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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJPC July 30, 2024 MINUTES OF THE JEFFERSONVILLE PLAN COMMISSION July 30, 2024 Call to Order Board President Mike McCutcheon calls to order the Plan Commission meeting. It is Tuesday, July 30, 2024, it is 5:30 pm in the City Council Chambers, Jeffersonville City Hall, 500 Quartermaster Ct., Jeffersonville, Indiana. The meeting was held in person and streamed live on the City's website and City's Facebook page. Roll Call Board President Mike McCutcheon and board members Duard Avery, Chris Bottorff, Donna Reed, David Schmidt, and Steve Webb were present in the City Council Chambers. Also present were Planning & Zoning Attorney Les Merkley, Planning and Zoning Director Chad Reischl, Planner Shane Shaughnessy, and Secretary Zachary Giuffre. Bill Burns was absent at the time of roll call. (Secretary's Note: All plat maps, public letters, photos, etc. presented before the Plan Commission on this date can be found in the office of Planning & Zoning.) Approval of Minutes Approval of the minutes from April 30, 2024. Ms. Reed made a motion to approve the April 30, 2024 minutes, seconded by Mr. Schmidt. Roll Call vote. Motion passed 6-0. Approval of the Docket Motion to approve the agenda made by Mr. Bottorff, seconded by Mr. Schmidt. Roll call vote. Motion passed 6-0. Old Business None New Business PC-24-17 Minor Plat Autumn Lewers filed a Minor Plat application for the property at 1426 E. 9th Street. The application is for a 4-lot single-family residential subdivision. The current zoning is R3 (Single Family Residential—Small Lot). The Docket Number is PC-24-17. Tim Lewers stated the following: • We own the subject property. It has been rented out for a few years. • We seek to split the lot into 4. We are looking to have one additional home facing E. 9th St. and one facing the Allen Alley Cat Way. • It is becoming obvious that large lots are becoming less desirable as densification increases downtown. • This is an opportunity for the city to earn some additional tax revenue. • 1 • In regards to the alley access, it is currently used by the housing authority for the houses that face 8th St. We have spoken with the sewer board and found out that there is sewer service. There is also garbage service and other necessary city services. • We are planning on prices for the homes to range from $250k to $270k • When we had the alley surveyed, there was a consideration that we could dedicate a portion of that property fronting the alley to make an appropriate shoulder. We would be open to this as an option whether it is on our property or dedicated to the City. Chad Reischl stated staff is usually supportive of infill development; however, in our Technical Review Committee at the City, there were concerns about whether fire and police could adequately support two houses on the alley. These lots would fit the dimensional standards; however, a modification is required as the two lots facing the alley do not have frontage. It is up to the board to decide if they want to approve alley-loaded homes. Chad Resichl stated there are letters from Christy James, Ryland Oaks Mason, and Paula Price in your packet. There is also a letter from Cindy Black in opposition. Open Public Comment Christy James, who lives at 1422 E. 9" St., stated we have had nothing but problems out of this property in the last 2 years. There have been sexual predators, drug issues, etc. In the last 5 years, there have been an uptick in new residents turning the homes into rental properties. He stated he had problems with one renter, and if he had problems with one, there will be problems with four more. This will impact the entire street. Don Peppentenzo stated my wife, Cindy Black, owns property near 1426 E. 9' St. The traffic has been an issue. When they overflow the apartments, there are parking issues. There are many elderly people that live in the housing behind this property. Charles Ruth, who lives at 1422 E. 9' St., stated this will add a bunch of traffic problems in the front and the back. I do not want to look at another house off of my back deck. Kathleen Abbot, who lives at 1427 E. 9th St., stated my husband's family has been there 57 years. There have been many issues with this property. There was a constant problem with police calls and various problems throughout the years. There was a renter that immediately had to have the police called on him and had dogs that got loose. Putting 4 houses on the lot is a very unreasonable aspect. The alley entrance/exit is very close to the intersection of 9' and Main St. Close Public Comment Tim Lewers stated Christy, I share your concerns. We have been in property rental for a number of years and sometimes you get a bad renter. I contacted the sheriff myself when I found out about the predator. It is not our practice. Moving past that, we are looking at adding an additional 3 homes and selling them. We are not looking to make them rental homes. We are looking to add affordable homes to the neighborhood. These houses could prevent people from crossing over big back yards that face the alley in the middle of the night. The homes would use the alley for primary access. The other house would have access off of 9' St. My apologies to the whole neighborhood for the tenant that was there. We are currently renovating the home. David Schmidt stated I like the idea of selling the homes instead of renting. I drove by the property before the meeting and it is pretty tight for 4 homes. How do you address the parking? 2 Tim Lewers stated the front lot facing 9'h St. would have a double-wide driveway and a two car garage. The houses in the rear would also have the same features. I also mentioned how the alley could be expanded at my cost to allow proper access to the alley. Chris Bottorff asked if we were to deny this request, what would your intentions be? Tim Lewers stated I would divide it into two parcels. Chris Bottorff asked was there any consideration to bring access off of 9`h St. only? Tim Lewers stated we did consider that, but it did not meet the requirements for the lot size and other dimensional standards. Mr. McCutcheon stated there are many properties in Jeff that have alley access. Keep in mind that there could be many other projects that come at us with similar alley-facing set ups. Mr. Schmidt stated this requires a little more thought and made a motion for denial, seconded by Mr. Webb. Roll call vote. Motion passed 6-0. PC-24-18 Rezoning Edward Sabogal filed a Rezoning application for the 3.4-acre property located at the end of Briscoe Drive. The property is currently zoned R1 (Single Family Residential — Large Lot); the proposed zoning is R3 (Single Family Residential —Small Lot). The Docket Number is PC-24-18. Attorney Alex Gaddis stated the following: • We are asking for a favorable recommendation to rezone these 3.4 acres from R1 to R3. This is currently low-density residential and we are seeking high-density residential. • There a few issues raised in the staff report. One was how drainage may be managed; however, I would suggest that should not be a consideration at this current time because how the property is zoned is going to determine how it is developed and the manner in which water is channeled throughout the property depends on how dense the property can be. The other issue raised is access. We know that we have access from Briscoe and Howell. There will be two ways in and out. • With the respect to the criteria considered by the Plan Commission, the Comprehensive Plan is overwhelmingly in favor of this type of infill development, which will take advantage of existing infrastructure. This will allow residents to tap right in. There has already been communication with utilities, and we know that these taps are available. • Creating about 30 new owner-occupied single-family homes will serve Planning District's 3 goals to support the JeffBoat redevelopment project. • The Comprehensive Plan discourages inconsistent development that changes the character of the area. The adjacent districts are zoned R2 or R3 which are medium and high-density uses; therefore, this request aligns with the character of the neighborhood. R1, as it is currently zoned, would be more out of character with the adjacent area than the target zone district. • This is the definition of responsible growth and development as listed in the Comprehensive Plan. Ms. Reed left the meeting at 6:02 PM. 3 Chad Reischl stated we are adding housing in a neighborhood that already has housing. This rezoning application is for similar housing types. Staff has some concerns about access into the site and concerns about the suitability of the site for a large-scale development when wetlands and drainage issues potentially exist. This is more arguable when we are talking about an actual plat; however, we can take the character of the site into consideration. Mr. McCutcheon stated tonight we are only meeting on the rezoning and not on drainage or any other topic. Chad Reischl stated there are two letters in your packet. Open Public Comment Lois King, who lives at 680 King, stated our subdivision is only Briscoe and Herby. We already have a problem with parking. Some of the houses have three bedrooms and 5 cars. Trying to come down Briscoe is already a gauntlet. I understand another entrance will be built, but I live at the end of Briscoe and my house will burn if it catches on fire because of the congestion. Our subdivision is two streets. Kirk Swenson, who lives at 713 Herby Dr., stated there is a lot of parking in the street. Adding more cars per square foot could be an interesting problem. Mayor Mike Moore, who lives at 52 Arctic Springs, stated I have had 5 neighborhood meetings in the past few years in this area. The biggest issues concern this property. This is a drainage nightmare. The attorney spoke to the comprehensive plan; however, I would like to think that common sense should play a factor in the decisions we make. What about the structures that will be built on the foundation? This is not responsible growth. I feel these people's pain with the subdivision. This is a wetland and not suitable for houses. Kathy Brooks, who lives at 617 Briscoe Dr., stated this is a wetland. When it rains heavy, the water comes up to my backyard. There are dead trees. With the traffic, there is no way they will get through with their equipment. I cannot imagine 30 homes on that property. If the prices are $250k... The houses on Briscoe are selling for $175k. I think the wetlands will cause so many issues. A similar case is on Plaza Dr. where wetlands were developed. Close Public Comment Attorney Alex Gaddis stated there are two categories of comment—those discussing drainage issues and traffic issues. There is no standing water on the property. The development nearby has taken care of the drainage. This could be developed right now without an issue. For traffic, this will not have a measurable impact on the traffic. There are two points of ingress and egress. We already know there is no standing water on the property; rather, this is more lying fallow. This is undeveloped wasted property that is a blight on the neighborhood. This exactly comports with the goals of the Comprehensive Plan. This is a cookie-cutter situation. There was nothing raised in the comments that should prevent a favorable recommendation. David Schmidt stated I drove by the property. Briscoe was a gauntlet to get there. I went down Herby and about 3/ of the folks were parked in the street. I cannot see adding more traffic to the area without adding another egress. Tell me about the south egress. Will it be the main point of entry? Alex Gaddis stated Howell has been vacated as public right-of-way. Mark Bedair stated Briscoe will not be the main point of entrance; rather, it will be the south entrance. 4 Chad Reischl stated Gilmore is probably 20ft wide. It does not have curb or gutter. Mr. McCutcheon stated let us stay focused on the issue at hand. This is only about a rezoning. We have professionals that will handle the drainage issues. Mr. Merkley stated traffic and access is one possible consideration for the rezoning request. Alex Gaddis stated the difference between R1 and R3 is about 10 homes. Mr. McCutcheon stated I do not believe you can determine which entrance will be the main access point. Mark Bedair stated some of the drainage issues has been alleviated by the subdivision to the northeast. This development will have to go through DNR. Drainage will be improved for the entire neighborhood if this is developed. We may not be able to get 30 houses out of this property; that is just an estimate. Chris Bottorff stated I have no problem with developing the property. I think we need something that gives us guidance on how to resolve issues raised here today. I think the City Council will have a tough time. Alex Gaddis stated these issues would be dealt with through the platting process. David Schmidt stated you will have to come back either way. David Schmidt made a motion for an unfavorable recommendation, seconded by Mr. Webb. Roll call vote. Motion passed 5-0. Administrative Review Update None Report from Director's and Staff None Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Plan Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 6:27 pm. Mike McCutcheon, Chair Zachary Giuffre, Secretary 5