DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Regular Meeting
February 29, 2008

M I N U T E S

 The regular meeting of the Development Advisory Committee was held on February 29, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. in the Porter County Administration Center, 155 Indiana Avenue, Valparaiso, Indiana.

 Those members present were Kelly Cadwell, Julia Martin, Harvey Nix, Ray Riddell, Mike Haller, Paul Graeber, Tim Cole, Ray Joseph and Robert W. Thompson Jr.  Also present was Toni Byers.

 The following cases were heard by the Committee on this date:

 Case 08-2-2.  Petition of Arcadia LLC, P.O. Box 300, Calumet City, IL, seeking primary plat review for a major subdivision, Arcadia, to be located at the Northwest corner of CR 700 N. and CR 50 W., in Liberty Township.  To contain 33 lots on 76.1 acres.  Zoned RR.  (Sec.26-36N-6W)

 John Hannon and Mary Little stated that they are representing and accompanied by Pat Kleighe, the petitioner in this matter.

 Mr. Thompson stated that the previous time this Case was before DAC the following issues were raised: change some of the street names.

 Ms. Little stated that they changed all the street names.

 Mr. Thompson stated that those need to be submitted to Fred M. Siminski for various agencies to check on.  He stated that other issues raised were:  a map indicating the overall drainage basin and offsite outlets.

 Mr. Hannon stated that the USGS map is on the cover sheet.  There are four points that drain offsite.  The two to the East drain through existing culverts.  The two to the West both drain into the same wetlands that was discussed last time.

 Mr. Thompson stated that they were to mark the Sumac entrance on the site; show a lighting plan, and that has been done; details for entrance island, and they have shown those; tapers on 50 W., and that is shown; profile on 50 W. at entrance to determine sight lines, and that is shown; speed limit signs.

 Mr. Hannon stated that they are showing three:  one, at the North entrance to the subdivision; then, as you come in from the East entrance, as you go North or South, there is a speed limit sign.

 Mr. Thompson stated that they needed the elevation West of the T-turnaround and to use stop signs instead of yield signs, and they have shown that; erosion control plan.

 Mr. Hannon stated that they have submitted that in the past, but they will turn it in again if it can’t be found.

 Mr. Joseph stated that it was in the original submittal.

 Mr. Thompson stated, at the intersection with 750 at the North, they must either do a tangent or get a Variance.

 Mr. Hannon stated that they reconfigured that intersection, the geometry.

 Mr. Thompson stated that they needed to submit a copy of the Health Department letter for the file, and he has that; list caliper of trees and submit a landscape plan for the pocket park.

 Mr. Kleighe stated that he is going to work with Mr. Joseph on that.

 Ms. Cadwell stated that they did issue a letter.  They have been working in conjunction with the petitioners.  There were a couple issues on the subdivision, mainly concerning the drainage outlets.  Probably the biggest concern he has, at the front of lot they have a utility easement, but it’s not a utility/drainage easement, so, if they were going to try and use that for a drain outlet, they wouldn’t be allowed to use that.  So, a lot of these lots do not have an outlet to daylight for the subsurface drain.  They are just trying to figure out where they are going to drain to, and that was on the letter that the Health Department submitted to them. 

 Mr. Nix asked if the very South lot when you first come in the entrance, is the pothole going to be filled in on that lot?

 Mr. Hannon stated, yes.

 Mr. Nix asked if this is going to be curb and gutter.

 Mr. Hannon stated, yes.

 Mr. Nix asked if they ever found a tile in the proposed pocket park area.

 Mr. Kleighe stated that he was told that there might be a tile to the North of it.

 Mr. Thompson stated, regarding the drainage review, DLZ came back with a letter dated February 14th with a number of items on it; have they addressed those?

 Mr. Hannon stated that they are working on it.

 Mr. Thompson stated that they have to have a clean sheet from them before they can get to a Plan Commission meeting. 

 Mr. Riddell stated, per the ordinance, for local roads, the minimum radius for horizontal curbs is 200 feet.  That is not shown. Does the new alignment work out?

 Mr. Hannon stated, yes.

 Mr. Riddell stated that another question he had is, on Page 3, the elevations he had at the bottom don’t seem to match the elevations that are shown.  For example, at Station 501, they have elevations near 705, and it looks like the elevation line going through there should be between 709 and 710.

 Mr. Cole stated that they have a lot of unique street names.   The perimeter landscaping around here, he’s seen also included a pedestrian walkway or pathway, and it’s going to be crushed limestone, as well as landscaping.   He thinks that’s wonderful.  That, essentially, helps the surrounding neighborhood see them as not segregating from them, that they are part of a community.  The drainage on the USGS map, at the Plan Commission there might be some members who would like to see a bit more detail, so he might want to consider beefing that up a little bit.    He’s very happy with what they’ve done with the wetlands and their protection.  He’s very happy with the configuration of 750 N. and the continuation of 75 W.  It remains to be seen what the detention areas are going to look like.   They just don’t want them to look like a hole in the ground.

 Mr. Joseph asked if there was a reason behind them moving the entrance further North at 50 W.

 Mr. Hannon stated that that was done as a result of the additional comments from the Health Department.

 Issues raised were to review the new street names with Mr. Siminski; address all DLZ items; beef up the USGS drainage map.

 Informal review for collocate of antennas on an existing wireless communications tower by Cricket Communications at 258 N. 550 W.

 David Fisher stated that he is representing the petitioner in this matter.  He stated Cricket is based in San Diego, CA, primarily on the West Coast, moving toward the Midwest and East Coast and they are launching, in December of this year, over 900 cellular sites from Milwaukee all the way to South Bend, and Northwest Indiana are part of the process and plan to collocate on towers.   It is an existing tower and there are currently two other providers on that tower, AT&T and Sprint at the very top.  The tower is 199 feet high.  They are looking to put their antennas at the 170-foot level.  The tower is owned by Crown Castle.

 Mr. Cole asked if they are adding lighting on the tower.

 Mr. Fisher stated, no.

 Mr. Cole asked how they determine a point on the tower to install their antennas.

 Mr. Fisher stated, the way he understands it, is, a company like Cricket puts out a bid and there is an auction for a specific spectrum, so, if they bought a spectrum  or a range, to meet that, they would have to position it on this specific tower based on its height.

 Case 08-2-3.  Petition of James Walker, 478 Ashford Lane, Valparaiso, seeking developmental review for manufacturing and assembly of small electronic parts and warehouse space in Lot 4, Archer Industrial Park, to be located at 413 E. Archer Way, in Washington Township.  Zoned I-2.  (Sec.15-35N-5W)

 Don Bengel and Tim Reisinger stated that they are representing the petitioner in this matter. 

 Mr. Thompson stated that this was heard at the last DAC meeting and they are scheduled for the Plan Commission March 12th meeting.  At the last meeting, items needed were: subsurface drain outlet should be above the pond outlet, and that is shown; septic would be better in the front part of the lot and that was just a comment;  show proposed contours of swale and they have that; show radiuses for road at drive and he sees that; suggest offset of where this sits in the whole subdivision, and they didn’t do that.

 Mr. Bengel stated that it’s not needed because of all the stuff they are sending to the Plan Commission members.

 Mr. Thompson stated that another issue raised was that they would like figures for drainage off the parking lot; show enclosure for trash bin, and they have that; landscaping details.

 Mr. Bengel stated that they have 15 trees and 83 shrubs that are going in.

 Mr. Thompson stated that part of the commitments with the subdivision is that the East part along Hutton Ditch wasn’t supposed to be disturbed since it was kind of like a natural buffer.

 Ms. Cadwell stated that most of the items they had asked for have been straightened out and they are still working with the state on a little bit, minor issues.

 Mr. Riddell stated that he thinks they’ll be glad they put the turn radiuses.  He thinks it will extend the life of the road edge and the driveway.

 Mr. Haller stated, in keeping with the concept of phasing, they don’t issue a Certificate of Occupancy for a building anymore; they issue a Certificate of Occupancy and Zoning Compliance, which means they have to sign off on the dumpster and bushes.   They have to make provisions for that when this all goes down on the first building.  That’s what he’s referring to. 

 Mr. Cole asked if this is an existing well or a proposed well in the parking lot.

 Mr. Bengel stated, yes.

 Mr. Cole stated that he’s a little puzzled by that.  He would like to know what the Board of Health has to say about a well in the parking lot.

 Ms. Cadwell stated that there are some very strict property line separations and, unfortunately, it does put it…it’s not the best spot, but it is done.   They build protections around it.

 Mr. Cole stated that to make people happy that might be reviewing this in the future, if they just noted that it would be nice.  The drainage off the parking lot was his request, and he thinks it’s appropriate.  They are putting some impervious material onto a site that drainage calculations had been calculated for, but were not anticipating this construction, so there’s been a change in the drainage.

 Mr. Thompson stated that the original primary plat was based on 75 percent coverage of the site for all of the lots in there.

 Mr. Cole asked, wouldn’t you want to see verification of that?

 Mr. Thompson stated, if they want to do it, then, fine.

 Mr. Joseph stated that a note on the plat about the well would be nice.

 Issues raised were suggest verification of percent of lot coverage; note on the plat regarding protection of the well.

 There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 a.m.