11-13-17 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING November 13, 2017 This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill,proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. Those from the public wishing to speak in favor of this bill: Michael Divita, the Department of Community Investment, with offices on the 14th Floor of the County-City Building, South Bend, IN, stated that the proposed bills would allow for better blending of development projects into their respective neighborhoods as well as greater investment by small business owners, would allow better urban design outcomes in an urban context, and would allow development projects that are less intense than the zoning ordinance allows to proceed while leaving room in the zoning for future allowable uses as the market and land uses change over time. Addressing Councilmember Scott's question about the number of variances that would be resolved by these bills, Mr. Divita stated that anywhere between fifteen (15%) and fifty percent(50%) would be taken care of by these bills. Jesse Davis, P.O. Box 10205, South Bend, IN, stated that he is in favor of these bills if they help bring more people downtown and help businesses to thrive. Mr. Davis stated that outdoor seating and right-of-way landscaping is a problem downtown, elaborating to state that navigating the walkways when there is any semblance of a crowd downtown is very difficult. He asked, Did they take all that into consideration,before you pass this, to make sure that this is ADA- compliant, and that people that are handicapped are going to be able to maneuver around with all the extra landscaping in the right-of-way and these outdoor seating areas? None from the public wished to speak in opposition to this bill. Angela Smith returned to the podium for a rebuttal. Ms. Smith stated that, regarding ADA- compliance of outdoor seating, federal law trumps the local zoning ordinance. She stated that the zoning laws apply to privately owned property, so if there are any issues with the right-of-way they would be covered by the Board of Public Works. And, regarding landscaping, Ms. Smith stated that as it occurs in the tree-lawn and not the crosswalk, landscaping would not be affected by ADA-compliance. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked if the issues brought up by Jesse Davis and at the committee meeting were all handled by the Board of Public Works. Ms. Smith responded, In the downtown area?Probably. There's nothing in these ordinances that change the setback requirements or change the placement requirements. All of the areas that are addressed require that they not obstruct any safe travel to a business. Councilmember Davis asked if the Board of Public Works has the power to enforce ordinances through the Building Department, Code Enforcement, the Police Department, or if it would be a Council action or under the discretion of the Mayor. Ms. Smith responded, As far as I know, the Board of Public Works has complete control over anything that happens in the right-of-way. I believe, as the Mayor was speaking of earlier, with City-owned property the City has the right to enforce anything within that, and that would cover anything in the right-of-way. Councilmember Davis asked, So, they are not enforcing that issue that Mr. Davis was talking about, possibly? Ms. Smith responded, I'm not sure of the answer to that. Councilmember Davis responded, Let me rephrase that: if there's a problem with enforcement, we have to address that as a Board of Public Works issue? Ms. Smith responded, Correct. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked, What would your department provide in terms of disseminating these changes to the public? Ms. Smith responded that on the APC website the ordinances are updated within a week of change. She stated that in anticipation of these ordinance changes,her department has met with groups such as the Board of Realtors and the Homeowners Association. Ms. Smith stated that the 6