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Gone are the days of full service at the pumps, a quick look under the hood in a service bay with a tow truck at the ready on the corner gas station lot.
City planners are making a distinction between the old automobile service stations and the gas stations frequented now.
A public hearing was held during Monday's plan commission meeting regarding a zoning ordinance text amendment. No members of the public attended for comment.
Jeff Noffsinger, Warsaw city planner, presented the ordinance.
A list of special conditions is detailed in the ordinance permitting gasoline sales in the C-2, C-3, C-5 and I-2 Districts.
Properties shall be a minimum of 100 feet from the nearest property line of an adjacent residential district.
Exterior lighting will be self-contained.
The pump and island will not eliminate or interfere with off-street parking requirements and there will be a parking space for each gas pump, with a minimum of five parking spaces on the property.
Adequate "stacking" space should be available at the pump island and not interfere with traffic flow.
The ordinance was recommended to the city council after an item regarding the use of banners was removed.
If a proposed gas station meets certain development criteria the application would bypass the Board of Zoning Appeals and go directly to the city planner for review without public notice.
The item regarding banners was removed because the commissioners felt it wasn't specific enough.
Jim Gast said he didn't think one was enough and Joe Thallemer felt limiting banners to just one per property was "a little bit too much the other way."
Dewey Lawshe asked about allowed banner sizes and Noffsinger said they haven't been set.
Convenience stores without gas pumps would be allowed in C-2, C-3, C-4 and C-5 zones, and in I-2 zones, if accompanied by gasoline sales.
In other business Noffsinger outlined the work being done by the zoning and landscape task force.
Defining the difference between a C-3 and C-5 zone has been a main consideration for the zoning task force members.
A C-5 zone would be created for planned commercial developments (with a "big box" store and outlots) adjacent to a major arterial road.
"Right now there is no difference between the C-3 and C-5 zones and we're trying to use planned space," Thallemer said. "They should be different. We have to maintain the C-3 zoning for business owners and property owners to develop."
Land zoned C-3 may have established business as neighbors.
Thallemer said the task force is looking at the current zoning map and trying to decide whether there are enough districts or too many; whether some of the industrial areas should be rezoned commercial; and if new guidelines should be established for the "old city" residential district versus new subdivisions.
Alan Clingman noted that people in R-2 districts have no protection about who would build next door, specifically citing multi-family apartment building construction in a mainly single-family dwelling area.
Noffsinger also outlined considerations by the landscape task force saying residential area subdivisions are now favoring sound buffers when located adjacent to major highways and that should be a developer's cost, not a homeowners.
He said the task force supports a 6-foot-high screen around multi-family complexes, preferably of natural materials.
The task force plans to bring in landscapers who would give a list of native shrubs and trees for such barriers.
New developments also could be subject to "X" number of plantings per square feet.
Commissioner Jeff Grose thanked Noffsinger for his task force work saying it went above and beyond what's expected of him.
Noffsinger said he figured it was his job to be proactive and progressive.
"The intent is to make Warsaw a better place to live," he said.
Thallemer also welcomed new member, Jim Gast, to the board and thanked Bill Baldwin - whom Gast replaced - for his many years of service. Baldwin now serves on the parks and recreation board.
Plan commission members are Joe Thallemer, Jeff Grose, Jim Gast, Dewey Lawshe, Lacy Francis and Alan Clingman. Richard Keevan was absent.
