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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-23-16 Zoning and AnnexationiL TR OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER, CITY CLERK ZONING & ANNEXATION Committee Members Present: Other Council Present: Others Present: Agenda: May 23, 2016 3:30 P.M. Oliver Davis, Gavin Ferlic, Jo M. Broden, John Voorde Karen White, Dr. David Varner, Regina Williams - Preston (late), Randy Kelly (Late) Kareemah Fowler, Joseph Molnar, Kathleen Cekanski- Farrand, Adriana Rodriguez Bill No. 20 -16 — Rezoning at 2724 Lincolnway West Bill No. 21 -16 — Rezoning at 803 West Washington St. (Kizer House) Bill No. 22 -16 — Rezoning at 6100 Nimtz Parkway Committee Chair Oliver Davis called the meeting to order with three (3) bills on the agenda. Bill No. 20 -16 — Rezoning at 2724 Lincolnway West Committeemember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to continue Bill 20 -16 to June 27`h 2016. Committeemember Jo M. Broden seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four (4) ayes. Bill No. 21 -16 — Rezoning at 803 West Washington St. (Kizer House) Matthew Chappuies, Area Plan Commission with offices on the 11th Floor of the County -City Building, served as the presenter for this bill. This property is 803 West Washington St. also known as the Kizer Mansion. To the north of the property are single family homes, to the east across MLK Drive are single family homes as well, to the south of the property is the Oliver Mansion and Center for History zoned as Office District and to the west is the Shurrant Shop zoned Office Buffer District. The petitioner is seeking to go from MF1 (Urban Corridor Multi - Family District) to Mixed Use District. The petitioner is looking to get a curb -cut opened up to allow parking in the rear of the property. They are considering taking out the pavement in front of the property to add green space and landscaping. The site plan shows the parking lot just to 455 County-City Building • 227 W. Jefferson Boulevard • South Bend, Indiana 46601 Phone 574- 235 -9221 • Fax 574 - 235 -9173 • TDD 574 - 235 -5567 • www.SouthBendIN.gov JENNIFER M. COFFMAN ALKEYNA M. ALDRIDGE EMILY SEXTON CHIEF DEPUTY/ CHIEF OF STAFF DEPUTY/ DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK the north of the house would provide spaces both for the proposed residential spaces and the proposed office uses. The existing home is undergoing current renovation. The petitioner has mentioned ideas such as a gallery space in the main building. This bill comes to the Council with a favorable recommendation. Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski - Farrand stated this is a substitute bill and a motion would be needed to accept it. So moved by Committeemember Gavin Ferlic and seconded by Committeemember Jo M. Broden. The motion carried by a unanimous voice vote of four (4) ayes. Committeemember Gavin Ferlic stated he received a couple of concerns around the project and wanted to see if the petitioner had intentions to address those neighborhood concerns. Mr. Chappuies responded there were a total of three (3) people who spoke at the public hearing, two (2) of them spoke in favor and one (1) was there to ask questions. The biggest concerns were illuminating the number of residential units and the fear that this was going to be used just as a large mutli- family unit like in the past. The petitioner has made the comment that they are willing to limit the number of residential units to two (2) to three (3) units. Other concerns were traffic, lighting and parking issues. As far as traffic, the petitioner will be working with the City's Engineering Department to perform a traffic study to make sure a new curb cut will not affect line of sight at the corner. Lighting will be restricted to what is allowed by the zoning, in a commercial property light must be cut off at the property line. Gregory A. Kil, Kil Architectural Planning, spoke as the petitioner for this bill. A curb cut on the MLK Drive side is something that they are aware of due to Engineering being worried about sight lines. The height of the screen on the site plan will be controlled so visuals will not be impaired coming out of the parking lot. They desire to set parking on the north side of the plot and green space on the south. The number of parking spaces they are proposing is determined by how many they can reasonably fit into the area between the carriage house and the mansion. The spaces will be just slightly smaller than normal parking spaces and will still fit normal vehicle sizes. The parking should accommodate day to day parking with no problems but if there are any special events at the building there will be some overflow traffic. Committee Chair Oliver Davis asked if the parking coming off of Washington Street would be a bit safer because if it comes off Chapin people really pick up speed and having a curb cut there is challenging because of the light. Mr. Kil responded the practical difficulty is the geometry of the south lot line and that there is an existing portico that is too narrow for modern traffic. This is the most practical approach in developing this building in an effective way. Todd Zeiger, Director of the Northern Regional Office of Indiana Landmarks Foundation with addresses at 402 West Washington South Bend, also spoke as a petitioner for this bill. Their concern with having the parking entrance on Washington is if you are on that corner it is dangerous because the cars at the light do not know which way the person leaving the parking lot is going. We want to work with Engineering to make the exit onto Chapin a safer option. We 2 also want to get rid of the concrete in front of the house and would like to have that become a yard. Regarding the question of how many apartments will be in the building, the whole reason we want this rezoning is because we don't want a twelve (12) apartment building there anymore. There are some logical places to have apartments in the building such as the carriage house. Perhaps as well one (1) or two (2) units on the top floor but that is the maximum amount of units. The proposed use is primarily for offices for Indiana Landmarks. The petitioners are willing to get in writing from the History Museum their approval of allowing patrons to use their parking lots during any larger events. Committeemember Jo M. Broden expressed her concern that the parking lot would not be big enough for both the residents and the office workers. She applauded the agreement with the History Museum but questioned whether people would actually park there for big events. Mr. Zeiger stated their current location is multiuse as well with residents and their office. It works well because typically the residents are gone during the day while the office workers are there and then the office workers leave in the evening as the residents return from work. If the amount of apartments is a concern that is definitely something they are looking into and compromising on because they have not fully looked at the issue yet. Committeemember John Voorde asked how many spots would be in the parking lot. Mr. Zeiger responded thirteen (13) total. They are adding a little pavement to the east of the proposed parking lot location but most of the pavement is already in place. Committeemember Jo M. Broden asked historically where was the entrance for the house. Mr. Zeiger responded it was originally through the portico share side but when Chapin was pushed through it changed the driveway to be on that awkward street light corner. Originally Chapin Street, now MLK Drive, did not go through there but the intersection was T shaped. Now the new four (4) lane road puts the property on a corner lot which is the cause of some of these difficulties. Committeemember Jo M. Broden stated she appreciates the agreement with the History Museum in regards to overflow parking. She asked about parking to the south of the property and availability on the street. Mr. Zeiger responded there is already parking allowed just south of the property on the street. There have been concerns from those who live on that street. In the past when they owned the property from 2012 -2014 they would station a volunteer to direct folks to the History Museum lot. There is a green space near the property that they have used for parking in the past but they would like to keep that a green space for the neighborhood. The History Museum also has agreed to place on street parking in front of the garden area not in front of the mansion itself that would add eight (8) parking spots to the immediate area. They are open to work with any of the neighbors with parking issues. 3 Council Attorney Cekanski- Fan-and asked what the timeline was for the agreements with the History Museum. Mr. Zeiger stated it just is a matter of time to get it written, the details have already been agreed upon. Council Attorney Cekanski - Farrand responded Council President Tim Scott, who is absent due to an illness, had questions about the engineering study. Councilmember Regina Williams- Preston entered the meeting at 3:50 p.m. The public was given an opportunity to speak either in favor or against the bill. Those wishing to speak in favor: Andrew Hudak, 121 South Chapin, spoke in favor of the bill. He had spoken at the Area Plan Commission with concerns. Most of those concerns have been addressed. He appreciates the efforts taken to relieve the parking issue but the natural place if their lot is full will be to park on the south side of Chapin. That is public parking on the street and everyone knows that when they purchase a house there. He is thrilled at the level of work going into the building which desperately needs it and appreciates that they have limited the residential units to no more than two (2) in the mansion and no more than one (1) in the carriage house. It will require some work but if those limits ate in place and the parking agreements with the History Museum are agreed to then it will be a great addition to the neighborhood. Jim Bognar, 8058 West Washington, spoke in favor of the bill. Mr. Bognar stated Indiana Landmarks has done an outstanding job since mid - March. They are a local company hiring local workers who are very respectful to the surrounding properties. Mr. Zeiger has done an immeasurable amount of work making sure everything is running smoothly. Parking has always been a concern in this neighborhood. A year ago there was an attempt to place a curb cut so that the front could be restored like Mr. Zeiger wants to do. Engineering really pushed back against that curb cut but did eventually grant permission but then the property was sold before it took place. Mr. Bognar stated he thinks they should get the approval for the curb cut from Engineering before the Council acts on this. There should also be a neighborhood traffic study like Mr. Zeiger desires. The Administration, the Council, Landmarks and the neighborhood all need to be on the same page before this moves forward because the work Mr. Zeiger is doing is outstanding. If we want this positive development to move forward we need Engineering to agree with this curb cut first. Everyone is going to have to get along with parking if we want this to be successful. Jack Smith, 220 South William Street South Bend, spoke in favor of the bill. He moved here in 1960 and immediately got involved in historic preservation. We need to take care of these wonderful old properties. There were a lot of frightened people when we learned someone out of town was going to handle the property but all those fears have gone away. He has a lot of faith in what they are doing and it's going to be a success. We have torn down far too many of these 2 great old buildings in this City. We have to save that entire neighborhood and this is an important piece of that neighborhood. No one from the public spoke in opposition to the bill. Patrick C. Kerr, Engineering Department with offices on the 13th Floor, stated they have no objection to a curb cut on Chapin other than checking the sight distance. Originally there was an alley connected but did not push it through Chapin because of vertical sigh distance along Chapin. From their standpoint as long as their inspection is okay Engineering has no problem. Committee Chair Davis asked what would make their check fail. Mr. Kerr responded if there was something where the drive could not see a car coming or a car on Chapin could not see them pulling out. Committee Chair Davis asked if there is a problem what are the steps that could be taken to alleviate the issue. Mr. Kerr responded a number of things depending on the problem such as removing a tree that is in the way. This is something that could be worked on and we are not opposed to a curb cut, we just need to make sure to protect public safety in the process. Council Attorney Cekanksi - Farrand asked if they could complete that process by the next Council meeting on June 13th. Mr. Kerr responded yes they could probably make that work. They typically have the developer perform these studies but they could help the process move quicker. If the director chooses for us to make those calculations ourselves then we certainly could do that. Mr. Zeiger stated they would be alright with a delay if that is most advantageous. We are just trying to move forward and cant until this step is completed. It would just push all our plans back two (2) weeks but it would not be the end of the world. Committeemember John Voorde made a motion to continue the meeting to June 13th. Committeemember Gavin Ferlic seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four (4) ayes. Bill No. 22 -16 — Rezoning at 6100 Nimtz Parkway Mathew Chappuies, Area Plan Commission with offices on the 11 th Floor of the County -City Building, served as the presenter for this bill. This is the northwest corner of the Blackthorn Golf Course just south of Nimtz Parkway. The petitioner is requesting a zone change from Light Industrial to Community Business for a hotel. They are also seeking a special exception to keep the remaining portion of the golf course because a golf course is not something that is allowed in Community Business. North of the property are offices. Just east of the property is the golf course clubhouse. To the south is the rest of the golf course. To the west of the bypass are farms. The site plan consists of two (2) proposed lots totaling approximately eleven (11) acres. The petitioner is proposing an eighty (80) foot, six (6) story hotel with approximately one hundred and twenty (120) guest rooms. Both the rezoning and the special exception come to the Council with a favorable recommendation from the Area Plan Commission. Councilmember Dr. David Varner asked if this hotel would have food service because there was talk about a potential conflict within the Blackthorn Corporate Park rules. Angela Smith, Area Plan Commission with offices on the 11 th Floor, responded no because the covenants were modified to now allow for a restaurant as part of a hotel or convention center. This particular property is actually not a part of the restrictive covenants of the Blackthorn Corporate Park. Brian McMorrow, Abonmarche Consultants on behalf of Acquisition Group, served as the petitioner for this bill. They are subdividing this into two (2) lots and only develop one (1) of the lots. As part of the area would remain a golf course that is why the special exception is needed. No one spoke either in favor or opposition to the bill. Committeemember Jo M. Broden asked about the overall plan if the zoning changes for the golf course. Mr. McMorrow responded by explaining the layout of the proposed site plan. The hotel will not be visible from the golf course due to the large trees remaining. There are no plans to develop the other half of the property other than to maybe change it to another type of golf practice area. We are only looking to rezone about ten (10) acres of the two hundred (200) acre golf course. Councilmember Randy Kelly arrived to the meeting at 4:20 p.m. Committeemember Jo M. Broden asked if there were any concerns from the airport over the height of the proposed hotel. Mr. McMorrow responded that the Light Industrial zoning already allows for a building to be eighty -five (85) feet tall. This proposed building is slightly under that allowance. They do have an application with the FAA on the height of the project just to make sure everything is okay. Obviously the hotel would not be built at that height unless the FAA also approves it. Committee Chair Davis asked when that report from the FAA would be completed. Mr. McMorrow responded they filed the application a couple of weeks ago and it is generally a thirty (30) day turn around. Committeemember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to send Bill 22 -16 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation subject to the written commitments. Committeemember John Voorde seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four (4) ayes. 2 With no further business before the Committee, Chairperson Oliver Davis adjourned the meeting at 4:23 p.m.