09-09-02 Zoning & Annexation - Laserfiche WebLink

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v i 4 Y Zoning and Annexation Committee September 9, 2002 Page 2 Following discussion, Council Member Coleman made a motion, seconded by Dr. Varner that Bill No. 02-62 recommended favorably to Council. The motion passed. Council Member White then stated that she had requested the Area Plan Staff to begin a detailed presentation on the proposed Comprehensive Plan. She noted that Mr. Sante provided preliminary information to the Committee at an earlier meeting, however several Council Members either did not have, or did not review a copy of the proposed Comprehensive Plan prior to that meeting. She then presented a two-page handout entitled"Proposed Schedule for Discussion and Review of the Proposed Comprehensive Plan" (copy attached). She asked everyone to carefully review the proposed schedule and to voice any concerns which they may have. She noted that this proposed schedule should not be an indication that there was a lack of support for the proposed comprehensive plan, but rather should be viewed as providing opportunities to receive relevant information and to allow open discussion of this document which sets the vision for the city and county for the next twenty(20) years. Council Member White then asked Area Plan Assistant Director John Byorni to address the Committee for a period of 25-30 minutes. Mr. Byorni presented a copy of the Area Plan Commission minutes dated January 29, 2002, the date when the Area Plan Commission adopted the first version of the proposed Comprehensive Plan (copy attached). He noted that he did not bring with him a copy of the April Area Plan Commission meeting minutes when the Comprehensive Plan was amended to included various "housekeeping items". He noted that Mr. Sante recently certified the amended comprehensive plan to the Common Council. Mr. Byorni stated that HNTB was the consultant hired for the preparation of the comprehensive plan. A proposed comprehensive plan was prepared in the 1970's, however was never formally adopted by any of the entities who are members of the Area Plan Commission. Monies were placed in the St. Joseph County budget in 1997-1998 to fund the bulk of the project. Mr. Byorni stated that request for qualifications (RFQ's) were sent to 15-20 firms located within a day's driving distance of downtown South Bend,and nine(9) proposals were received. Three(3) firms were then interviewed resulting in the selection of HNTB. The overall budgeting for this project by the County was over a three-year period. Mr. Byorni noted that the City of South Bend assisted by doing a detailed land use survey which took a long time to do; and he noted that the City will continue to maintain this information and have it rolled into the GIS. In response to a question raised by Council Member Pfeifer at an earlier Zoning and Annexation Committee meeting, Mr. Byorni provided a copy of the one-page existing comprehensive plan which was in technical compliance with the state law provisions (copy attached). He also noted that the documents prepared in the 1970's which were never adopted had four (4) volumes, of which Volume#3 has been filed with the City Clerk's Office. Council Member White inquired about the overall cost to prepare the proposed Comprehensive Plan. Mr. Byorni stated that St. Joseph County budgeted $200,000 over a three-year period for the plan. He added that South Bend earmarked $25,000 in the Health Communities budget to be used for work related to the plan.