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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJPC August 27, 2024 MINUTES OF THE JEFFERSONVILLE PLAN COMMISSION August 27, 2024 Call to Order Board President Mike McCutcheon calls to order the Plan Commission meeting. It is Tuesday, August 27, 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, Bill Burns, Donna Reed, and David Schmidt 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. Steve Webb 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 July 30, 2024. Mr. Burns made a motion to approve the July 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. Burns, seconded by Mr. Schmidt. Roll call vote. Motion passed 6-0. Old Business None New Business PC-24-19 Rezoning DC Home & New Construction, LLC filed a Rezoning application for 3803 Hamburg Pike. The property is currently zoned C1 (Commercial — Medium Scale); the proposed zoning is R3 (Single Family Residential — Small Lot). The Docket Number is PC-24-19. Dragon stated the following: • The property was already subdivided into 4 properties. The seller changed the zoning to commercial; however, I am a residential builder. I want to change it back to residential as it used to be. • I will be building two-car garage ranch houses. Chad Reischl stated this is a pretty straight-forward request. There were homes previously on the property. A dentist office was going to be built here; however, it never materialized. Open Public Comment 1 No comment Close Public Comment Mr. Schmidt made a motion for a favorable recommendation, seconded by Ms. Reed. Roll call vote. Motion passed 5-0 (Burns abstained). PC-24-20 Rezoning Wheelhouse Homes Holdings, LLC filed a Rezoning application for the 8.13-acre property located at the corner of Woodland Court and Cardinal Lane. The property is currently zoned M2 (Multi- Family Residential — Medium Scale); the proposed zoning is R3 (Single Family Residential — Small Lot). The Docket Number is PC-24-20. Nick Hunter stated the following: • We are requesting to designate this property for single-family homes. • Mr. McCoy will be providing civil engineering services for the project. • The property is currently zoned M2 in which up to 100 units can be built. • The City has seen an influx of apartments. Wheelhouse Homes is proposing 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 2 car garage homes starting at $250,000. • We would like to build a neighborhood called Steamboat Landing with 40-50 homes with trails. • There will be no access to the adjacent apartments. Chad Reischl stated the proposed rezoning meets the intent of the Comprehensive Plan. A large portion of this plan is in the floodplain and unbuildable; therefore, squeezing houses together makes sense in this context, especially when compared to the surrounding properties which are slightly less dense. Open Public Comment Tim Jewel, who lives at 1979 Blue Teal Lane, asked are we going to open up Blue Teal Lane to where there will be access to Hallmark Apartments? Will they build a prison wall to keep the Hallmark people out? Lawrence Cook, who lives on the corner of Woodland and Cardinal Lane, stated I am concerned about the traffic. There are other townhomes on the other side of the apartments. Kids at Hallmark used to jump over my fence and cause damage to my property. How will things be opened up as far as street access? Will the homes be one level or have multiple levels? We are slightly concerned about the trees on the property. Chad Reischl stated we have letter from Missy Stoudemire and Cathy Kincaid. Close Public Comment Nick Hunter stated everything is subject to Planning and Zoning approval. I think it would make sense to open the access point to Blueteal Lane. Though, we would prevent apartment users from accessing the road. This would be a horseshoe-shaped development. Ideally the homes would have no steps. Mr. Schmidt asked is the traffic still going towards Allison Lane? 2 Nick Hunter stated Woodland Court would be the exit. There are multiple access points to thoroughfares. Ms. Reed stated 100 homes seem pretty aggressive given the slope of the property. Chad, are you okay with this? Nick Hunter stated there would only be 40-50 homes. You can find a similar style development on Hopkins Lane. Ms. Reed asked would you planning to keep as many of the mature trees along the road as possible? Nick Hunter stated yes, we want to keep as many trees as possible. We are happy to plant more trees to create separation between the development and the existing neighborhoods. Mr. Bottorff stated we will address those issues at the time of the plat. Mr. Bottorff made a motion for a favorable recommendation, seconded by Mr. Schmidt. Roll call vote. Motion passed 6-0. PC-24-21 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 R2 (Single Family Residential — Medium Lot). The Docket Number is PC-24- 21. Alex Gaddis stated the following: • We previously sought a rezoning from R1 to R3; however, there were concerns. Now we are seeking rezoning to R2. • This project fulfills a primary goal of the Comprehensive Plan. This would do a lot to further the City's goals. • I do not concede that the drainage is an issue with the rezoning; rather, that should be a part of the actual development review of the site. • This is a serious proposal. I would like to call Peter Ellis up to talk about water run-off. Peter Ellis stated the following: • I am the civil engineer for the project. • R1 will permit lots as small as 9,000 square feet. R2 will permit lots as small as 6,500 square feet. • The drainage situation is actually quite simple. Water flows onto the site from 4 sides. There are railroad tracks to the west and subdivisions on all other sides. There is a drainage pipe that transports water from the west to the east. There is a 24in diameter pipe that crosses Brim Dr. and connects to the City drainage system. We have a natural detention basin. There is no water that moves from the site onto adjoining properties except for the pipe that moves west to east. 3 • Going from R1 to R2 zoning, I would expect that, as a Plan Commission, you would be interested in the ramifications. We have shown the maximum density you can get on the property. If we stayed with R1 zoning, we would lose about 4 to 5 lots. • We will take a pipe to the pipe to channel the water through the property. We will be storing the water so that it is not a nuisance during a storm event. We look at the existing water plus any increased amount of water due to the impervious surfaces. Chad Reischl stated this was heard a month ago and received an unfavorable recommendation to go to R3. Though, in their discussions the Plan Commission seemed to suggest that they were more comfortable with R2. The property is surrounded by both R1 and R2. There are still some access issues; however, some of those could be addressed in the platting process. We heard that Briscoe and Gilmore are fairly narrow streets. One letter was included in your packet. Open Public Comment Lois King, who lives at 618 Briscoe Dr., stated I do not want this built on at all. Briscoe is not a wide street. Our homes were built in the 50s. These new homes will not look like ours. On an R1, they can build about 16 homes. That is 32 more cars. Gilmore will have to go downhill and be curvy to meet up to Briscoe. The most direct access is down our street of Briscoe. This is not going to make our neighborhood quiet. We have a lot of wildlife in this swamp; all of that will be gone. Mayor Mike Moore stated I am not going to talk about drainage. I hope this board pays attention the public safety aspect of what we have here. We have on-street parking on Briscoe and surrounding streets. The integrity of this area is very nice. Our number one priority is to make sure people are safe. How could a firetruck get back to this area? Gilmore is 20ft wide. I am sorry that this gentleman bought a piece of land that has obstacles; however, there is a reason it has sat empty for decades. This would make a great place for a fishing hole. Kathy Brooks stated I live right next to the lot. There have been different owners, and there is a reason no one has done anything with this property. I cannot see that many houses in that little area. This is just over 3.5 acres. My fence backs right up to the lot. So many dead trees have fallen on my fence and caused a lot of damage. Will there be a backyard by my fence? This is not a good area. I feel sorry for the guy that bought it, but it seems like everyone who buys that lot stumbles into the same problems. I wish the City would buy it and turn it into a park. It draws mosquitoes. Close Public Comment Mark Bedair stated we will have to work with the necessary boards to figure out the best access points. I went over this with Chad, and most of Brickhouse Pond was located to the East. This property has a small finger of that pond that branches out. Is that correct, Chad? Chad stated, from the maps I have seen, that appears to be correct. Mark Bedair stated a full subdivision got built on Brickhouse Pond. We are trying to correct the issues of this property such as trees falling, mosquitoes, etc. We will do what we can to alleviate the traffic. The properties around this parcel are mostly R2 and R3. This development will actually be less dense than the nearby R3 neighborhood. Mr. Bottorff asked what is the differential in the number of homes with R1 and R2? Mark Bedair stated around 4 or 5. 4 Ms. Reed stated I walk down Gilmore probably twice a month and especially on Halloween. It is very tiny. One car is pushing it. Do you see Gilmore as an adequate point of entrance and exit for 18 homes? Mark Bedair stated we can connect into Gilmore and also connect into Briscoe also. Ms. Reed stated I appreciate you taking on that task. Peter Ellis stated there is adequate right-of-way on Gilmore to increase the pavement. That is probably what the City would require us to do. The roadway would most likely be developed from the south to the north. Ms. Reed asked are you talking about widening Gilmore? That is a hard sell. I do not know how my residents would feel about that. Chris Bottorff asked how do residents feel about any road construction? Chad Reischl stated we have asked developers in the past to widen streets for us such as the Herb Lewis expansion with the developers. What he is saying is not totally out of character. Mr. Schmidt stated I think there is too much concern with safety and traffic. Mr. Schmidt made a motion for an unfavorable recommendation, seconded by Ms. Reed. Roll call vote. Motion passed 5-1 (Bottorff). Question Regarding Zoning of 301 W. Court Avenue Chad Reischl stated this is a question about the Zoning Department's ability to initiate a rezoning request. We would like to see the old Hardie's property rezoned from Highway Commercial to Commercial Downtown to prevent another fast food restaurant or auto-centric development from coming into the downtown. Ms. Reed stated this is an excellent idea, and matches what residents are wanting. Mr. Schmidt made a motion to authorize the Department of Planning and Zoning to rezone the property consistent with the recommendation, seconded by Ms. Reed. Roll call vote. Motion passed 6-0. 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 6:25 pm. 5 W L Mike McCutcheon, Chair Zachary Giuffre, Secretary 6