Planning Commission Meeting

January 6, 2005

The Ellettsville Planning Commission met in regular session on Thursday, January 6, 2005, at the Ellettsville Town Hall. Ed Bitner called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Lisa Creech led the meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call: Ed Bitner, Vice President; Sandra Hash, Secretary; Lisa Creech, William Evans, Terry Baker, Don Calvert and Frank Nierzwicki, Director of Planning were present. Frank Buczolich was absent.

Approval of the Minutes for December 2, 2004

Terry Baker made a motion to accept the Plan Commission Meeting minutes of December 2, 2004. William Evans seconded. Motion carried.

New Business

Request for Preliminary Plat Approval on a 55 lot Subdivision for Robinson 23.35 Acres on Ratliff Road Property

Rick Coppock, Bynum Fanyo and Associates, presented the map showing the layout of the development. The map included Greenbrier, Deer Run and the Ratliff Road Church that was reviewed at the last meeting. The request is for preliminary plat on the 55 lots. The water, sewage and storm drains have all been worked out. The reason we brought this now or started this now was to get the water line extended from the existing Deer Run development to Ratliff Road to provide fire hydrants for fire protection in that area. Robinson is working with the church to extend natural gas to the property. The preliminary plat will justify the need for the natural gas utility

Don Calvert stated this will create a need for the Church of the Nazarene to put in sidewalks. They didn’t put in sidewalks when they built the church. The Plan Commission told them when the area started to develop they would be required to put in the sidewalks. Terry agreed they should be notified to install sidewalks.

William Evans stated the Church of the Nazarene was informed a second time when they requested a variance for an extra gravel driveway. Rick Coppock said we should put them on notice to give them time to plan.

Ed Bitner asked where the retention ponds are going to be and how the water will be let out. Rick Coppock explained the drainage system indicated on the map.

Ed Bitner reported he is in favor of the project although he was concerned about the sink hole issues in the area. Don Calvert asked how close can you build to a sink hole? Rick Coppock stated there were easements around the sink hole area.

Frank Nierzwicki reported he supports the development. He advised we should be careful on the sink holes. Rick explained the lots around the sink holes are oversized to provide a conservancy easement around the sink hole area to avoid building too close. He stated you should not build any closer than the top rim.

Sandra Hash stated the original plat called for an apartment complex. This is a more desirable development. Terry Baker agreed.

William Evans stated his job involves extensive map research, he has reviewed this development and the drainage for this property is good. Ed expressed his concern with creating flooding problems for existing residents due to new construction. He doesn’t want to perpetuate flooding problems is the area. Rick affirmed that the water run off will be directed to follow the natural flow of the drainage. You always take the water the way it naturally goes, but you don’t increase the volume of water. You don’t take water from somewhere else and redirect it.

Sandra added before the Church of the Nazarene was built, residents of the Trooper Lane area brought in pictures of flooding in their neighborhood. They had water issues before the ground was broken for the church. Maybe the retention ponds will actually be an improvement to the water problem in the area.

William Evans made a motion to accept the Preliminary Plat Approval on a 55 lot Subdivision for Robinson 23.35 Acres on Ratliff Road Property. Terry Baker seconded. Lisa Creech abstained. Motion carried.

Request Plat Amendment Approval on 2 Lot Subdivision for Ratliff Road Subdivision (First Church of God)

Rick Coppock stated the church wanted to move the building 60 feet and the drive 80 feet to the North, which requires an amendment to the Plat. This should reduce the lighting for the resident who expressed concern at a previous meeting.

Frank Nierzwicki stated the Staff Report from the previous meeting supports this move.

William Evans made a motion to accept the plat amendment approval on 2 lot subdivision for Ratliff Road subdivision. Don Calvert seconded. Lisa Creech abstained. Motion carried.

Zoning information on 1416 West Temperance

Sandra Hash explained that the zoning request on 1416 Temperance was from 1992. It was a zoning change for the Antique Mall on the west side from R2 to C1. The Planning Commission voted to make the change but it never made it to Town Council for some reason. The Plan Commission needs to be aware of the situation. Mike Spencer will prepare an ordinance that will finalize the change updating both the zoning map and the town code. The Antique Mall has been in operation since 1992. Mr. Brinegar would like to address the Planning Commission concerning this property as he wants to expand the business.

Jay Brinegar stated his parent’s are the owners of the property. There is a barn located on the property that was built for agriculture and he would like to put an auction facility in the barn. He would like to have 84 seats in the facility. It may be easier to demolish the barn and build a new building. William Evans wanted to know if there was enough parking to have auctions. Jay said there were two lots available which he believes will accommodate the needed parking spaces. Jay discussed his ideas for improving or replacing the structures. Frank Nierzwicki said he would work with Jay on the improvements.

Frank Nierzwicki said since the Planning Commission already approved the zoning for 1416 Temperance this was for information only and a motion is not required.

New Title for the Planning and Zoning Administrator

Frank Nierzwicki said he was approved at last night’s meeting of the Ellettsville Town Council as the Planning and Zoning Administrator. The listing for this job opening came out as the Director of Planning Services. The idea behind this was looking at the responsibilities of the position. Some of the expectations are higher now with looking at grant proposals, State and Federal, i.e., the recent Trail Grant (TE) application that was put in and approved at the last council meeting; working with Main Street assistance on Commerce Grants; digital underground to connect the town with the broadband internet connections; business developments with the Chamber of Commerce and developing the budget for the Planning Department Group, as well as, all other activities for the zoning administration. Director of Planning Services is a better definition of the position.

Lisa Creech asked if Frank had talked with Pat about getting some of the health and parking duties onto someone else so that he could focus more on this position. Frank stated we have some money in the 2005 budget for assistance with this position. We would like to share Sandra’s clerical position she has advertised and possibly utilize that position also. Lisa said that would be more clerical and not someone to help with inspections. Frank replied that is something we might want to look at in the budget for 2006, but he feels he has it covered at this point.

Lisa Creech stated maybe we could get help from the reserves. William Evans said there were a lot of mitigating factors and so much varies weekly that it would be difficult to set any schedule for the reserves to do this. Frank mentioned he would be setting up a data base on problem areas providing a hot sheet to narrow things down.

Sandra added it would be nice if the Police Reserves could assist with at least the parking issues. A person in a uniform commands a certain level of compliance.

Ed Bitner told Frank Nierzwicki he would like to congratulate him on his new position as a Town employee and he looked forward to working with him.

Lisa Creech made a motion to change the Title of Planning and Zoning Administrator to Director of Planning Services. Terry Baker seconded. Motion carried.

Privilege of the Floor – non Agenda Items

Everett Libkie came to inquire about rezoning his property (2 acres) at 4890 W St Rd 46. He picked up a packet concerning rezoning from the Clerk-Treasurer yesterday. William Evans asked if there was a reason to act on the rezone before he left for Florida. Everett stated not at this point he was just exploring the possibility. He shared some history of the property which is a small portion of the farm he grew up on. Ed Bitner feels the 46 corridor will be totally commercial some day.

Lisa Creech made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Terry Baker seconded. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:50 pm.