2005 Annual Report - South Bend Common Council Residential Neighborhoods Committee

Home Browse Search

SOUTH BEND COMMON COUNCIL RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS COMMITTEE 2005 ANNUAL REPORT December 12, 2005 The 2005 Residential Neighborhood Committee (RNC) reports that the committee has been active in a variety of events and has performed a great deal of research to enhance the work of the committee in the future. Specific recommendations are made as part of this report to address needed actions related to the work and charge of the committee. As Chairman of the RNC, I started by requesting recent minutes of the committee. The file produced a sparse set of documents indicating that the committee had not been one of the more active "standing committees. At the request of the Chair, Attorney Cekanski-Farrand, the Council Attorney, researched the history of the committee. This data revealed that the committee was created in 1977 and that in 1993 it was charged with the oversight of the "Neighborhood Partnership Centers. The charge of the committee is: Overseeing the various activities of the Neighborhood partnership Centers and issues related to neighborhood development and enhancement. Very early in the year a resident asked to meet with the Council Attorney and the Chair to discuss the guidelines and requirements for establishing a Neighborhood Association. This resident indicated that she resided in the Howard Park neighborhood and did not wish to be part of the Howard Park Neighborhood Association (HPNA) and did not want the HPNA speak for her. The Council Attorney and I found that there are no requirements other than notifying the Community Development Division (CDD) as to their existence. This resident's concern led me to ask the Council Attorney to research the possibility of creating a Neighborhood Association Recognition Ordinance (NARO). A NARO would provide a standard policy and guide for establishing neighbor associations in the city. On December 12, 2005 her research data will be presented to the RNC and the CDD with recommendation that further consideration be given to create a NARO in 2006. In my opinion a NARO will aid in the initiation of the "City Plan" and should be adopted prior to the completion of the City Plan. For the sake of entering valuable information into the record, I note that I had a conversation with Ms. Pam Myers, Director of the CDD on the subject of NAR policies and she shared that a lot of data on NAR policies can be found in the CDD library attained from material brought back from several Neighborhoods United States of America (NUSA) conferences. The RNC is very closely aligned with many of the goals and purposes of the CDD. I have dialogued with the Ms. Myers on this also and I suggested that the RNC and the CDD hold a series of networking discussions; she was receptive to networking; I recommend discussions start in the first quarter of 2006. The RNC met in joint session with the Zoning and Annexation Committee, Chairman Ervin Kuspa, to address issues related to bill 64-05. This was a bill petitioning for rezoning of a property located at 1126 W. Washington Street in the 2nd District, owned by a group called the "Catholic Workers." The petition for bill 64-05 was denied, but it was a very emotional and high profile issue that caused a lot of division in the neighborhood. There were numerous residents that appeared before the council. Hopefully, in the first quarter of 2006, the Residential Neighborhood Committee will interface with residents and stakeholders to help restore a sense of unity and harmony in the neighborhood.