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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJPC June 24, 2025 MINUTES OF THE JEFFERSONVILLE PLAN COMMISSION June 24, 2025 Call to Order Board President Mike McCutcheon calls to order the Plan Commission meeting. It is Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 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, and Donna Reed were present in the City Council Chambers. Bill Burns, David Schmidt, and Steve Webb were absent at the beginning of the meeting. Also present were Planning & Zoning Attorney Les Merkley, Planning and Zoning Director Chad Reischl, Secretary Shane Shaughnessy, and Planner Shelby Walsh. (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 May 27, 2025. Ms. Reed made a motion to approve the May 27, 2025 minutes, seconded by Mr. Bottorff. Roll Call vote. Motion passed 4-0. Approval of the Docket Mr. McCutcheon noted that the docket items for rezoning 1820 Charlestown Pike (PC-25-22, PC- 25-23, PC-25-24, and PC-25-25)were tabled prior to the meeting and would not be heard at this meeting. Motion to approve the agenda made by Mr. Bottorff, seconded by Ms. Reed. Roll call vote. Motion passed 4-0. Old Business None New Business PC-25-19 Primary Plat Nick Hunter and Tim Lewers, on behalf of Wheelhouse Homes Holdings, LLC filed a Primary Plat application for the 8.13-acre property located at the corner of Woodland Court and Cardinal Lane. The application is for a 43-lot single-family residential subdivision. The current zoning is R3 (Single Family Residential: Small Lot). The Docket Number is PC-25-19. Nick Hunter of 3105 Crystal Lake Drive stated that he was with his business partners, Tim and Autumn Lewers, and engineer Michael McCoy. He said that the property had been rezoned in August of 2024 from M2 to R3. They are requesting a plat approval of 45 single family residential lots. He said that the City had seen an influx of apartment buildings recently and that they are proposing an alternative in the form of a single family subdivision with 3 bed/2 bath homes with attached garages. The homes would be 1,500-1,600sf with prices around $300,000 and the community would be named Steamboat Landing. He said that his fiancé grew up on 1 Blue Teal Lane and that he was familiar with the area and that the feedback he had received made him think that the proposed subdivision would be good for the area. He provided letters of support from two residents of Cardinal Lane. He said that the subdivision would have less density than the previous M2 zoning would have allowed of 100 units. The subdivision will have 20 foot private drives that end in three cul-de-sacs and will be owned and maintained by the future HOA. The subdivision will not connect to the adjacent Hallmark Apartments and that one access point to the neighborhood will be provided from Woodland Court which will require a modification as the number of lots would require a second access point. He said that a full set of restrictive covenants would be submitted with the secondary plat which would cover the use and location of accessory structurers, fences, and prohibiting street parking and short-term rentals. He said that a portion of the property is located in the floodplain and floodway and that no structures will be built in the floodway and any structures in the floodplain would be elevated a minimum of 2 feet above the floodplain elevation. requesting to receive a Mr. Reischl said that in addition to approving the plat, the applicants are modification for minimum lot frontage as all of the lots will be on private streets, rather than public right-of-way, and a modification for minimum number of entrances which requires any subdivision with more than 40 lots to have a second entrance. He said that Staff had a number of questions including how setbacks would work and if sidewalks would be added. He said he would like to have more conversations with the applicants regarding how this development would work before the plat is approved. Mr. Burns joined the Plan Commission at 5:40pm. Open Public Comment Brad Tetley of 310 Amelie Drive said he is a Jeffersonville Fire Marshall and said that while the Fire Department supports development in the City, he had two concerns about this particular subdivision. He said that while the road is listed as a private road, the 20 foot road width is a concern given that Indiana Fire Code states that road widths will be increased to accommodate the largest available fire apparatus in the fleet. He said that this development is in Fire District 2 which runs an aerial apparatus that has an 11 foot width inclusive of mirrors and handle bars. He said that they are concerned about being able to service all of the houses given potential road obstacles such as vehicles, boats, RVs, and basketball goals. He said that these obstructions severely impact response times and their mission to save lives and property. He said that he realizes this issue isn't an easy fix, but that they take safety of residents very seriously. He said his second concern was regarding an island at the entrance of the subdivision and that this would narrow and already narrow road and would create issues with the turning radius of the trucks. Close Public Comment Mr. Hunter said that they tried to design the neighborhood to be in compliance and serviceable by emergency personnel. He said he was happy to remove the island at the entrance of the subdivision. He said that they specifically tried to oversize the cul-de-sacs to give more room for fire trucks to turn around. He said that there is a development on Hopkins Lane that is similar in that it has 20 foot private drives as well as Shungate Commons which is also similar to this development. Mr. Lewers added that he lives in Oak Park which has 20 foot roadways which he said seem to function well and that the narrower roads help to slow traffic. He said they would not allow street parking through an HOA restriction which would help to address the concerns related to obstacles in the path of fire services. He said that each of the roadways are relatively short which he thought would help to further alleviate issues. 2 Ms. Reed said that it's rare for a member of the public safety to speak on these issues and when Mr. Reischl thinks there should be more conversations on this matter, that is a big deal to her. She said she likes the design and the addition of single family homes to the area but does not like that there is only one entrance off of the curve from Cardinal Lane to Woodland Court. She said that curve is dangerous and having 45 houses exit there is concerning. She also said that drainage is a concern at the location. She said she wasn't sure this plat was ready and encouraged the applicants to keep working to ensure that the issues that had been brought up are addressed. Mr. McCutcheon said that some of the areas that Mr. Hunter mentioned were developed in the County prior to being added to the City and were designed with County standards. He said that he has taken a stance that he doesn't approve of any street below 24 feet wide and that a recent development was approved with 24 feet wide streets and 2 foot rolled curbs which help alleviate issues. He said that there are other developments served by private drives that are below City standards that have cause serious issues for Fire responses. He said he is also concerned that there are three dead-end streets, even if they are ended in cul-de-sacs. Mr. Avery asked Mr. Reischl about the staff recommendation to table the proposal until staff could review commitments and work through other issues. Mr. Reischl said he's still struggling with what the setbacks will looks like in this subdivision because all lots on a private drive have sideyards which will be confusing for staff as well as questions about sidewalks and other unforeseen questions that need to be worked out. He said this is one of the largest subdivisions in the city that are set on private streets. Mr. McCutcheon said that they have had issues with these private drives and even if they put up signs, people will still have parties and people will still park on the street. He said that while Oak Park as 20 foot roads, Oak Park is on a network of roads that allow alternate access points whereas this development will only have one access point. Mr. Reischl said the development on Hopkins Lane that was mentioned was served by a 20 foot, one way loop and had much less homes than this development. Mr. McCutcheon said that in that development, the interior sidewalks were designed to accommodate fire trucks in an emergency and that garbage trucks are tearing up the entrances to that loop because the entrance isn't wide enough to turn into the road. Mr. Hunter said that he can see the access point being on the curve could be a concern and would hope the City would consider putting a stop sign there to alleviate the issue. Ms. Reed said the curve is a serious concern and adding 80-90 more cars to this blind curve with only one access point could have serious consequences and said that they should work with Mr. Reischl to work through these issues. Mr. Reischl acknowledged that access is difficult to this property and said that the location of the entrance is likely one of the best locations without removing a neighbor's driveway and coming straight off the curve. He said they have had conversations about gaining access to Blue Teal Lane but there are issues because they do not own the entire length of the Blue Teal right of way as it is shared with the neighboring apartments and that opening Blue Teal could create its own issues. Ms. Reed said that maybe the number of homes needs to be reduced to where a modification isn't needed. Mr. Avery asked if adding a second access and increasing the street width among other concerns is what Mr. Reischl would be wanting to discuss with the applicant. Mr. Reischl said that adding a second entrance would be difficult but that it was his understanding that the applicants were talking with the apartments to potentially buy some land for that purpose. Mr. Bottorff made a motion to table this matter to next month, seconded by Mr. Burns. Roll call vote. Motion passed 5-0. 3 PC-25-26 Rezoning Brian and Anita Oldham filed a Rezoning application for the property located at 303 W. Market Street. The current zoning is R4 (Single Family Residential —Old City); the proposed zoning is CN (Commercial - Neighborhood). The Docket Number is PC-25-26. Ms. Oldham said they own the historic home and that the property is adjacent to the Big Four Park and Bridge. She said that the property has a historic two-story home and that there is also a carriage house and garage on the property. They are asking for the rezoning to open some options for renovating and using the carriage house and garage, not the main house. She said they imagine creating an art gallery or designer space with some art classes for the public which is a use that is highlighted in the Downtown Jeffersonville Master Plan. She said they want to maintain the historic nature of the area while adding to the area. Mr. Reischl said the applicant came to them wanting to do something commercial in nature on the property and that they had decided the Commercial — Neighborhood zone district which allows for single family residential uses as well as some limited-scale commercial uses made the most sense in this area. There are other CN zoned properties in the area that have small businesses in them and that having some small-scale commercial uses next to the Big Four Bridge made sense. Open Public Comment Phyllis Croce of 328 W. Riverside Drive said that she has concerns with the permitted uses for the CN district that include barber shop, civil contractors, and coin laundry. She is concerned that rezoning the property opens up the rest of the block to commercial uses. She said that block has a bed and breakfast which has parking in the rear and a small restaurant that is mostly pick-up. She said it was her understanding is that the building is being used as an AirBnb. She said that Jeffersonville already has an art center in NoCo where this could use could go or in a vacant building downtown. She said she is concerned with parking on the street next to the building. Nate Hammett said he is the son-in-law of the applicants and said he is an architect who has spent a lot of time on the site. He said that this is a good opportunity to maintain the historic character of the building on site while also adding some complementary uses on the site that will benefit the downtown. He said the dead-end road next to the property could accommodate 6-8 cars and thinks that this use would be more walkable in nature that complements its surroundings and neighbors. Close Public Comment Mr. Oldham said they value the historic nature of Jeffersonville and wants to make the Big Four area more attractive. He said their intent is not to create a barbershop or laundry, but to create a nicely designed studio that would provide arts classes. He said that the CN district would allow them to facilitate this goal and that they are interested in building up the community, not doing anything that would cause harm. Mr. McCutcheon said that while changing zoning classification does open up certain uses, neighbors should also have faith that they have a vested interest in the property and want to protect it. He said there's a lot of good things happening around Big Four Park and they would want property owners to add to that and have the ability to do some entrepreneurial ventures to help with the area. Ms. Reed said that it's understandable for the neighbors to have some concerns when talking about zoning changes and encouraged the applicants to have conversations with their neighbors to build bridges and try and alleviate their concerns. Ms. Oldham said that they have had conversations with some of her neighbors and that they had received good feedback from them and the people they rent to. 4 Mr. Burns made a motion a favorable recommendation, seconded by Mr. Avery. Roll call vote. Motion passed 5-0. PC-25-27 Rezoning Michael Dooley, on behalf of Redefining Homes, LLC filed a Rezoning application for the approximate 5 acre property located at the corner of Woodland Court and Wood Acre Drive. The current zoning is M1 (Multi-Family Residential—Small Scale); the proposed zoning is R3 (Single Family Residential—Small Lot). The Docket Number is PC-25-27. John McCoy of JLM Engineering and Michael Dooley with Redefining Homes presented the case. Mr. McCoy said they are requesting to rezone the parcel for single family homes. He said the property had been previously subdivided for 17 duplexes with 34 units total. He said that they are planning on building 27 single family homes on a 24 foot public road with sidewalks ending in a cul-de-sac. Mr. Reischl said that this is an infill project that formerly was previously divided for duplexes but is now proposed for single family homes that would be more in line with the surrounding neighborhood. He said that the M1 zoning allows for single family houses but is not conducive for them because of setback issues which is why the rezoning is being requested. He said this is a kind of down-zoning from a denser zone district to a less dense zoning and that Staff is in support of the rezoning. Open Public Comment Kay Vaughn said that her husband's parent's home is directly across from the proposed subdivision. She said that the work that has been done on the site by the applicant has already negatively impacted the neighborhood in terms of drainage. She said that the newly renovated floodwall is going to negatively impact this subdivision because people typically speed over the hill and that their property had a number of vehicular crashes on it because of it. She said her niece currently lives at the house and are having difficulty getting out of the property because of this. She said that when the applicant moved dirt to the site it changed the natural drainage in the area and that there is now have standing water on their property and the subject property. She said she would like to see the property developed but the number of homes is worrisome for access. Tiffany Kinley of 2405 Woodland Court said that she lives across from the property and have had multiple drainage uses that have gotten worse recently because of the filling of the property. She said the road is not safe for them to leave their driveway because they can't see over the hill and that adding more homes and vehicles will make it less safe. She said there has been wildlife that has been moved to her property because of the clearing of the land and that the repaving of the road has also increase drainage issues. She said she would love to see something done with that property but it should be done in a way that doesn't negatively impact 4 the area. She said that there are frequent accidents because of that hill. Zachary Kinley of 2405 Woodland Court said that there are drainage issues and standing water on the property. He said that he has almost been hit several times getting out of his driveway because people fly over the hill. He said the street is not big enough for the homes that are already there and adding more will increase problems. He said he would like to see change on the property but that there are a number of adjustments that should be made. Brady Hill from Birdsong Way said that this is a rezoning application and that the concerns that have been brought up should be addressed later and that the current zoning would allow for 4 5 multi-family units. He said the change in zoning would make sense with the Comprehensive Plan. Close Public Comment Mr. McCoy said they are just requesting a rezoning at this point and would be downsizing the density of the property by lowering the amount of units from 36 to 27. He said that the other comments regarding the traffic isn't something that they have control over. He said that they have received a site disturbance permit with IDEM to clear and fill the site to understand the site's layout. He said they will be taking care of the site's drainage by adding two drainage basins to catch the water that naturally flows to the back of the property. Mr. Dooley said that they would be building affordable single family homes similar to the Cedargrove homes. Ms. Reed said that moving from multi-family to single family would help protect her residents but has some questions that will be addressed at the plat stage. Mr. Avery said that the floodwall helps with the drainage and that the hill isn't as bad as it was in the past when there was a much bigger jump at the floodwall. Mr. Bottorff made a motion a favorable recommendation, seconded by Mr. Burns. Roll call vote. Motion passed 5-0. PC-25-28 Primary Plat Michael Dooley, on behalf of Redefining Homes, LLC filed a Primary Plat application for the approximate 5 acre property located at the corner of Woodland Court and Wood Acre Drive. The application is for a 27-lot single family residential subdivision. The current zoning is M1 (Multi- Family Residential—Small Scale). The Docket Number is PC-25-28. John McCoy of JLM Engineering and Michael Dooley with Redefining Homes presented the case. He said that they are planning on building 27 single family homes on a 24 foot public road with sidewalks ending in a cul-de-sac. He said the all of the lots meet the R3 zoning standards which will hopefully be approved by the City Council. Mr. Reischl said that they are asking for a modification for cul-de-sac length as they are proposing an 800 foot road that ends in a cul-de-sac rather than the requirements of the R3 district which say that such a road only be 600 feet long. He said that the odd shape of the property makes such a modification make sense. He said this is a replat of the property that was originally platted for duplexes and that Staff does not have issues with the plat. Open Public Comment Mike Vaughn of 2409 Woodland Court said that there are concerns about drainage and that the number of houses proposed is too many for how narrow and hilly Woodland Court is. He said it is a safety issue with adding this number of houses. Close Public Comment Mr. Avery asked which way the land drains which Mr. McCoy said that is drains to the south side of the property. Mr. Avery suggested that additional drainage may be required if it is deemed necessary and that the improvements to the floodwall may have cause some issues with visibility and drainage. Ms. Reed said she has had a lot of concerns from her constituents and that the applicants are asking for both a rezoning and plat approval and she would rather table the primary plat until the rezoning is finalized by Council so additional conversations could happen to address the concerns. Mr. Bottorff said that if the Council does not approve the rezoning, they are already approved to do 34 duplex units and that they would still have to go to 6 the Drainage Board for their approval. Mr. Reischl said it isn't unusual to approve a plat contingent upon a rezoning for the sake of expediting development. Mr. Bottorff said he would rather do it this way because it would allow the developers to start working on the property and hopefully work to alleviate some of the drainage issues that had been brought up. Mr. Bottorff said that this is a better plan than what was previously approved. Ms. Reed said that she agreed that the rezoning made sense but would rather have some conversations with the developers and neighbors before approving the plat. Mr. Burns made a motion to approve the plat with the requested modification, seconded by Mr. Bottorff. Roll call vote. Motion passed 4-1 with Ms. Reed voting against. 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 6:43 pm. (Di 1---St. Mike McCutcheon, Chair Shane Shaughnessy, ecretary 7