that she was unsure of whether she was going to be speaking on the pro or con side of this issue. She was heartened to hear Mr. Compton speak to environmental green building techniques. She stated that she has spoken to the Council before in terms of the LEED standards. The Leadership Energy Environmental Design Standards of the U. S. Green Building Council. Ms. Fiordalis stated that she spoke regarding tax abatement reform and sent material in January 2007, referencing the LEED Program and how it works and how it can be an advantage to a community. This is the Council's opportunity to be a leader. There are 600 mayors of Cities across the United States that are signing onto this kind of thing. Environmental standards are no longer the province of the radical few on the outside. It is a matter of really life and death how our communities either survive in the stress of environmental challenges or how they don't. She encouraged the Council to take the lead in the sense of requiring that this project meet LEED standards. The silver level has been suggested, she suggested the gold standard. They are four standards in LEED, certified, silver, gold, and platinum. She thinks that this project deserves gold standard. Notre Dame has shown that they are very proud of their state-of--the art buildings, it commitment to its community both on the campus and outside. This is an opportunity for them to show that. The reason that she would like to make this a formal idea is that the Council would be showing their commitment to this kind of green building. Understand that she is not just talking about trees and flowers, but how water is used and maintained. Talking about the way materials are being recycled and used in the building process. How the buildings are maintained after they are constructed. So this is an ongoing commitment that she believes is long overdue actually for South Bend. Mr. Fiordalis stated that she has talked to individual Councilmember'sregnrding green buildings in the past and have always stated to do the right thing; this is the opportunity to put it in writing to show the citizens of South Bend that the Council has a strong commitment to this kind of erilightened thinking. Now is the time to have this kind of environmental step up to the plate and do the right thing, not only for the City of South Bend, but also for the State of Indiana, that the South Bend Common Council is setting an example here of what the citizens expect the cities and communities of the future to look like. Ms. Irene Cour, 1024 Napoleon Blvd., South Bend, Indiana, stated that she and her husband are members of the Northeast Neighborhood Association and have been members since 1996. She stated that she and her husband have signed the petition in 12 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 favor of the Eddy Street Commons and are certainly behind the proposal as it stands before the Council tonight. They feel that this project is a big plus for the neighborhood and should go forward tonight. Mr. Matthew Costello, 120 N. Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he is speaking in favor of the Eddy Street Commons proposal. Mr. Costello stated that he wanted the Council to keep in mind that there should be some discretion that should be left to the private property owner. Especially when it involves someone who wants to better the community, a little deference is needed. He stated that when he attended the University of Notre Dame, it kind of burned him up when his fellow students made derogatory comments about South Bend. He thinks that a lot of people in the Notre Dame Community left with a negative feeling that Notre Dame wasn't a good town. He thinks because of some of the poverty and dilapidated housing in the neighborhood. The Eddy Street Commons is going to help people that come to Notre Dame and have a very good impression of South Bend and when they leave they will have a good feeling about the City. Hardie Blake, 144 N. Summit, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he is the Pastor of the Ardmore-LaSalle Church of Christ, President of Bethel Business Machines, Redevelopment Commissioner, Founder of the Organization Men of Scars and Project Impact of South Bend, Regional Director, Ivy Tech State College, and tonight is speaking in his pastor capacity. His involvement in the Community is by the grace of God and the love of God and the love of people. Because God has given him a gift of compassion, he believes that whatever you do in word or deed, you should do it to the Glory of God and the edification of people. Every gift that God has given to us as individuals has been given to us for the common good of all. He stated that we are to use our gifts for common good of all the people of the community, rich, poor, red, yellow, black, white or brown, it's all for the common good. He believes that the Eddy St. Commons Development is for the common good of all. It may not meet all of our individual needs, our wants or desires, but it will serve for the common good of us all. Einstein said "You can never solve the significant problems of the day at the same level of thinking you had when you created the problem" What he was saying is that without raising our level of thinking we cannot change things. There are only three levels of thinking. Keep thinking the same way we have always thought and keep getting the same thing we have always gotten. We can lower our level of thinking and things will get worse or we can raise our level of thinking and fmd solutions to the problems. With anything new comes the possibility of new problems, but all new problems don't have to been bad problems. He believes that the Eddy Street Common Project can also be an answer to some of our old bad problems. Many of our bad problems especially in the neighborhoods that he tends to focus his attention on; one of the major issues is jobs. Jobs are the answer to drugs, crime, violence and all kinds of other things are bad problems within the community that the Eddy Street Commons can help. Mr. Blake stated that Mr. Compton and Mr. Byrd were very proactive in requesting from him that he would give them a list of minority business contractors and businesses that would be interested in participating in the project. He stated that he hasn't had but one other major private corporation in South Bend or the State of Indiana, that have requested him to give a list of minority businesses at all. Kite has done so, and he requested the Council to vote favorably with regard to this development and do it tonight. Ms. Beth Sanford, 1013 N. St. Peter Street, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she grew up in the Sunnymede area and remembers when she was a child taking the bus to downtown to shop. She stated that she went away to College and having come back she has noticed a slow exodus out of South Bend. This has created a slow death to the City of South Bend. This new development is a unique opportunity for the City to regain life. She has always desired to walk her children to the grocery as she grew up walking to Bamber's Market on Mishawaka Avenue. She stated that she thinks this project is going to be a catalyst for the Eddy Street Corridor to be able to clean up the area all the way to LaSalle Street. This project will have an impact on the SR 23 project and five point's area. She stated that she has had four children in the time span that they have just been talking about improving the area, and the youngest is two years old. She stated that she is not planning on having any more children and would like to see this happen in her lifetime. 13 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 She stated that she and her husband walked downtown the other day and it's great to see the stability that Notre Dame has created with the development of the new homes. It was the first time that she felt safe walking through the neighborhood in many years. Her sister-in-law used to joke around that they lived in the ghetto, It is amazing to see the new growth and with the Eddy Street Commons Development it will be even better. The development will not take away from the downtown area. People don't shop downtown and what is downtown closes at 6:00 p.m., so if you want to go out in the evening, you have to go out to Grape Rd. She stated that she wants to shop in South Bend, pay taxes in South Bend, and keep South Bend thriving. She urged the Council to vote favorable and not to waste any more time so this project can move on. Ms. Jean Hanrahan, 826 N. St. Louis, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she is new resident in the neighborhood and new member of the Northeast Neighborhood Council. She stated that she lives in a home that was renovated by South Bend Heritage, this home is an arts and crafts bungalow built in 1922 by a German Family and it stayed within that family for 78 years, it was sold in 2000 and became a rental and then South Bend Heritage rescued it. She stated that she has become a good neighbor. When new homeowners move into her block, she takes them a flower from her garden and a copy of the neighborhood newsletter. Mr. Johnnie Johnson, 1124 N. Eddy, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he has lived there approximately 21 years and has seen a lot of changes. The old saying that patients are a virtue, but he who waits is lost. Notre Dame is for the project, the City of South Bend and the Mayor is for the project, the immediate people in the area are for the project. He has some misgivings about the project, because right now everyday he looks out his window and has that wonderful view of the woods. But hearing Kite talked about the development and how wonderful it is going to be and how there are going to work to keep some green space in the project will make is all worth the while. Mr. Johnson stated that he has seen a lot of people move out of the City because of the attitude that nothing is going to change. Mr. Johnson urged the Council not to procrastinate on the decision and vote in favor of the project tonight. He stated that it is a good projection and it is up to all of us to make it work. Ms. Marta Brummell, 914 N. Notre Dame Avenue, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she is a life long resident, a strong believer and proponent of this project. She stated that she realizes that this project is not perfect, but as a community we are incredibly blessed to have Notre Dame who is willing this amount of money towards a project that will benefit the entire community. She looks forward to having her four young children be a part of this development. She urged the Council to pass this bill tonight. There was no one else present wishing to speak in favor of this bill. The following individuals spoke in opposition to this bill. Mr. Ken Smith, 536 S. Sunnyside, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he is a proud and happy resident of South Bend and a faculty member at IU South Bend. This year IU South Bend has been working on a project called sustainable communities, a way to try and explore ideas for the future that improves upon and builds upon and strengthens the good things that the City has to offer as well as the challenges. He thinks that this is a great vision for us all here as we look at this very interesting and challenging project. A couple of weeks ago a salesman came to his door and asked him to change his telephone service and he asked if there was any documentation that he could read. The man answer that he was not a lending library and that he needed to decide right now whether he was going to change phone service. Mr. Smith stated that he felt that he did not have enough information and sent the salesman on his way. This evening we were asked to decide now on this development and he would like the Council to consider holding off. Twice during the presentation it was mentioned that the architects have the skills to do LEED Certification, but both times were not offered LEED Certification. He felt like this was being dangled in front of them and then taken away. However, when the salesman is at the door, if we ask for LEED Certification, we are within our rights to do so. The neighborhood that is under development is at the front door of Notre Dame, but it is also 14 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 at the front door of South Bend. It is also his front door and urged the Council and everyone here tonight to take advantage of this and say to salesman, "good to see you, we would like to talk about LEED Certification." Mr. Robert Easley, 1105 N. St. Joseph Street, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he would like to ask a very difficult question when you ask whether you are in the yes group or the no group. Mr. Easley stated that it is evident that everyone present tonight would like to see the project succeed, and he is certainly in that group. The reason he chose to speak in opposition tonight is because he felt that the Council did do an excellent job of asking some very tough concessions, and got a lot of what was asked for. But as other have pointed out tonight there are other things to address. One of the key concerns of the neighbors in the immediate area is where or not this project is appropriately scaled? One of the key pieces of information needed is what the impact on the traffic in the area is. Mr. Easley stated that he just received the traffic study on Friday. He sent an e-mail to the Council, but doubted that anyone got a chance to read it, in which he explained that there were a number of inconsistencies in the study. One of the key problems that he has with the study is that it states clearly that the assumption is that as you travel toward Notre Dame on Eddy Street from the South the street will be as it is now. That clearly is not the case it has been described as being reduced to two lanes with diagonal parking on both sides. So that appears to be an error in the way that the traffic study was done. Mr. Easley stated that one of the key intersections at Napoleon and SR 23 after the improvement of SR 23 gets and "E" in that traffic study. An "E" is not considered acceptable for most developments. He called a friend who is a traffic engineer to have explained to him and this is generally not an acceptable rating. He stated that when Mr. Compton presented the traffic studies in past meeting, he talked about "B" and "C" scores; he never presented that "E" score. This is brand new information; it concerns the Napoleon Street intersection with SR 23. Mr. Easley stated that his home is on Napoleon, and he is concerned that traffic will be pushed in his direction because they are turned away from SR 23. Mr. Easley stated that the traffic studies could be done in a way that would give very important information for knowing whether this development is scaled properly. He thinks in particular along Eddy Street, there are concerns about the height of the buildings on Eddy Street. He noted that there are a number of changes being made to this plan; more changes could still be made. Mr. Easley stated that he agrees with Councilmember Pfeifer to wait, there is only one more week until the next meeting of the Council. Mr. Easley encouraged the Council to wait one more week and really find out some of the answers to the good questions that have been raised tonight. He stated that is was just found out tonight that the parking garage was scaled up and it's also an issue for the retailers at the Eddy Street Commons. Parking is an issue for people working in the Eddy Street Commons as well as those that will be shopping and dining there also. Mr. Steve Francis 54174 Juday Lake Drive, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he lives just two blocks out of the City limits, if the Council would like to take up annexation proceedings with Clay Township, not at this meeting, but in the future because he would be interested, because he considers himself a resident and citizen of South Bend. There have been a number of people speaking in favor of the project. He stated that he too favors development of that area. He finds himself in an awkward position on the con side but there has to be a pro and a con side to every issue. There has been much discussion on LEED Certification and strong beliefs on that and he wanted to say to Notre Dame and the developer who have expresses and interest in developing the project in a way that is sustainable in out of concern for the destruction of the wooded area, that they entertain the Council's adding to the conditions the requirement that it be LEED certified to the silver level or higher. It will be an excellent marketing tool for the developer in the future for the type of tenants that they want. It will reduce energy costs and operation costs for the tenants, which makes green building really an issue of bread and butter for the citizens for the Country and South Bend, because if you design your buildings in such a way to take advantage of passive solar, active solar, green space, shading, energy design, recycling materials, using sustainable products in the construction of the buildings, they will be savings the tenants money, they will be reducing energy costs and reducing the operating cost of the buildings for the entire lifespan of those buildings. He strongly urged the Council to take the time to really craft these written statements which 15 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 have been delivered to the Council and to the public in the 11~` hour. Take the next week to really develop them and make sure that they are really specific and to make this project the kind of leadership project that it can be as a national model. He mentioned that LEED Certification is not just about energy efficient light bulbs and insulation in buildings it's a nationally developed standard that is so prevalent now that all new federal buildings that will be constructed from now into the future must be LEED Certified. So a City like South Bend that takes the lead and establishes that standard will stand out in terms of its marketability to citizens in the nation as a leader in energy and environmental design. Mr. Frank Perri, 2016 E. Madison, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he finds himself here tonight very mixed because he is usually on the side of the developer like Kite is. Believing that development is always good for a community, it creates jobs, livelihood, and generally the right way to go. His goal tonight and reason for being here tonight he was torn but also compelled to say a few things personally as a member of this community and a lifelong resident of South Bend. Not so much as a developer with Holladay Properties although they have a large stake and will reference some of things that he is going to say relative to that stake. It comes out to a matter of opinion, and no disrespect to the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Graeves, and everything that has been said tonight. They are an asset to this community and he would be remorse, and have a lotto loose by being here tonight and risking the relationships that they have formed and he has formed with the University and all of the businesses they have. But, 10 or 15 years from now, the effects from this decision will be seen. He urged the Council to watch the scale of the project. His personal belief is that the scale of the project is too large. It can succeed if it were smaller. When Dr. Graeves made the comment that the scale of the project is important and projects fail due to the lack of scale. Mr. Perri stated that he take the position that is the opposite. Those that know the theory of supply and demand would understand that if in fact there were a finite supply there is going to be a great demand there will be improvement. If the development is scaled down on that side of town in the Notre Dame neighborhood it would vastly improve the odds of the downtown receiving benefits. If you make the scale large enough it will potentially retard those demand elements from taking place. They have owned a site in downtown South Bend on the River that they have been holding out for a major development for a long time, and have not been able to get it to the table. There are a couple of reasons for that however, time will not allow that explanation tonight. Mr. Perri urged the Council to think about this project in the context of what the City may look like some years later. This is great for the University, its great for the north side neighborhood, they are all major beneficiaries in this project. He hopes that the neighbors in that area stay and not take the cash because he would like to see the diversity of the neighborhood maintained. He came to talk about the tale of two cities, take on Dickens, tale of two cities, it was the best of cities and the worst of cities, and he doesn't think that those extremes are what he is all about tonight and talking about this project. It is really about trying to understand that have a fine balance is needed. This balance is sometimes very difficult to achieve, it will be fairly easy for Kite to do it in that particular context at the University's doorstep, it is very difficult to do it in the downtown and it is there where he is very concerned. Mr. Perri appreciates the Council taking his comments to heart and hopes that this project is going to be successful in one way, shape or form. He believes in fact given the opportunity to do development at the doorsteps of the University is also the goal of the company that he is actually with He stated that is going to sound like a lot of sour grapes because in fact he knows he is going to be challenged on that when he leaves the meeting tonight and be ridiculed by being here tonight. Mr. Perri reiterated that it is going to be a successful project and it will be great and he only hopes that this community, ten years from now can say that it is true. Some things like Coveleski Stadium might have been unpopular at the time have become an asset. Some things like the College Football Hall of Fame, have not become the asset that was thought it would be. Those are the decisions that have to be made and the Council is responsible for doing just that. Mr. Perri wished the Council well in their endeavors and he urged the Council to make the right decisions. Ms. Jan Seabaugh, 1324 N. St. Joseph Street, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she appreciates all the talents and commitments of all the neighborhood leaders, Notre Dame, and Kite Realty, to bring this project about. She understands that it has been the dream of 16 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 many to have more of a college town and create a new urban district that will revitalize the area south of the University and to bring prosperity to all of South Bend. She stated that she also understands that she was not early on one of those who sowed the seed of this dream, watered it, weeding or tending and then all the harvesting, grinding and baking to put this on the table now. There has been a great deal of effort and good will put forth and she thanked all of those who have worked to bring this dream into reality. This hard work of others made her somewhat hesitant to speak; she doesn't want to stand in the way of good peoples dreams. She decided to speak though after all not to prevent this dream from becoming a reality but because she wants the dream to come true. She to wants to be able to walk a few blocks to get the needed ingredients to make her recipe, she wants to buy a book for her niece's birthday, go out to a restaurant with guests and then stroll home. She wants to hear students and South Bend residents talking about life as they sit on a bench in the Commons. She wants South Bend to thrive; she lives here just as her pastor, doctor, dentist, plumber, carpenter, store keeper, librarian, gas station owner and her friends do. She wants what the project could bring to the people in the City and wants the completed project to be something that Kite will be proud of for decades, when the presenters that are here tonight are old and reflecting back. She is not here tonight to speak against the dream or the efforts, but the immediate adoption of this plan. There are things about this plan that are disappointing to her. The buildings seem so crowded onto the land that scarcely any shows through at all. This makes the residence seem very concrete bound and of all the trees on that wooded property all though some will be left alone, none seem to be really incorporated into the plan to add to its beauty. It takes half a century to grow a tree like that, and it seems like a waste not to use what nature gave along with the land. She also worries that the buildings look to high, so that rather than a welcoming gateway into South Bend, the Commons could be more of a barrier. And rather than connecting Notre Dame and South Bend and the neighborhoods more closely the roads and intersections could lead people to avoid them because of getting into too much traffic. She realizes that high density is exactly what urban means so she is not saying to stop the urbanism, but she would like any new mother along Howard Street or in those new apartments to feel like she can put her baby in the stroller and walk down the street and cross safely. There comes a point when too many cars zipping and weaving and waiting on the roads will drive people off the sidewalks that run along side them. Many people have questions and concerns about the plan, about the design of the parking garage, about the scale, about the hotel size, about the retail spaces and about lots of other things. Of course there are many decisions in life that can be worked through in process and difficulties over comments that arise and changes made on the fly, but too many can leave the project to become something quite different from anybodies hopes. She stated that is it best to give the project more time, to ripen a little longer. She urged the Council and the developers to continue this bill until the next Council Meeting. Ms. Seabaugh stated that it is better to measure twice and then cut once. She recommended delaying the vote until everyone is perfectly satisfied that the development will proceed according to the best possible plan and until the dream for the Eddy Street Commons will come to fruition. Mr. Conrad Damian, 718 E. Broadway, South Bend, Indiana, stated that he has been in opposition to this plan, he knows that the Council is going to vote for it, but is asking that the Council to put that vote off for one week. He realizes that this project has the potential of being great for the University of Notre Dame, for the wealthy members of the northeast community, for the faculty who houses are being built up in that neighborhood and for many other people, but he would like the Common Council, and since they represent all of us, to see that this project benefits all of the citizens of South Bend, by adding to requests, requirements, codicils, or whatever you want to call them. One regarding Kite and one regarding the University of Notre Dame, so that not only faculty members or alumni and other important people at Notre Dame, but custodians, and maids, grounds crew workers, those who live on the southeast and west part of the City the other side of the river might also benefit from this project. He would like to have the Council request Kite in fact do as their rendering showed on the Erskine Commons Project. Mr. Damian stated that is where he goes to shop, if he doesn't go downtown. But there aren't benches, trees, fountains or walkways as were promised, and there should be. The Council should required that those amenities be placed there because they were stated in the presentation that they would be there and before another project goes 17 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 forward the prior should be completed as promised. Secondly, Notre Dame should be made to look at their commitment to the entire community. They have a few offices downtown, they weren't told that the own the Center for the Homeless, he did not know why. He stated that he supports the Center for the Homeless; he thinks that it has been a wonderful part of South Bend, it's in his neighborhood. But what is the University of Notre Dame's commitment to the entire City, not just its neighborhood, its gateway, what are they willing to do for City Plan. He would like for the Council to request that the University come back in a years time with a project for Downtown South Bend, that they are going to lend their name and their wealthy partners to that they might in fact actually have a College Community, that reflects both the College and Community moving into the next century even with the kind of pride and cooperation and sense of community that we should have between the University of Notre Dame and South Bend. He urged the Council to put off their decision for one week, and before approving the project to ask for two more things from the partners of this project and that it benefit all of South Bend not just the northeast side. Chairperson White asked if there was anyone present that spoke at the last Council Meeting on July 9, 2007 and had new information to come to the podium and present that information. Ms. Jessica Payne, 1119 N. Francis, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she lives at that address with her husband and their three children. She stated that she would like to clarify a few points that Dr. Graeves made reference too. He made reference to all the new dorms that are being built and that should possibly lessen the impact on the potential for student rental in the neighborhood. She wondered over the next ten years what is the projected student enrollment, do they anticipate an increase in that, are those dorms actually being added to alleviate that or are they just simply to allow for more students. She stated that she has been a member of the University family for decades and has heard that a lot what they are going to be doing once those dorms are done is actually renovating the old dorms. She stated that she has son that lives in St. Ed's and he will be happy to hear that once he leaves, but that's another story. In the past or the years since she and her siblings went to Notre Dame, the standard motes apparandae was to close down a dorm for the summer, get as many people in their to renovate somewhat as much as they could and get out by the time the students came back because they didn't have room. She stated that she understands that the new thing to do is going to be once they get those new dorms to actually close a dorm for an entire year to totally renovate it. So in theory, potentially for a great number of years they might not reap the benefit of that additional dorm space. Kite presented wonderful graphics; unfortunately if you were sitting in the back of the Council chambers you could not see them very well. She stated that she thought she saw some numbers that don't seem to add up. The numbers that she had a question on was the parking study and it didn't appear to her that the numbers added up to what was in the power point presentation and the actual number of square footage that the numbers came from the parking and traffic study in regards to the retail and restaurant. Kite continues to reiterate that the density of this project is the key to its success. No one wants to potentially acknowledge the reality that the density may never exist they could build it and build it exactly as they claim, but she is one of the ones that has anon-resident living next to them. She knows a number of people in the neighborhood that have sold their homes to non-residents. To her town homes, condominiums and flat absolutely scream out to those non-residents. Might this help not having those people buy up the houses in her neighborhood, absolutely? She also believes that this development is creating an entire neighborhood ofnon-residents. If the density doesn't exist to support the retail because most of those people will buy those homes with the intention of not living there, then she questions the entire concept. If the project is scaled back a little bit it might increase its overall potential for success. More single family homes should be incorporated into the plan as opposed to condominiums or townhouses to increase its success. She cautioned the Council to truly look at every aspect of this project, the numbers, its impact on the individual residents that currently live there and would very much like to remain there and its overall impact on the community. 18 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 Ms. Mary Beth Dickey, 1105 N. St. Joseph Street, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she wanted everyone to build bridges. She stated that she is disturbed and saddened by the us against them mentality of this whole process. She would like to reach out to her neighbors with a generous heart and would like for them to reach back. She stated that they have worked very hard to try to make this project succeed and have asked for reasonable concessions. She would like to have some respect given back for that and have tremendous respect for the neighborhood associations and the NNRO and their continued work. She reminded the Council that there always is a third voice and a majority of these votes at the Area Plan Commission and the last two Council Meetings regarding this development have always fallen into the "yes" we know there is going to be development, but we would like to have this or that or no we don't want it at all or we like it just the way it is. Ms. Dickey stated that she doesn't want to be the person in this town who is looked at for the rest of her years as the crazy lady who spoke against the Eddy Street Commons. She would like what is best for the triangle, the neighborhood, the City, and would like for everyone to open their hearts and listen respectfully to everyone. She urged the Council to take time to make the best decision for everyone. She reiterated that she will be grieving for the loss of the beautiful woods. In rebuttal, Mr. Compton advised that he will have representatives from the Troyer Group to answer the traffic questions and then Victor from LRK to address the scale questions and he will have a couple of remarks and then Mr. Tom McGowan, COO, Kite Realty will finish their rebuttal. Chris Wegner, Troyer Group, 550 Union St., Mishawaka, Indiana, stated that Eddy Street existing is two lanes with on street parking that will remain two lanes with on street parking, it currently has a left turn lane onto Edison with a right in through and will continue to have a left turn lane onto Edison with a right in through. SR 23 when it is completed and widened will have a level of service of "B" at Napoleon. It is when and during the existing conditions of 23 that it will have a level of service of "E" at Napoleon and will be addressed when 23 is widened. Mr. Compton stated that they will continue to work with Gary Gilot and the Department of Public Works to implement the requirements of the traffic study. Any questions that Gary and his staff might have they will address through the process. This is not the last discussion on the traffic study or the parking study. Mr. Compton stated that Walker has worked with the City before and will continue to engage with the City. Victor Buckholtz, Looney, Rick, Kiss Architects (LRK), Senior Associate, stated that he feels really lonely here tonight because he really represents quite a number of planners, developers and architects that have worked on the project as well. He stated that they feel that they are leaders in the new urbanism movement. They are town architects in Celebration, one of the premier new urban communities and also Baldwin Park and Rosemary Beach and this is sort of what they do and they really consider it and respect the land that the community and Kite Realty has entrusted them to help fulfill the vision that they have for this project. They have really considered the scale of this project and the appropriateness of individual streets and the adjacent areas of the project. Mr. Compton stated that they stand by their commitment that they just added as a part of their presentation to add a third person appointee to the Board. Notre Dame is very interested in this development and obviously LRK is key part of the Kite team. This project will not stop just with the vote tonight; the project will continue to evolve. Tonight's discussion is about zoning and talking about the future, they are not talking about the final plans on all buildings, but have come along way on the plans and believe that the commitments reflect a commitment to what has been shown tonight and codified it in writing. In addition, they have put a representative, who maybe sitting in the audience tonight on the Architectural Review Board, which will become the watchdog for the Council in the future. Mr. Tom McGowan, COO, Kite Realty, Indianapolis, Indiana, stated that he wanted to confirm and make everyone aware that time is of the essence on this project. In his business time is their worst enemy. They have worked on this project for a year and half 19 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 and they finally have the economic components of this project together with the uses. This has been difficult, there has been a lot of time and energy and money put forth to make this work and he wants to make that clear that they now have finally convinced retailers that retail can survive in South Bend and on Eddy Street it doesn't have to be on Grape Road. He stated that he has flown quite a few retailers to town convincing them it can work. Being one of the gentlemen that made the decision to pursue this project, they believe in it. They believe in the community and South Bend, Indiana, this is a big deal for them just as well. When you talk about a 200 million dollar investment, you don't take that lightly, no matter who you are. Mr. McGowan stated that he will make this project work and it is very important to understand that as part of the 200 million dollar investment for all the people sitting here tonight, for South Bend as a whole, for the University of Notre Dame, on top of that they want to fill this room six times over with 960 permanent jobs. He stated that from his hometown that is a big deal and they fmd that is a very component as well. With fmancing retailers, uses and an economic structure that works they must act now and urged the Council for their cooperation. Chairperson White stated that they are now in the Council portion and thanked Kite Realty Group, the University of Notre Dame, Mayor Stephen Luecke and his administration, the Council and most importantly the citizens, both in favor and opposed to this development. Clearly there is support for the project and wanted to say that the comments that have been made were very respectful and really believe whether action is taken tonight or continued that as a community will come back together and support each other and this democracy at it's very best. As individuals we have the right to come, to share, and to speak either in favor or opposition. She reiterated that on behalf of the Council they thanked everyone and were very appreciative of all the concerns, phone calls, letters and the many, many e-mails. Councilmember Ann Puzzello stated that the Eddy Street Commons will be in her district. She lives in the northeast neighborhood and is a resident in the area where the project is proposed. She represents two groups, one is the group that elected her to this very Council position, and the other is that she is an employee of the City of South Bend and owes her allegiance to the entire City of South Bend as far as what is best for it. In representing the neighborhood residents there were some concessions that they had asked for and she worked to get them. Some of them they got and some they did not. She is disappointed in the parking situation because she asked for one hour free parking on the street and two hour free parking in the garage so people who were come on short errands or to eat would not be going into the neighborhood to find parking, they would have free parking inside the Commons. She also asked that employers be responsible for their employee parking whether there are paying for it or insisting their employees do so. This would deter the employees from parking in the surrounding neighborhoods because it is free. If these things do not happen, it is almost as certain as they do, they will be getting residential parking permits for all surrounding residents to eliminate this problem. The height of the buildings will not exceed the height that was shown on the map tonight and she is not counting the story that is below grade at the parking garage, because she is not very concerned with what is below ground, just above ground level. She stated that she supported Councihnember Kirsit's request to have the entire project installed with sprinkler systems for public safety. She stated that she is very pleased the Kite committed to that. She stated that she has a great deal of respect for Councihnember Kirsits when it comes to public safety. With regard to the animals living in the woods, they will be protected and they will be taken to a place where they can live safely and in comfort. She asked Kite when a neighbor has a problem with an unwanted animal in their yard, how long of a period of time will they be removing them for. Mr. McGowan stated that he has been in a lot of public hearing before, but never has been asked this questions before and to bear with him on an answer. He stated that they would like to figure out a logical area and time. Mr. McGowan stated that he would like to make a commitment right now that based upon reasonableness they will create that area that without question will cover any and all concerns. The second point he addressed and it was discussed if it did not get in the commitments today, it should have and that commitment was all employees will have restricted parking areas as part of each and every lease. He wanted to make that very, very clear. Each and every lease meaning a 20 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 retailer, an office user, etc., all of those documents will require and it is very common in their practice and their developments throughout the country specific designated areas for employees. That is a very, very firm commitment that they will do, It is the correct statement on the Council's side and they will make sure that it happens. He knows that it is difficult to continue to add commitments, but he did want to make that clear because it is important to Kite as well, they need to keep appropriate parking available for the customers, not necessarily the employees. So he wanted to make that very clear as well. Councilmember Puzzello further noted that they are going to have bicycle lanes and racks for those who wish to ride their bikes to have a safe place to store them, while they are shopping, dining, and enjoying the amenities in the Commons. She stated that with regard to students living in the development, she is pretty sure that Notre Dame can take care of that. So when they talk about having the legal number which is two per apartment or condo, she is sure that Notre Dame can handle that and the possibility of those students being a disruption to the other people living there. So some students taken out of her neighborhood is a good thing. She also noted weekend people who do not live there but use the condos on certain weekends, again there are a lot of those kinds of properties in her neighborhood, they are empty, they are not neighborly, they are broken into and the people who live in her neighborhood are not real found of them. They can be better protected in the Eddy Street Commons and if that happens she doesn't think that it is a bad thing. She is a member of the NENC, she was not given the opportunity to sign the petition, had she been given the opportunity to sign it she would have signed it. She has been honest to the people she has talked with, study the issues carefully, listened to everyone that has spoken and taken each concern very seriously and shown respect to everyone. Councilmember Puzzello stated that she is in favor of the development, and doesn't think that waiting to vote on this development is going to change anything. As far as the traffic is concerned, she expressed some concerns at the intersections of Duey, Eddy and Twyckenham being the method of getting to or leaving the Eddy Street Commons because they are all two way streets. Communication is the key and keeping those lines of communication open regarding the traffic study and try to solve the issues before SR 23 is widened. The next couple of years are going to be difficult as far as traffic is concerned. Councilmember Rouse stated that he is a member of NNRO and has filed paperwork with the Board of Ethics and there is no conflict or fmancial gain from his voting on this project. Councilmember Varner stated that part of the Council's jobs is to way the wants and needs of the City. He stated that every time he looks at this proposal something is dropped or added, it may not be perfect, but it is a lot closer to being perfect today than it was a few months ago. Despite all the negative comments about perhaps the development at Erskine Common, which is in his district, the alternative was looking at a vacant, boarded up, and fenced off mall site. That project probably did not get all that they wanted, but it is a vast improvement and has brought retail back and while there is some progress that still needs to be made he hopes that the developer Kite can look into that. This development is positive, it's progressive, most importantly it is privately funded. The City has not seen many projects like that, it's taxable, and the City certainly has not seen a lot of projects like that. The project is encouraging and promotes further development in the triangle area. Councilmember Varner addressed Ms. Dickey's concerns about the woods and her concerns were addressed through concessions, she did not get everything that she would have like to seen happen with the wooded area, but because of her voice the developer is going to have six acres of land used for a common area that originally was not part of the original plan. Councilmember Varner addressed Mr. Perri's concerns and feels for his company not being able to get a project going at the former location of the Wharf Restaurant on the riverbank. His hopes are that this project will be synergistic for the City of South Bend and other projects rather than antagonistic. He doesn't see any other way that the City of South Bend is going to get a 200 million dollar project in such a short time frame and as soon as this. As far as the LEED certification is concerned that is a great idea, but that is something that you don't hoist on a development this far along in the process. As a Council they will need to look at that as a requirement for future development and incorporate that and serve notice on anyone 21 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 who is interested and allow it to progress that way. Councilmember Varner stated that whether the vote is tonight or neat Monday, he plans to vote in support of the project and that everyone will be amazed on what a positive effect this will have overall. Councilmember Dieter asked Councilmember Kirsits if he is satisfied with the commitment on Fire Suppression. Councilmember Kirsits stated that he is very impressed that Kite and the University of Notre Dame went along with that commitment. He estimates that is took the cost of the project from $200 million and added $250,000. Councilmember Kirsits stated that by adding this commitment of fire suppression speaks a lot towards their commitment to the project. Councilmember Dieter stated that he satisfied with the Architectural Review Board Commitment. He stated that Kite has shown a lot of professionalism and thinks that when this gets to a vote he doesn't think that they will go back to Indianapolis and won't ever be seen again or have contact with them. Through this process questions and issue might arise in the future and he feels comfortable calling Mr. Compton to get the answers. Councihnember Dieter stated that the traffic study will have to be reviewed and it can be worked out. Councilmember Rouse stated that this project has been a long ongoing process, but the Council has to keep in mind that they delayed a decision and the project ended up going to Grape Road. He stated that he understands Mr. Perri's concerns and certainly the Council will address those issues on a collaborative mode, but the Council cannot afford to delay a $200 million dollar investment in the City of South Bend. Especially when the PUD being revised to the extent that is has and create a collaborative mindset to enhance both the hub of downtown, East bank and all the way up to the Eddy Street Commons. He urged the Council not to delay voting on this project. He noted that the Council Attorney will not be available next Monday, because of other commitments she will be out of town, and if the Council delays tonight it would probably be set for the second Monday in August. He again urged the Council to vote on this bill for passage. Councilmember Kelly asked Mr. Compton is he already has in mind who would be representing the University of Notre Dame on the Architectural Review Board? Mr. Compton stated that they will be working with Dr. Graeves and Mr. Hackanen and Doug Marsh will be appointing the representative. Councilmember White stated that she has been very impressed with the process and again stated that comments, concerns and the time that has been put into the project is greatly appreciated. She stated that she lives on the South end of town and she has enjoyed the Erskine Common Project immensely. She asked Mr. Compton if he would have another conversation with the administration and the Council regarding the completion of the Erskine Commons Project. She believes that they do need the fountain, flower and additional trees as was promised in the development. She stated that she is fully aware that she is off the subject at hand and she is in the chair and taking the liberty at this point to ask for this conversation to take place. She stated that she has truly reaped the benefits from the Erskine Commons Project and would like to make it even better. Councilmember Kirsits thanked everyone who participated in the process. He especially thank the Council Attorney, Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand for her expertise and the City Clerk's Office, City Clerk John Voorde, Chief Deputy Mary Beth Wisniewski, and Deputy Janice Talboom, they took an enormous amount of phone calls, letters, e-mails and for doing all the leg work. He thanked the people speaking in favor and opposed very intelligent people who brought a lot to the table. He stated that this was the Council first attempt at a PUD, and part of the process was to try to design things and they had to lean on the Mayor for his leadership and economic development expertise as well as the economic development planners and the Department of Public Works for all the engineering ideas and concepts. When the process gets to this level he remembers Councilmember Karl Kings stating that you don't always want to cut the deals at this 22 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 level. The Council sometimes has to make difficult decisions, and personally he did not think that Kite would get their homework done with the concessions that were asked of them. He stated hats-off to Mr. Compton and Kite Realty. He commended the University of Notre Dame for the commitments and concessions; it is hard to believe that the project is where it stands from one week ago. He reiterated his thanks for the fire suppression commitment; it is above and beyond what the fire code allows for the structures in Area 5. A lot of times the Council hears complaints regarding the University, but there is one statement that was heard in the past and that is when the University does something, they want it done right. He reflected back on the stadium addition and when the toilets weren't flushing correctly at the very first home game, they went back and got it done right. There will be challenges with this project and he trusts the University with their economic plan that it needs to go and the Council cannot delay this issue anymore because the retailers need that season for 2009 to make this process go. He thinks that the Council can get to a point where an issue can be micro-managed and that's not what he wants to see. He urged the Council to move forward and vote on this development tonight. Mr. Tom McGowan responded to Councilmember White and stated that Kite started to develop the Erskine Commons Project as a private company when Kite was still a private company. His partner, Paul Kite made that statement and that was their hope and ultimately what was development is exactly what they told the City they would develop, it was the commitments. Obviously early on in the project there was a vision there was a hope and ultimately what occurred there were retailers which in their business are their customers talked about site line, parking ratios, and all the things that make a project like Erskine Commons come together. It was a difficult project to attract those key retailers and it is a project that they are proud of and fortunate to come to the Chamber luncheon to receive the Economic Development of the Year Award and it is a great project. Mr. McGowan stated that they did not get the entire vision in place and he admits that. It was tied to ultimately the Economics and what the tenants demanded. The Eddy Street Commons project is a very clear one, they have had an enormous amount of time to interface a year and a half of working with the retailers, knowing what they need, understanding the demands, so this project is much different. Mr. McGowan stated that they area 1.5 billion enterprise and they are good at what they do and he wants to make it very clear that the City of South Bend can count on his company. Mayor Stephen Luecke stated that there has been a tremendous turn around at the former Scottsdale now Erskine Commons site. There were tools that were expected to be used as part of the enhancements for that site and along Ireland Road. The Sales Tax Increment Financing District (STIF) that the State approved through legislation was going to be used, however, there were some very severe restrictions placed on qualifications for this STIF and to date they still have not enacted the STIF at that site. If they are able to do that and he thinks that they are fairly close to meeting some of the requirements. Mayor Luecke stated that they required that a'/z million square feet of retail space built, not just planned to be built, but actually built. This is just not the way tax increments fmancing works it usually is anticipated projects not come into place afterwards. He stated that they are hopefully to get base qualifications to get approval from the State and generate that revenue stream that will allow them to do additional things there. Councilmember Pfeifer stated that she was torn up to this very minute on how to vote. She stated that she has been consistent with saying that every neighborhood has a right to self determination and have been consistent with that for twelve (12) years and this project is certainly self determination. She stated that as she ends her time on the Council one of things that she hopes to be able to do as a citizen is sit in the audience and hear this kind of development on the west side of town in the Second District. She stated that she has heard tonight from a lot of people that we are one community, then that means that she expects everyone in this room to be here supporting development on the west side. She expects with the same fervor and zest that you would expect on the Southside, northeast side, and the University of Notre Dame to support more than just homeless centers on the Westside of town and treatment centers. She expects the University to step up on the Westside just like you have tonight, if Notre Dame says they weld themselves off into the community, then you are correct, now is their opportunity to continue that. 23 SPECIAL MEETING JULY 16, 2007 The Council has to support people who need but she expects Notre Dame to support more than just homeless centers and those kinds of things on the Westside of town. She stated that she will be seeing what the University does when its comes to areas outside of their back door. She will also being seeing all the fervor here. One of the most legitimate criticisms is that you can get Americans to stand up for Whales, Bears, Deer, and Birds but can you get Americans to stand up for human beings. Your human beings live on the Westside of Town and she hopes that she sees the University standing up with the same fervor for the Westside of Town as she has heard them speak tonight and she will be able to vote for this proposal tonight. Councilmember Rouse made a motion to accept Bill 26-07 as amended, and the Eddy Street Commons Planned Unit Development revised on July 16, 2007 and the written commitments dated July 16, 2007, also know as "Exhibit A" and recommend to full Council with a favorable recommendation. Councilmember Dieter seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. RISE AND REPORT Councilmember Dieter made a motion to rise and report to the full Council. Councilmember Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. ATTEST: ATTEST: John Voorde, City Clerk Karen L. White, Chairperson Committee of the Whole REGULAR MEETING RECONVENED Be it remembered that the Common Council of the City of South Bend reconvened in the Council Chambers on the fourth floor of the County-City Building at 10:05 p.m. Council President Tim Rouse presided with nine (9) members present. BILLS -THIRD READING ORDINANCE NO. 8772-07 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE FOR 24.345 ACRES GENERALLY LOCATED BETWEEN ANGELA BOULEVARD/EDISON ROAD AND NAPOLEON STREET, AND APPROXIMATELY 200 FEET WEST OF EDDY STREET AND 700 FEET EAST OF DUEY STREET, EXTENDED, COUNCILMANIC DISTRICT NO. 4 IN THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA This bill had third reading. Councihnember Puzzello made a motion to amend this bill as it was in the Committee of the Whole, including Exhibit "A" Councilmember Dieter seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. Additionally, Councilmember Dieter made a motion to pass this bill as amended, and including Exhibit "A" Councilmember Varner seconded the motion which carried. The bill passed by a roll call vote of nine (9) ayes. 24 SPECIAL MEETING ADJOURNMENT JULY 16, 2007 There being no further business to come before the Council, President Rouse adjourned the meeting at 10:09 p.m. ATTEST: ATTEST: John Voorde, City Clerk Timothy A. Rouse, President 25