July 7, 2004

The Ellettsville, Indiana, Town Council met in special session on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 at 6:30 PM at the Town Hall. Patrick Stoffers called the meeting to order. Patrick Stoffers, President; William Evans, Vice-President, Lisa Creech, Phillip Rogers and Dennis Williamson were in attendance. Sandra Hash, Clerk-Treasurer and Jeff York, Planning and Zoning Administrator were also present.

Topic of Discussion: Parking, Loading and Driveway Ordinance

Supervisors Present: Jim Davis, Jim Ragle and Ron McGlocklin.

Jeff York opened the discussion by stating since his hire date of March 22^nd he’s been on a fast track to get an amendment to the zoning ordinance on parking because of the tremendous concern over parking issues. He sent a first draft to the Plan Commission in early April and after the second revision the Council passed the ordinance. He’s been concerned there wasn’t enough public input when constructing this ordinance, especially since only a handful of individuals attended the Plan Commission meetings when working on it. He believes it should have taken longer to work on with more input. He’s received numerous complaints about this ordinance complaining it is unfair in established neighborhoods that were developed in the 1970’s which were constructed for fewer vehicles per residence, specifically driveways lead up to a single attached garage or drive. For example, in the Kelli Heights and Arrowhead subdivisions a lot of the homes were built with single garages with single wide driveways. Newer subdivisions are built to accommodate more than one vehicle of today’s size with wider drives and parking so that two vehicles can be parked side by side. More of today’s public have vehicles; therefore, newer subdivisions have made for that allowance. Since he has had to review the ordinance several times due to complaints he feels the ordinance is somewhat confusing and needs to be simplified. He pointed out some of the flaws in the ordinance such as there are no specific provisions in it concerning existing subdivisions, so they need to be included in section 152.226 page 7. He added to enforce this ordinance as written it is very time consuming sending out repeat violation letters on confirmed violations and could become costly when sending certified letters. More than one fine can be issued instead of just one single fine. It requires impounding vehicles if not in compliance which could be against State law if the vehicle runs. He sent the ordinance to the Town’s Attorney prior to Council approval but never received a response. He contacted John Hewitt about zoning compliance in early April but Mr. Hewitt’s schedule didn’t allow him the opportunity to meet with Jeff until later in the year. However, in the last couple days he has contacted Mr. Hewitt again and Jason Zimmerman and both have been very helpful on zoning compliance parking issues within the City of Bloomington. He gave an overview of Bloomington’s parking ordinance and compared it to Ellettsville’s current parking ordinance.

Bloomington’s parking ordinance:

· Ordinance went into effect in mid to late 90’s

· Parking of vehicles must be on an improved surface. An improved surface can be gravel, stone, asphalt or concrete

· Any property is subject, regardless on when improvements like buildings were established, is subject to prohibition of no lawn parking

· Violations are driven by complaints and then the inspector validity. Once confirmed, an “informational letter” is sent. Informational letter informs the property owner to be aware that such an ordinance exists and that they need to remove the vehicle from the lawn

· If no response, a ticket is issued if another compliant is filed on same property, or, in a reasonable amount of time

· Very few tickets are ever issued due to typical quick responses

· These issues are rarely sent to court since ticket is only $25.00

· Sixty (60) days are given to comply once ticket is issued

· Allow time to persons who show good faith toward complying

· Rarely see violations last more than a few days

· Do not have the authority to impound a vehicle

· Majority of violations are students that live near campus

· No standards for how much gravel or stone

· Consider overgrown gravel areas to be an improved surface

· Overall, this system is more streamlined than Ellettsville’s

Ellettsville’s parking ordinance:

· Also driven by complaints

· Wordy ordinance and somewhat confusing, needs simplified

· No provisions for existing subdivisions, should be reworded and perhaps lumped into simply single-family, two-family and multi-family districts, like Bloomington’s

· Requires Planning and Zoning Administrator to send out four to five letters per confirmed violation, which is work-intense

· Requires expensive certified letters on three of letters

· Requires several fines to be issued, rather than one single fine

· Requires impounding vehicle, which could be against State Law if the vehicle runs

Jeff gave copies to the Council of Bloomington’s City Code chapter 20.06.02.05 Location of Parking Spaces which states in Single-Family Districts parking is prohibited on lawns. He stated the parking issue is taking too much of his time and he feels he needs to work on other planning and zoning issues such as subdivisions that are more pressing. He also needs to work on updating information packets for the BZA and Plan Commission, therefore, he has came up with proposed amendments to the parking ordinance to try and streamline this issue to free up his time to work on those things.

Proposed amendments:

· Should implement that a ticket will be issued, rather than sending out certified letters

· Should allow for adjacent single-family properties to share a driveway and thus, removing the requirement for a five-foot setback in those cases. We already allow shared driveways without setback requirements for two-family residences

· Should send gross violations (those that refuse to cooperate) to Mike Spencer for an official warning letter

· Should have a limit of how much front yard and rear yard can be graveled

· Remove standards for type and amount of gravel required (Ellettsville is a blue-collar neighborhood and a lot of people can not afford the extra expense)

· Allow gravel or stone areas, overgrown or not, to be considered an improved surface. This can be done by removing the standard noted above

· Require vehicle parking on improved surface – gravel, stone, concrete or asphalt

Lisa Creech asked Sandy how much Mike Spencer’s rates were if we asked to send out warning letters.

Sandra Hash said he charged $125.00 per hour. She pointed out that the Clerk’s Office holds and collects the ticket fees that the Police Department issues and sends out letters to remind ticket holders when it is thirty days past due and she recently forwarded one letter to Mike Spencer to handle. Mike suggested it was cost prohibitive to handle taking one violator to court, it would end up costing the Town more for him to prosecute that person than the ticket was worth, so he suggested holding off until we had several to prosecute. He suggested the Town having an Ordinance Violation Bureau set up and in place in order for Sandy to collect fine fees. She said when Darlyne Sowder contacted Monroe County Court about taking skate park violations to court through their system since they have procedures in place, they said it was possible but were concerned if Ellettsville had an excessive number to go to court it may overwork their system. The City of Bloomington uses this system but they have a legal department so when violators go to court often time their Attorneys resolve the issue prior to going through Monroe County Court.

Lisa Creech said she agreed with removing the five foot setback to allow a shared driveway, but she was concerned about idea of removing the standards for gravel amounts and types. She doesn’t want to be vague about that issue.

Dennis Williamson asked how the ordinance could be worded to cover existing subdivisions, specifically for Driveway Standards (Section 152.226). He also asked if he had researched any of the existing subdivisions and if there were requirements in their original Covenants and Restrictions.

Jeff York said he believes a new section should be added to the ordinance or included within the guidelines for new subdivisions when remodeling is planned in existing subdivisions and the whole thing simplified. He said according to what revisions the Council decides will determine whether driveways in existing subdivisions are to be gravel or paved. He said yes, within existing subdivision their Covenants and Restrictions give guidelines for paved driveway standards. The Town could legally issue permits to allow a person to have a gravel driveway even if it’s in conflict with their Covenants and Restriction but the property owner would be in jeopardy from their neighborhood association for violating their Covenants and Restrictions which is no concern of the Town’s, that is a civil matter. He added Bloomington does not require pavement.

William Evans asked if most violators have been cooperative and complied.

Jeff York said most have been. He said he’s sent out approximately twenty letters roughly half to Kelli Heights and half to Arrowhead. Almost half have replied with some good comments. More than half have not responded and a few people have indicated they were not going to comply at all.

Public Comment:

Don Fisher for the last two and half years this has been a problem that the Town Council didn’t want to hear this issue except for Lisa Creech and has never been addressed publicly until now. He knows a lot of things have been dumped on Jeff York since he came on board, he knows he can’t possible solve all of the Town’s issues by himself. He said parking in no parking areas is a “behavioral problem” that citizen’s feel is acceptable because no one ever enforces the penalties on violators. He said this behavior can be lived with but it’s getting worse and brings down property values. He doesn’t agree that grass growing over gravel is an improved surface as was stated earlier. You need retaining walls for gravel and uniformity. He thinks the Town needs to look at the esthetic and practicality of this issue. He suggested running an ad in the Journal for sixty days that driveways and parking will be enforced, then after that the Town needs to start taking action. It’s everybody’s responsibility to keep the Town nice, not just Jeff’s. He thinks it causes problems when the complainant’s name is given out to the person who has the problem and doesn’t think it should be given out. He thinks issues should be resolved within the law and within a timely fashion. He wants the community to get along and have pride in the Town.

James Wagner agreed with Don Fisher’s comments and believes there should be some standards for driveways. He suggested phrasing the sections in Ellettsville’s parking ordinance concerning existing subdivisions by saying these standards are all inclusive of existing, new and non-residential areas. He said for thirty-eight years a parking ordinance has been in place by the Town and hasn’t been enforced and doesn’t want to see another thirty-eight years go by and nothing done still. So we need to fix it today so its not a problem tomorrow. He doesn’t like the several letters process like Jeff, that’s too time consuming. One ticket seems like a better system.

Kathy Wagner said this is a small town and people talk when someone complains about problems, in fact, she’s had a dead bird in her mailbox after reporting violations. She thanked the Council for letting her and the public have the opportunity to voice their opinions on parking issues and how to enforce them. She thinks if someone has a gravel drive they need to maintain the gravel and not let the grass grow up through it. If this ordinance clears up the problem where people permanently park their cars on the lawn to the point where its just dirt then she is all for the ordinance.

Larry Hash agreed there are problems with driveways but thinks a homeowner should get a sixth month notification, then if not corrected a second notice, give them eighteen months. There are new homeowners with kids moving in to his neighborhood (Kelli Heights) and they have more important needs for their families to spend their incomes on than correcting their driveways. People are just trying to live; the Town needs to have compassion on people and give them more time. He said there should be some understanding about people having hardships. He added if a complaint is made it should be from a neighbor not from someone driving around looking for violations.

Jeff York said Larry’s comments were good and agreed more time should be given. He’s spoken with the City of Bloomington about enforcement and he was told public notice is very important and information should be run in newspapers repeatedly to inform the public. The more public input the better.

Lisa Creech said it shouldn’t be limited to just neighbors complaining that would be unconstitutional. Mike Spencer should be consulted on an appropriate time frame. A hardship clause would be a good idea, but who would decide what is and isn’t considered a hardship, possibly they should go before the BZA. She asked why parking on the street was eliminated years ago in the first place.

Jim Davis said the biggest reason the Council issued no parking on the streets years ago was because particularly in Kelli Heights people parked on both sides of the street so it was hard to get a fire truck through streets. He recalled at that time the Council couldn’t decide which side to make no parking so they made both sides no parking. He added parking on one side of the street wouldn’t be a problem to get a fire truck through the street.

Lisa Creech said if the parking was changed to allow parking on one side of the street the Town might get immediate compliance from people to not park in their lawns. However, it might be a blessing or a curse to have one side parking according to each neighborhood; it might need to be looked at on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis. In the old ordinance it included a clause to allow parking on the street for special occasions, but the person should inform the Police Department and/or neighborhood of the occasion. She feels this should be added back into the new ordinance. Maybe a person could be dedicated within neighborhoods to be a contact person for health and safety and parking issues for the public if they didn’t feel comfortable contacting the Council. She added if we use the ticketing system, maybe the Police Reserves could help issue them which would help out Jeff. She suggested a public meeting on the parking ordinance where the public is invited officially in addition to being informed by the newspaper.

Jeff York stated Mr. Zimmerman was surprised that Ellettsville didn’t allow parking on the street. He suggested parking on the street should be reviewed again and include the Fire, Street and Police Departments in the decision making process.

Street parking and driveway standards were discussed further as well as how to go about enforcement.

Phillip Rogers said people paying their taxes and mortgages should not be harassed about their properties. A lot of people work hard for what they have and maybe in their eyes their property looks fine. He’s all for making the Town look nice but agreed with Larry saying there’s enough problems without looking for more problems, so no one should be driving around looking for more violations. We’re going to go overboard and you can’t shove rules and regulations down people’s throats, we have to be fair. Several agreed this is supposed to be a community and neighbors should help neighbors out when they can.

Sandra Hash stated in the past if a homeowner went out of town the neighbor mowed the grass to be nice because it was the neighborly thing to do. People need to work out their own problems instead of making it a governmental control issue; it’s becoming a “tattle-tale system”.

Phillip Rogers and Lisa Creech discussed what is fair and equal.

William Evans stated common sense and compassion needed to be used in these cases.

Rosetta Hudson suggested if a person is considering buying property in a nice neighborhood to check the Covenants and Restrictions prior to purchase and if they can’t maintain that property then they shouldn’t purchase it.

Dennis Williamson said people need to have respect for their selves and each other and respect for their and others properties.

Patrick Stoffers closed by thanking everyone for their helpful comments and said the Council will contemplate how to resolve the issues discussed tonight and encouraged continued public input.

The subject of anonymity on complaints taken was discussed.

Adjournment

William Evans made a motion to adjourn. Phillip Rogers seconded. Motion carried.

Meeting adjourned at 8:05 p. m.