Planners OK Prelim Plat, Table Final
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
The plat is creating four new lots from the original 4.94 acres.
“It’s adding some lots but not a major plat by any means. Most of them are meeting existing bounds and descriptions,” City Planner Jeremy Skinner explained to the Commission. “They are creating four lots where there is one lot. The original lot has the Wabash Donut shop on it. The remaining three lots, one would be fronted on Buffalo Street. The other lot directly behind it borders residential, and then there’s a large remaining lot that is mostly wetlands and flood plains. There is not a lot of use for that.”
Lot 2 will have an ingress and egress easement with access off Lake Street. Lots 1 and 3 will have access off Buffalo Street. Lot 4 also will have access off Lake Street.
Skinner said the plat meets the Commercial-2 and Residential-2 zoning districts requirements.
“There is, however, a storm sewer that the city owns that runs north and south down Lake Street and runs all the way to the creek,” Skinner said.
He said there are two manholes, one on the north end on Lake Street and one down by Eagle Creek, but no easement is shown on the plat. Skinner recommended last night that the preliminary plat be approved subject to the legal description of the storm line easement being found or created.
Skinner said he had no issue with the lot layouts.
Busz told the Commission that his family wanted to bring back the wooded habitat of the lot through which the sewer goes.
“I can’t ever imagine developing it. It’s swamp,” he said.
The property was once all separated, but it was bought later and put all back together as one piece. Now Busz wants to return it to four lots.
Lot 2 would be the southern half of his homestead, he informed the board, and his home is just north of it. He doesn’t intend to develop Lot 2, but maybe Lot 1 on Ind. 15.
“We’d love to re-tree that,” Busz said of Lot 2.
City engineer James Emans suggested the city get easement rights to push snow onto Lot 2 during the winter. That would give the street department the legal right to dump snow on that property, which it already does.
“It could be an easement to the city specifically for snow removal storage and could be tied in to their development,” Emans said.
City attorney Mike Valentine said both of the easements – one for the storm line, one for snow storage – would be incorporated into the final plat.
“I talked to (Street Superintendent) Jeff (Beeler). We talked about whether or not he wanted a cul de sac or any additional right of way. My only thing was the more property you take, you take responsibility for that property. If we’re not going to do anything with it, it would not be my suggestion that we take property we’re going to be responsible for,” Skinner said. “He didn’t have any plans and didn’t want to put a cul de sac or anything in there from a cost perspective, so it would be my recommendation that we not do any right of way. We could probably do an expanded easement as part of the storm (line), which wouldn’t be an issue. We can talk to the applicant about what we’d want to do with that, and just include it as a utility and drainage easement.”
The Commission approved the preliminary plat containing the easement proposals, and tabled the final plat until the February meeting.
For the last hour of its meeting Monday, the Commission then discussed residential definitions and setback and height restrictions. No action was taken.
Assistant Planner Tim Dombrosky has been working on changes for the residential definitions. The current definitions the Commission looked at included those for dwelling; dwelling, single family; dwelling, duplex; dwelling, multiple; dwelling, unit; boarding house and lodging house; and residential facility.
The board also looked at how family was defined in its current ordinances. That definition states a family is “a group of one or more persons related by blood, legal adoption or marriage, occupying a building and living as a single housekeeping unit. No unrelated group living as a single housekeeping unit shall consist of more persons than the number of individual bedrooms in the unit.”
During its discussion, members of the Commission said the definition of family may be archaic, and that the terms boarding house and lodging house could possibly be eliminated.
Discussion on the terms will continue at later meetings, with an ordinance eventually presented to the Commission for approval.
In other business, the Plan Commission:
• Was sworn in by Mayor Joe Thallemer. The board has increased from seven to nine members because the city has a full-time engineer and a parks board. The members’ terms will be staggard and start anew beginning with this year.
• Elected Tom Allen to continue serving as president and Rick Keeven as vice president.
• Approved the 2016 meeting schedule. The Commission will meet at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of the month. Meeting dates are Feb. 8, March 14, April 11, May 9, June 13, July 11, Aug. 8, Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12.[[In-content Ad]]
The plat is creating four new lots from the original 4.94 acres.
“It’s adding some lots but not a major plat by any means. Most of them are meeting existing bounds and descriptions,” City Planner Jeremy Skinner explained to the Commission. “They are creating four lots where there is one lot. The original lot has the Wabash Donut shop on it. The remaining three lots, one would be fronted on Buffalo Street. The other lot directly behind it borders residential, and then there’s a large remaining lot that is mostly wetlands and flood plains. There is not a lot of use for that.”
Lot 2 will have an ingress and egress easement with access off Lake Street. Lots 1 and 3 will have access off Buffalo Street. Lot 4 also will have access off Lake Street.
Skinner said the plat meets the Commercial-2 and Residential-2 zoning districts requirements.
“There is, however, a storm sewer that the city owns that runs north and south down Lake Street and runs all the way to the creek,” Skinner said.
He said there are two manholes, one on the north end on Lake Street and one down by Eagle Creek, but no easement is shown on the plat. Skinner recommended last night that the preliminary plat be approved subject to the legal description of the storm line easement being found or created.
Skinner said he had no issue with the lot layouts.
Busz told the Commission that his family wanted to bring back the wooded habitat of the lot through which the sewer goes.
“I can’t ever imagine developing it. It’s swamp,” he said.
The property was once all separated, but it was bought later and put all back together as one piece. Now Busz wants to return it to four lots.
Lot 2 would be the southern half of his homestead, he informed the board, and his home is just north of it. He doesn’t intend to develop Lot 2, but maybe Lot 1 on Ind. 15.
“We’d love to re-tree that,” Busz said of Lot 2.
City engineer James Emans suggested the city get easement rights to push snow onto Lot 2 during the winter. That would give the street department the legal right to dump snow on that property, which it already does.
“It could be an easement to the city specifically for snow removal storage and could be tied in to their development,” Emans said.
City attorney Mike Valentine said both of the easements – one for the storm line, one for snow storage – would be incorporated into the final plat.
“I talked to (Street Superintendent) Jeff (Beeler). We talked about whether or not he wanted a cul de sac or any additional right of way. My only thing was the more property you take, you take responsibility for that property. If we’re not going to do anything with it, it would not be my suggestion that we take property we’re going to be responsible for,” Skinner said. “He didn’t have any plans and didn’t want to put a cul de sac or anything in there from a cost perspective, so it would be my recommendation that we not do any right of way. We could probably do an expanded easement as part of the storm (line), which wouldn’t be an issue. We can talk to the applicant about what we’d want to do with that, and just include it as a utility and drainage easement.”
The Commission approved the preliminary plat containing the easement proposals, and tabled the final plat until the February meeting.
For the last hour of its meeting Monday, the Commission then discussed residential definitions and setback and height restrictions. No action was taken.
Assistant Planner Tim Dombrosky has been working on changes for the residential definitions. The current definitions the Commission looked at included those for dwelling; dwelling, single family; dwelling, duplex; dwelling, multiple; dwelling, unit; boarding house and lodging house; and residential facility.
The board also looked at how family was defined in its current ordinances. That definition states a family is “a group of one or more persons related by blood, legal adoption or marriage, occupying a building and living as a single housekeeping unit. No unrelated group living as a single housekeeping unit shall consist of more persons than the number of individual bedrooms in the unit.”
During its discussion, members of the Commission said the definition of family may be archaic, and that the terms boarding house and lodging house could possibly be eliminated.
Discussion on the terms will continue at later meetings, with an ordinance eventually presented to the Commission for approval.
In other business, the Plan Commission:
• Was sworn in by Mayor Joe Thallemer. The board has increased from seven to nine members because the city has a full-time engineer and a parks board. The members’ terms will be staggard and start anew beginning with this year.
• Elected Tom Allen to continue serving as president and Rick Keeven as vice president.
• Approved the 2016 meeting schedule. The Commission will meet at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of the month. Meeting dates are Feb. 8, March 14, April 11, May 9, June 13, July 11, Aug. 8, Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12.[[In-content Ad]]
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