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03-23-09 Common Council Minutes
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03-23-09 Common Council Minutes
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REGULAR MEETING MARCH 23, 2009 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Street Commons, the annexation of the Portage Prairie Area, the annexation and rezoning <br />of the Innovation Park Area and the rezoning and development of the LaSalle Square <br />Project. Each development area comes with the potential to increase shopping <br />employment and residential living and also comes with a price to develop in terms of TIF <br />Districts to fund it and the responsibility of the City to provide services. During these <br />times of HB 1001 that can be a daunting task. It is not without controversy as there are <br />those that do not want to see any growth by the City especially those on the perimeter of <br />these developments. He stated that personal property rights still do exit in this country <br />and those that own property in which to voluntarily annex into the city have the right to <br />do so. It is the Council’s job to ensure this fall within the City’s Plan including “City <br />Plan” and Smart Growth Options and that it receives a fair and equitable hearing. It must <br />also be remember that a city that fails to grow and change is a city that will eventually <br />die. An ongoing issue affecting the neighborhoods in the City of South Bend that <br />pertains to the Zoning and Annexation Committee is the growth of rental properties. He <br />noted that this include weekend home game rentals, legal and illegal grandfathering of <br />homes for multi-family use; the use of spot zone properties for a different use; and the <br />inappropriate number of unrelated occupants living within a SF1 or SF2 neighborhood. <br />While there are many landlords that provide good homes at fair rent to families that need <br />decent and safe place to live, the city is seeing those investors that have no knowledge or <br />want in disregard for the zoning ordinances that are in place. This causes havoc both <br />within the challenged and stable neighborhoods, the burden should not be placed upon <br />the neighbors to police, control and complain to the City about occupant problems of <br />rental properties. The burden should be placed upon the owner of the home and this can <br />only be done by moving towards a registration of rental properties that exists in the <br />traditional neighborhoods. He noted that it doesn’t have to be an extensive or time <br />consuming process, but it needs to exit in an ordinance form. It should be done to strike a <br />balance between those that own resident property for profit and those that own it to raise <br />a family. Failure to address this has the potential of destroying the traditional <br />neighborhoods by addressing it properly they have the ability to stabilize and enhance <br />property values for all property owners concerned. Councilmember Kirsits stated that it <br />is his goal and that of the Zoning and Annexation Committee to attempt to bring together <br />all interested parties during 2009 and work towards an ordinance that addresses these <br />problems. He advised that the CCAC was formed in the after math of the Special Event <br />Lawn Parking Ordinance that was discussed in the spring of 2007. After much <br />discussion it was decided to separate ordinances and move forward with the passage of <br />the special event lawn parking. In lieu of passing a social host ordinance which was <br />based on information from the Department of Justice Cops Manual and similar <br />ordinances from other college towns it was voted to put that on hold. Instead, the CCAC <br />was put in place at the request of local universities primarily the University of Notre <br />Dame and landlords in an attempt to talk and educate students and residents living in <br />close proximity to each other. It was then Council President Timothy Rouse who asked <br />him to Chair this committee and accepted. The first CCAC meeting was held in February <br />2008, membership has extended to Notre Dame, Holy Cross, St. Mary’s, IUSB. Also, in <br />attendance have been City Council Members, City Administration, Code Enforcement, <br />Police Department, the local Alcoholic Beverage Commission Board as well as landlords <br />and residents. City Clerk John Voorde sworn in the members and Kathleen Cekanski- <br />Farrand serves as Legal Counsel. A complete listing of minutes is on file in the Office of <br />the City Clerk. Meetings have been held in April, October, and November 2008. The <br />next meeting of the CCAC will be held on Thursday, April 2, 2009 at the University of <br />Notre Dame, Administration Building. The following are a list of several things that <br />have occurred since the creation of the CCAC: Leadership from the University of Notre <br />Dame Student Body Presidents has been outstanding, the past president Liz Brown and <br />the Current President Robert Reish. They have made legitimate attempts and significant <br />progress in reaching the Student Body with a message to be good neighbors when they <br />live off campus. The University of Notre Dame has published and distributed a booklet <br />about off-campus living and how to be a good neighbor, and has responded quickly to <br />isolated incidents of inappropriate behavior so they would not be repeated. St. Mary’s <br />sends an e-mail alert about upcoming weekends and the behavior and activity that they <br />expect from their students. The South Bend Police Department has been working with <br />the University of Notre to inform students through e-mail of all burglaries and suspicious <br />persons regarding off-campus properties. Crime prevention is working to give them <br /> 9 <br /> <br />
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