PORTER COUNTY PLAN COMMISSION

Regular Meeting
January 28, 2004

M I N U T E S

The regular meeting of the Porter County Plan Commission was held on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 at 6:30 p.m. in the Administrative Center, 155 Indiana Avenue, Suite 205, Valparaiso, Indiana.

Those members present were Eric Biddinger, Mike Bucko, Rich Burns, Robert Detert, Frank Mahnic, Bob Poparad, Commissioner Robert Harper and Kevin Breitzke, President. Those members absent were Mike Sheetz. Staff members present were Robert W. Thompson Jr., Patricia S. Gibson and Attorney Lily Schaefer.

Mr. Mahnic moved to waive the reading of the January 14, 2004 minutes and approve them as received in the mail. Mr. Detert seconded the motion, which carried on a unanimous voice vote.

At this time, Mr. Thompson read a letter from Dave Burrus the President of the County Commissioners. He stated as the members remember we had a moratorium placed on Bridlewood Subdivision and Commissioner Burrus is writing on this asking for the Commission to lift the moratorium on Bridlewood Subdivision.

Mr. Detert moved to lift the moratorium on Bridlewood Subdivision. Mr. Burns seconded the motion, which carried on a unanimous roll call vote.

Mr. Thompson stated the Mike Sheetz was just appointed by the County Commissioners as the fifth citizen appointment to the Plan Commission. He stated he unfortunately had prior business that he couldn't get out of.

Pending Business:

Annual Report for the year 2003

Mr. Mahnic stated he has a question on the annual report. He stated the amount of money that we were under that we budgeted, the amount of over $43,000. He asked if he was correct in saying that this money went back into the General Fund for the County.

Mr. Thompson stated the amount of money from January 2003 to June 2003 went to the General Fund. He stated the money from


July 2003 to December 2003 went into the Building/Planning and Zoning Fund. He stated this amounted to $158,639.

Mr. Mahnic asked what amount did we put into the General Fund.

Mr. Thompson asked if Mr. Mahnic was talking about what we returned back into the General Fund.

Mr. Mahnic stated the only reason he is bringing this up is because it is commendable that the organization that you had did a positive thing here. He stated we have money through a broke county and he doesn't think Mr. Thompson or his staff gets enough credit on how they conserve the money instead of just spending it. He stated he thinks that Mr. Thompson and his staff should be commended on that.

Mr. Breitzke stated the staff should be commended. He stated they carry quite a load. He stated there is a hiring freeze on and positions got froze out. He stated they took up the slack and it was really wearing on that staff and they did a wonderful job.

Mr. Mahnic moved to accept the Annual Report for 2003. Mr. Detert seconded the motion, which carried on a unanimous voice vote.

Public Hearing:

At this time, Mr. Breitzke read the rules of conduct for a public hearing.

Case 04-Z-1. Petition of Bear Creek Investments LLC, 4987 W. U.S. Hwy 20, Michigan City, Indiana for a proposed amendment to the Master Plan to rezone a parcel of land from I-2, General Industry to RR, Rural Residential, to allow a single family residence to be located on the South side of U.S. Hwy 12 between CR 500 E. and Broadway in Pine Township, Porter County, Indiana.

Tim Brust stated he lives at 284 Turnberry Court, Valparaiso. He stated he is here on behalf of Bear Creek. He stated he is a Realtor with Wille & Stiener. He stated Bear Creek Investments has entered into an agreement to sell off approximately 5.6 acres subject to rezoning and also a minor subdivision being approved. He stated he is here tonight to request the rezoning part of it. He stated Bear Creek currently owns property that stretches all the way from Rt. 12 to Rt. 20 and it happens to fall into an I-2 zoning. He stated the proposed cut-off on the very south part of that property is part


of a natural Dune. He stated he has a topography that he can give to the Commission. He stated there is about a 25-foot elevation that naturally divides that property anyhow. He stated in 1999 there was already a one lot minor subdivision split off of here for a single-family residence. He stated the purchaser of this is, at this time, is just interested in building their own personal residence there and this is the purpose of the request.

No one spoke in favor of this petition.

No one spoke in opposition to this petition.

The public hearing was then closed.

Commissioner Harper stated he had no questions.

Mr. Poparad asked if this was a five-acre parcel of I-2 zoning.

Mr. Brust stated that this is correct.

Mr. Poparad asked if there were more I-2 zonings around it.

Mr. Brust stated yes. He stated Bear Creek owns all the way from Rt. 20 to Rt. 12. He stated this here is a one lot minor subdivision that was rezoned in 1999. He stated there is a personal residence here.

Mr. Poparad stated what he is saying is that it doesn't bother him the fact that these people are going to build a house in an industrial zone. He stated when someone builds beside them making committed use of their land because it is industry then they are going to be in here screaming to us because we let them build a house in an industrial zone.

Mr. Brust stated at the present time on both sides there are residences already built.

Mr. Poparad stated he doesn't think that this is a bad thing but they could buy that house tear it down and do something in an I-2 zone and what are we going to do about it. He stated especially to the south.

Mr. Thompson stated to the east it also abuts I-2.

Mr. Poparad asked where this is in relation to 520, the cutoff.



Mr. Brust stated it is about a mile and a half east of here.

Mr. Poparad asked where the access will be off of.

Mr. Brust stated it will be off Rt. 12.

Mr. Poparad stated I-2 is pretty heavy zoning.

Mr. Poparad stated if someone wants to build in I-2 they have to do screening and all of that. He stated this is not fair to the people who are going to build there five years from now using the zoning.

Mr. Mahnic stated if this is rezoned that home site will be accessible only from Rt. 12. He stated the industrial is only accessible from Rt. 20.

Mr. Brust stated he doesn't know because there is nothing on the property at this time. He stated the proposed south border is about a 25-foot dune. He stated you couldn't physically drive over it right now.

Mr. Mahnic asked if this gets rezoned will you be able to access the industrial zoning from Rt. 12. He stated he doesn't want to recommend rezoning this and you put a house there and the next thing you know you have trucks coming in from Rt. 12 right past that house.

Mr. Poparad stated they ran into this in Burns Harbor. He stated they made them get a special exception non-conforming use. He stated then we had the homeowner sitting in here being fully aware of what is going on. He stated he doesn't know why we can't have the purchaser come in and get a special exception or variance.

Mr. Detert stated he has no questions.

Mr. Bucko stated he has no questions.

Mr. Burns stated he has no problems with this. He asked if the future property owner knew that this is industrial.

Mr. Brust stated yes this was part of the purchase agreement.

Mr. Burns asked if it is possible to draft a letter or attach that to the deed that this is industrial property.



Mr. Biddinger stated unfortunately just because they know doesn't mean that they are not going to complain about it later on. He stated he is going to bring up the feared zoning term of spot zoning and this is a small area and within a primarily I-2 zoning. He stated to rezone one small parcel like this kind of goes against the reasons why we do a Master Plan to start with. He stated at this point he is not real comfortable with this.

Mr. Breitzke stated before we have a motion, we want to tell you that you can either withdraw this case or ask for a continuance until such a time that you and your client have a clear picture on what direction you want to take on this.

Attorney Schaefer stated to Mr. Brust what the Commission is talking about is you can apply to the Board of Zoning Appeals for a variance and she doesn't know if that will take a whole lot longer than this process because you would still have to go to the Commissioners. She stated it would probably be better to go that route than risk an unfavorable recommendation and denial from the Commissioners.

Mr. Thompson stated the BZA deadline for a public hearing for February is tomorrow. He stated you won't be in front of the Commissioners until March.

Mr. Burns moved to forward Case 04-Z-1 to the Board of Commissioners with a favorable recommendation. Mr. Mahnic seconded the motion, which failed due to a lack of a majority vote:

Biddinger - No Bucko - No Burns - Yes
Detert - Yes Harper - Yes Mahnic - Yes
Poparad - No Breitzke - No

This case is continued until the February 11, 2004 meeting.

Case 04-VAC-1. Petition of Superior Construction, Inc. & The Autumn Group LLC, c/o Todd A. Leeth, Hoeppner, Wagner & Evans, 103 E. Lincolnway, P.O. Box 2357, Valparaiso, Indiana for a proposed Plat Vacation of part of Orchard Hills Addition Subdivision, located on the South side of CR 500 N., between CR 175 W. and CR 250 W. in Center Township.

Todd Leeth stated he is here on behalf of the petitioner The Autumn Group. He stated they are here seeking to vacate the Orchard Hill Subdivision. He stated Orchard Hill Subdivision is located on the northern portion of an 80-acre parcel owned by Superior Construction. He stated he just handed out to each member a copy of the northern portion of Center Township from the


plat map. He state highlighted in yellow is the entire 80-acre parcel that Superior Construction owns. He stated if you can tell from the northern most portion of that along CR 500 N. you will see the dashed or hashed lines along there. He stated what they signifies and right underneath its label is Orchard Hills Subdivision. He stated this subdivision was created by the owners of the property at that time, in 1960. He stated he has displayed on the board for the Commission members a copy of the plat of the subdivision. He stated as you can see it is a rather small 8 lot subdivision on 5.5 acres, which today wouldn't even pass septic regulations given the current regulations that came into affect in December of 1990. He stated significant changes have taken place in the law and under the County's Subdivision Control Ordinance and Zoning Ordinance that would make the development of Orchard Hills Subdivision difficult if not impossible, as it is currently platted. He stated they therefore request that the Commission vacate all of the plat as well as the restrictive covenants contained within the plat from the public records by the Commissions action tonight. He stated the Plan Commission has exclusive jurisdiction under State Law to do this just as they do to record and create a plat of subdivision. He stated you have under State Law to vacate them as well. He stated this is a public hearing requiring public notice. He stated this has been given to the necessary property owners pursuant to the County's requirements and to State Law.

No one spoke in favor of this petition.

Lois O'Keefe stated she lives at 522 N. 175 W. She asked if they are vacating this what exactly are they going to do with it.

Ralph O'Keefe stated he lives at 522 N. 175 W. He stated back in 1960 they tried to put a subdivision in there once before. He stated they had a problem with drainage. He stated they were going to dump all the water down on his farm. He stated they called the Froberg's and they said they weren't notified and their land is right to the east of this property.

George Danapas stated he lives at 218 W. 500 N. He stated he lives right next door to this property on the west side. He stated he is actually down hill from this property and if there is a drainage problem this is going to affect him directly. He stated he is also curious on what the size of the lots will be and what kind of houses are proposed to be built on the lots.

Mr. Leeth stated the purpose of the vacation is to create a blank slate for the entire 80-acre parcel. He stated his client, the Autumn Group and Superior Construction are going to jointly


develop the 80-acres into a residential subdivision. He stated it is in Center Township and it is currently zoned R-1. He stated they do not have any way of knowing at this point in time because they haven't even engaged in a professional engineer to lay out the subdivision in any meaningful way, so therefore it is going to be difficult to tell you how many lots are going to be located on this potential subdivision. He stated remember however, the Subdivision Control Ordinance requires them to come back to the Commission with all of those answers and with the drainage review by TAC etc. He stated that is the next step but the step that they are asking for tonight is to wipe the slate clean as it was written upon back in 1960 with this 8-lot subdivision on 5.5 acres. Mr. Leeth stated Mr. O'Keefe is correct as far as utility availability. He stated sanitary sewer is available in the area. He stated soil conditions are also being tested for their availability for septic systems. He stated that determination hasn't been made as well. He stated he believes that all of the property owners were notified. He stated as far as storm drainage under the Subdivision Control Ordinance, which will be the next step, this is when they will have to show with a topographic survey the lay of the land and take into consideration the existing features

Mr. Breitzke stated he is holding a green card signed by Ed Froberg on behalf of his father Dale. He stated they did have notice and maybe Dale wasn't aware of it but the son is in the business.

Mrs. O'Keefe asked who are the developers in The Autumn Group.

Mr. Leeth stated The Autumn Group is a new company, however, the principles behind the company are not new to Porter County. He stated Rick Carlson who was also a principle in the Design Group who developed Fieldstone Manor in Porter County a rather successful subdivision. He stated he thinks that the County's Planning and Building Departments will indicate that they have not had any particular problems with that development or this developer.

The public hearing was then closed.

Mr. Bucko stated he has no questions.

Mr. Burns asked if there are any homes on any of these parcels.

Mr. Leeth stated there were none.

Mr. Biddinger stated he has no questions.

Mr. Detert stated he has no questions.

Mr. Mahnic stated he has no problems with this.

Mr. Poparad stated he has no questions.

Commissioner Harper stated he has no questions.

Mr. Breitzke stated all he has to say is for clarity what they are doing is eliminating a subdivision. He stated they are going to have to come through the process of notification if they propose a new development.

Mr. Detert moved to approve Case 04-VAC-1. Mr. Bucko seconded the motion, which carried on the following ballot vote:

Biddinger - Yes Bucko - Yes Burns - Yes
Detert - Yes Harper - Yes Mahnic - Yes
Poparad - Abstain Breitzke - Yes

Case 04-Z-2. Petition of the Autumn Group LLC, c/o Todd A. Leeth, Hoeppner, Wagner & Evans, 103 E. Lincolnway, P.O. Box 2357, Valparaiso, Indiana for a proposed amendment to the Master Plan to rezone a parcel of land from PUD, Planned Unit Development to R-1, Single Family Residential, to be located on the North side of Division Road, North of CR 281 W. in Center Township, Porter County, Indiana.

Todd Leeth stated he is here representing The Autumn Group. He stated the petition that is now before you is one of a zone change in the nature of a zoning change, however, it is a little bit unique. He stated the property in question is located adjacent or actually in the Aberdeen Planned Unit Development. He stated he has highlighted for the Commission in yellow on two boards the property in question. He stated first he would like to show you the entire Aberdeen development. He stated on the drawing on the right the property in question is highlighted in yellow and is incorporated within the Aberdeen development as an out parcel called Lot SA-1. He stated it is actually a portion of that lot because the lot is actually "L" shaped and extends out underneath what is currently the golf maintenance building for the Aberdeen Golf Course. He stated what they are attempting to do is rezone this property and remove it from the Planned Unit Development zoning that it currently has and allow it to revert to it's former zoning classification. He stated he will not move over to the larger drawing, which is a survey of the parcel and again the parcel in question is highlighted in yellow. He stated Aberdeen Subdivision wraps around it on two sides and Mr. Coolman is developing a new portion, which is just outside of what used


to be the original Aberdeen Development. He stated the property
in question is 2.89 acres in size. He stated if you grant this petition and the property is removed from the Aberdeen PUD it will then be the same zoning as parcel A, which is this parcel, which has frontage on Division Road. He stated the intent then of the petition is to take those two parcels and marry them together and create a residential subdivision, which will connect into the Nature Works Conservancy District for sanitary sewers and will be developed in a manner that they think is consistent with the Aberdeen development to the north. He stated Aberdeen is the owner of this parcel and has sold it previously to the current owners who have now contracted with his client, The Autumn Group, to again sell it off to them. He stated The Autumn Group has made arrangements to jointly purchase the larger parcel, which is 21 acres approximately in size. He stated all total the development will have 24 acres for a future anticipated subdivision. He stated technically this is a rezoning. He stated it goes to through the Plan Commission as a recommendation to the County Commissioners to make a recommendation to remove it from the Planned Unit Development and allow it to revert to its original zoning of R-1. He stated as he indicated immediately to the east is the golf maintenance facility. He stated it is already currently developed with a pre-engineered type of structure. He stated under the existing zoning classification, the Aberdeen PUD, this parcel SA-1 was intended to be developed in storage units and this drawing shows a recent development plan for the parcel in question showing six storage buildings with approximately 5100 feet of storage units on that parcel, which was the original intent when Aberdeen was developed in the mid 1990's. He stated their request is to allow it to be removed from the PUD, develop it consistent with the R-1 zoning classification that it had prior to Aberdeen's PUD ordinance.

No one spoke in favor of this petition.

No one spoke in opposition to this petition.

The public hearing was then closed.

Mr. Detert stated he doesn't have any problems with this.

Mr. Mahnic asked if this parcel of land that they are asking to rezone will not be part of Aberdeen.

Mr. Leeth stated if the Board of Commissioners approves this rezone that is correct.

Mr. Poparad asked if Aberdeen was the present owners.



Mr. Leeth stated they are not. He stated Aberdeen sold it in its own privately today by a different owner.

Mr. Poparad asked if it was in Aberdeen's PUD.

Mr. Leeth stated that this is correct.

Mr. Poparad asked who is asking for the rezone.

Mr. Leeth stated his client who is the contract purchaser from the current owner.

Mr. Poparad stated which is Aberdeen.

Mr. Leeth stated it is not Aberdeen. He stated it is Kuball Excavating.

Mr. Poparad asked if Aberdeen already sold the land.

Mr. Leeth stated this is correct.

Commissioner Harper stated when you say it will be part of the Aberdeen PUD tell him what that means.

Mr. Leeth stated this yellow piece is already part of Aberdeen.

Commissioner Harper stated the large piece is not.

Mr. Leeth stated this is correct.

Commissioner Harper stated he wants to get this clear in his mind that you are going to develop the small piece with the large piece.

Mr. Leeth stated that is correct.

Commissioner Harper asked how are you going to do that when part of it is zoned R-1, he assumes the large piece is R-1.

Mr. Leeth stated that this is correct. He stated it is zoned R-1.

Commissioner Harper stated that small piece is part of a PUD. He asked how are they planning on doing that.

Mr. Leeth stated this is why they are here now. He stated they want to take the small piece and make it R-1 so that the two pieces together are consistent.


Commissioner Harper stated if this is approved it will not be part of the plat.

Mr. Leeth stated that is correct.

Commissioner Harper stated it will not.

Mr. Leeth stated that is correct.

Mr. Bucko asked if there is any kind of thoroughfare or anything that currently runs through that piece of property that gives access to anything within the PUD.

Mr. Leeth stated the yellow piece is only a portion of Lot SA-1. He stated Lot SA-1 is actually "L" shaped. He stated it extends underneath in this area.

Mr. Bucko asked if it has access into the PUD.

Mr. Leeth stated it does not. He stated there is a maintenance road off of Lockerbie Drive that access's the maintenance building.

Mr. Poparad asked if they were doing the whole "L."

Mr. Leeth stated no, just the yellow. He stated the leg of the "L" is retained by Aberdeen.

Mr. Thompson stated there is not a recorded right-of-way that access's this but there is a paved road that leads back to the maintenance facility, which is to the east of this parcel. He stated you can tell by the construction that they originally intended on extending this maintenance access road over to the lot here.

Mr. Breitzke stated one of the things to bear in mind is if it gets developed Nature Works Conservancy District, which has connections with Aberdeen, has control to some extent on the development procedure of this. He stated this is not part of Aberdeen. He stated they are trying to remove it, but anything that affects Aberdeen will have to be an agreement with them.

Mr. Poparad asked if that paved road is in front of the maintenance area.

Mr. Thompson stated no it is not.

Mr. Burns asked if the new subdivision was going to stay R-1 or are they going to ask for a PUD.


Mr. Leeth stated that it will stay R-1.

Mr. Biddinger stated he has no questions.

Mr. Breitzke stated he doesn't see any real problems with this either.

Mr. Poparad move to forward Case 04-Z-2 to the Board of Commissioners with a favorable recommendation. Mr. Burns seconded the motion, which carried on the following ballot vote:

Biddinger - Yes Bucko - Yes Burns - Yes
Detert - Yes Harper - Yes Mahnic - Yes
Poparad - Yes Breitzke - Yes

This case will be heard by the County Commissioners on February 17, 2004 at 11:00 a.m.

Mr. Biddinger stated he would like to make note of two things. He stated tonight the members received the "Training News" the Land Use update. He stated if anyone is interested in attending that the closest site is in Marshall County and the topic on that is "confined feeding operations" and that is a big topic down in Jasper and Newton Counties and it could possibly end up in Southern Porter County as well. He stated the other item he would like to encourage everyone to take a look at it this training on February 19 over in Lake County, which Mr. Thompson distributed earlier. He stated he thinks that this is going to be an excellent training and he is familiar with this speaker.

Mr. Thompson stated he was wondering if anyone happened to review the report concerning "green space" that he did up and if there are any comments on it.

Mr. Thompson stated he is working on a couple of ordinances right now and one happens to be for the Department of Natural Resources, which they pretty much ordered him to rewrite the Flood Plain area. He stated he is also working on the definition of a subdivision within our code.

Mr. Thompson stated he also sent out ten requests for qualifications for consulting services for the Master Plan and he also has advertised this is the newspapers and he is trying to get it into an advertisement into the Indiana Planning Association web page. He stated he put in a dead line for that around March 1.

Commissioner Harper stated why don't you bring up at the next Commissioner's meeting whether they want to interview those people or not.

Mr. Thompson stated that one of the things that was brought up was the possibility of having a joint interview session with Commissioners and Plan Commission members.

Commissioner Harper asked Mr. Thompson to bring this up at the next Commissioner's meeting.

Mr. Mahnic asked if we could recommend drafting as an ordinance "green space" with any subdivision more than so many acres has to have so much set aside land or would that be taking away from their right to develop their land.

Mr. Thompson stated this is something he is going to be researching.

Commissioner Harper stated we can do that for a subdivision.

At this time, Mr. Mahnic asked if we could start saying that if we have a subdivision with "x" amount of lots would have to have their own wastewater treatment plant.

At this time, there was a discussion concerning this by the Plan Commission members.

There being no further business the meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

PORTER COUNTY
PLAN COMMISSION

S/ Kevin Breitzke, President

Attest: Robert W. Thompson Jr., Executive Director/County Planner