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REGULAR MEETING November 13, 2017
<br /> DISTRICTS TO REVISE GRADE LEVEL
<br /> IMPROVEMENT STANDARDS, AND ARTICLE
<br /> 3 COMMERCIAL/MIXED USE DISTRICTS TO
<br /> REVISE DRIVE-THROUGH FACILITY
<br /> STANDARDS
<br /> 74-17 PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE OF
<br /> THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
<br /> SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, AMENDING
<br /> CHAPTER 21 OF THE SOUTH BEND
<br /> MUNICIPAL CODE, ARTICLE 1 BY
<br /> ALLOWING USES PERMITTED IN A LESS
<br /> INTENSE DISTRICT TO BE PERMITTED IN A
<br /> MORE INTENSE DISTRICT
<br /> Councilmember Oliver Davis, chair of the Zoning and Annexation Committee, reported that they
<br /> met this afternoon and send these bills forward with a favorable recommendation.
<br /> Angela Smith, the Area Plan Commission, with offices on the 11th Floor of the County-City
<br /> Building, South Bend, IN, served as the presenter of these bills. Ms. Smith stated, What you have
<br /> before you are three (3)text amendments that deal with issues that we have found as being
<br /> problematic within the zoning ordinance for South Bend. The first deals with things that are
<br /> commonly fought before the Area Board of Zoning Appeals, or before the Area Plan
<br /> Commission, for variances from development standards. This includes parking in a mixed-use
<br /> district, allowing landscaping in a tree-lawn instead of on the property, and the average setback
<br /> for nonconformance, among a couple of other things. The outdoor seating is an exciting addition
<br /> to encourage pedestrian activity in the commercial districts, as well. The second set of items deal
<br /> with engineering standards and have also been reviewed by the Engineering Department in the
<br /> City of South Bend. These primarily deal with private streets,the clear-sight triangles, and some
<br /> grade-level improvements within the engineering sections of the ordinance. The final ordinance
<br /> deals with the use-tables that you find in our zoning district. Currently in the South Bend
<br /> ordinance, we list an exorbitant number of uses. Everything to very specific things as
<br /> haberdasheries to general things like retail uses. This would allow, if you have a more intense
<br /> district, such as an industrial district, you would be allowed to do the uses that would be found in
<br /> some of the other districts, with the exception of residential. These kind of follow the logic that if
<br /> you are a more intense zoned district, it seems logical to allow something that would be allowed,
<br /> say, in a mixed-use district, as well, as opposed to making someone rezone their property. The
<br /> process that we have right now puts an extreme burden on the property owner and often leads to
<br /> properties that are not zoned properly for the district that they're in, because they would be
<br /> zoned for a specific use and not necessarily the district in which it's located. All of these come to
<br /> you from the Area Plan Commission with a favorable recommendation.
<br /> Councilmember Tim Scott asked, How many variances that you have seen in the last year or two
<br /> (2)that have come before us would this take care of?
<br /> Ms. Smith responded that the Area Board of Zoning Appeals has seen a significant increase in
<br /> variance petitions, explaining that, for example, forty percent(40%) of parking variances that
<br /> come before the ABZA have to do with parking in the mixed use district, and each of those
<br /> variances is granted. She stated, That's always a clear sign to us, as the planning staff, that that's
<br /> probably a section of our ordinance that's broken and needs to be addressed.
<br /> Councilmember Scott asked, So, the City has blessed these changes?
<br /> Ms. Smith responded, This is a conjunction between the Building Department, the Department of
<br /> Community Investment, our office, and the Engineering office.
<br /> Councilmember Scott asked, Does this streamline business?
<br /> Ms. Smith responded, This should encourage development within the City.
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