27 July 2015 Dearborn County Plan Commission Meeting Notes
Present: Dennis Kraus Jr., Chairman, Russell Beiersdorfer, Mark Lehman, Art Little, Jake Hoog, Jim Thatcher, and Eric Lang.
ABSENT: Mike Hornbach, Dan Lansing, and Andy Baudendistel, Attorney
Also Present: Mark McCormack, Plan Director, and Arnie McGill, Attorney.
ACTION ON MINUTES- The May 27th and June 29th were approved.
OLD BUSINESS: none
NEW BUSINESS:
Request: Zone Map Amendment; requesting to be rezoned to
Manufacturing Two (M-2)
Applicant/Owner: Maxwell Development / Tootles Trust
Site Location: Moore Drive, West Harrison, IN
Legal: Sec. 10 & 15, T 7, R 1, Map #01-10 & #01-15, Parcel #033.000 & #004.000
Township: Harrison Size: Approximately 90 Acres
Zoning: Currently Zoned Agricultural (A) and General Business (B-2)
It came to light that all adjoins had not been notified- especially those south of the river. Maxwell proposed that he would lop off 25 acres on the south as it is in the flood plain already and cannot be developed anyway. The attorney said they would at least have to have a survey of the 68 acre portion with the red flood plain area partitioned off with just the 25 acres in south section BEFORE the commissioners hearing the rezone and taking action. Randy Maxwell said that some of that 68 acre piece could have flood plain areas that become developable depending on the studies done there. The flood lines are broad based and so amendments can be submitted to the gov’t agencies to allow building in some of those areas. They do not actually change the map. McCormack said it doesn’t make sense to him not to change the actual map too if they allow building amendments, but that’s how it is done.
STAFF REPORT: presented in part by Mark McCormack:
NATURE OF REQUEST: To REZONE property within an Agricultural (A) District and
General Business (B-2) District to a Manufacturing Two (M-2) District
Zone Map Amendment:
The Applicants are requesting to rezone approximately 90.3 acres from an Agricultural (A) District and General Business (B-2) District to a Manufacturing Two (M-2) Zoning District to allow for a series of industrial uses at this location.
The Applicants are requesting the Plan Commission to forward a recommendation (either
favorable or unfavorable) for a Zone Map Amendment to the Dearborn County Board of
Commissioners, who will ultimately make the final decision on this request.
1) Please refer to Article 5, Section 540 of the Dearborn County Zoning Ordinance regarding the criteria that the Plan Commission and Board of Commissioners must pay reasonable regard to in the examination of a Zone Map Amendment request.
SECTION 540 - Findings Necessary for Map Amendment
In preparing and considering proposals for zoning text and map amendments, the Plan
Commission and the legislative unit shall pay reasonable regard to the following:
1. The Comprehensive Plan;
2. Current conditions and the character of current structures and uses in each district;
3. The most desirable use for which the land in each district is adapted;
4. The conservation of property values throughout the jurisdiction;
5. Responsible development and growth.
2) Please refer to Article 5, Section 520 of the Dearborn County Zoning Ordinance
concerning the minimum requirements for an application for a Zone Map Amendment that
involves a Concept Development Plan.
A Concept Development Plan if submitted shall include the following minimum requirements and any other supporting information that the applicant believes addresses the specific finding used in reviewing a Zoning Map Amendment.
Minimum Requirements:
General Existing Site Characteristics – ownership; topography with a maximum contour interval of ten (10) feet—two (2) foot intervals preferred; soils maps (and legends);
drainage; vegetation; and other physical characteristics;
Transportation Patterns - public and private roads and internal and external circulation
patterns, rights-of-ways, easements and parking;
Land Use Characteristics - existing and proposed land use maps as referenced in the
Dearborn County Comprehensive Plan—including the location, description and size
(acreage) of all proposed land uses—as well as maps and accompanying documentation
illustrating the following amenities, where applicable: open spaces, neighborhood and /
or community amenities, impervious surfaces including streets, parking areas, structures
and buildings (general description of size area, intensities/densities), and proposed
stormwater drainage facilities. The proposed land use map should also accurately depict
average lot sizes and densities on the plan at a scale no larger than 1” = 200’ and should
be oriented with north, to the extent feasible, located near the top portion of the plan;
Approximate location and number of (both) anticipated residential and non-residential
units along with approximate square footage, density and height;
Utilities and Infrastructure: The general location(s) of existing sewer, water, electric,
and gas utilities, if applicable, that will serve the proposed development must be shown
or referenced on the concept plan. This information shall also be accompanied by
written statements from the service providers that address capacity issues as well as
affirm the capability of the applicant to have these services extended to the proposed
development. *All written statement(s) shall be considered current—if less than 1 year
old;
Relationship of Proposed Zone Change with Comprehensive Plan - how specifically the
proposed zone change would conflict, conform, complement or otherwise affect the
Comprehensive Plan as well as any special studies that are designed to further detail the
Comprehensive Plan in a specific area;
An 8.5" by 11" or 11" by 17" reduction of the plan that can be copied on a standard
photocopier;
An area map showing adjacent property owners and existing land uses within 500 feet
of the parcel;
The Applicants have not submitted a Concept Development Plan in association with this
particular Zone Map Amendment request. According to Article 5, Section 520 of the Dearborn County Zoning Ordinance: “…Rezoning applications submitted without a Concept Development Plan shall be reviewed from the perspective of the “maximum allowable use” based upon the requirements, principally permitted uses, and conditional uses of the zoning being requested…”
Staff Report:
3) This property—Harrison Township, Township 7N, Range 1W, Sections 10 & 15, identified as being parcel #s 033.000 and 004.000—located on the southern portion of Harrison Brookville Road (in this section)—is currently located within an Agricultural Zoning District and a General Business (B-2) District.
*Please note: The legal description provided in association with this property may need to be modified, as there are discrepancies in the deeded acreage(s) and the taxed acreages.
Additionally, if only a portion of the subject property is ultimately recommended to be
rezoned, then a completely new legal description will be required.+
+Please refer to the ‘Floodplain/Flood Prone areas’ section of Item #8 in this report.
4) During the Comprehensive Plan Update process, County staff identified this parcel as being used for Agricultural and Commercial purposes. The proposed development site is bordered to the east and northeast by Commercial Use(s); the remaining areas of the site are bordered by Agricultural Uses.
5) The Applicants’ proposal does not include a traffic estimate, as the industrial uses associated with this development have not been specifically limited / identified—other than sexuallyoriented businesses, which have been voluntarily removed.
*Please note: The Dearborn County Technical Review Committee also has the authority to
require a full Traffic Study (in accordance with Article 23, Section 2320 of the Zoning
Ordinance) during a Site Plan Review process, if necessary or applicable.
**Staff recommends that this item be addressed as a written commitment if this application
receives a favorable recommendation.
6) Please refer to Article 25, Table 25.1 of the Zoning Ordinance regarding the minimum
dimensional standards and maximum density requirements for a Manufacturing Two (M-2) District. A Manufacturing Two (M-2) zoning classification would allow for a maximum building density of 25,000 square feet per acre. The presence of floodplain / flood-prone areas on the property makes the maximum density challenging, if not impossible to meet or exceed on most of the property.
7) Please refer to the Goals and Strategies of the Comprehensive Plan, pages 59, 72-74, 95,
110, 116, 121, 148-149
8) Land Use Designation Criteria:
Please refer to the Comprehensive Plan, Land Use Element, pages 124, 142-149
Moderate and Steep Slopes: As stated in the Comprehensive Plan, slopes with
gradients over 20% should be avoided for clearing, re-grading, or construction. There
appear to be no areas identified in this project that are intended to be developed that
meet or exceed this (20%) threshold.
Floodplain/Flood Prone areas: More than half of the 68-acre southern parcel
involved with this request is situated within the floodway of the Whitewater River.
Approximately 2/3 of the remaining area for both parcels appears to be situated the one
hundred (100) year flood hazard area (Flood Hazard Zone “A”), as determined by the
applicable FIRM Community Panel Map. *None of this area is currently being used for
building purposes or outside storage.
Transportation Infrastructure / Functional Roadway Classifications:
U.S. 52 is a Category II Arterial Road—with a paved width ranging from 22 to
24 feet in this area. (4,680-6,508 vehicles per day)
*The transportation figures included in this section have been determined by referencing the Dearborn County Department of Transportation & Engineering traffic counts and County staff’s field inspection(s). These measurements are not intended to imply that there are uniform conditions on the roadways referenced.
Sanitary Sewer: This property is proposed to connect to the City of Harrison sanitary
sewer facility, via the Dearborn County Regional Sewer District.
Technical Review Committee Recommendations and Findings:
9) Please refer to the Technical Review Report / letter from the June 15th, 2015 Technical Review
Committee Meeting. Please note that as of Tuesday, July 14th, these items remain incomplete or questionable:
A letter / document confirming the availability of the site’s Fire and EMS services has
been received, but the letter is not from the affected Fire and EMS department;
As noted earlier in this report, other than an acknowledgement that sexually-oriented
businesses are proposed to be excluded (by the Applicants) from consideration for this
site, there are no specific restrictions regarding the industrial uses associated with a
Manufacturing Two (M-2) Zoning District designation for this development.
10) Please refer to the Applicant’s Zone Map Amendment statement(s) and enclosures.
11) The County Engineer is reviewing the application and will provide a letter, which will be sent out separately. At present, the only vehicular access to this site is from Moore Drive, which connects to Harrison Brookville Road across from the I-74 interchange near West Harrison. But he does want a traffic study if vehicle trips are 1000 trips or more per day.
PC Board:
Art Little said that traffic counts were done along 52 recently- they should be able to get that number. No other questions for McCormack from Board yet.
Eric Lang said that his company has assisted Maxwell on this. He has not worked on it. The board decided to allow him to stay on the board for this.
Randy Maxwell presented as the applicant- for Tootles Trust, the owner. He said they have a business interested in moving into the existing building there with some renovations. They do not want their name reveled yet.
The legal description will be taken care of. The concept development plan is not submitted as tehy do not know for sure what will happen there. They will be reaching out to adjoiners. they think the M-2 zoning will cover most of what they can consider. This parcel allows for rail exposure, so that is good as many applicants in the past have looked for this. Maxwell said that the traffic study for 1000 trips per day is OK with them.Taking the 25 acres off leaves about 65 acres to work with.
No questions for Randy Maxwell from the board.
PUBLIC - no one wants to speak on this request. There were 10 neighbors in the audience.
PC Commission Discussion:
Little- no comment- wishes him the best and hopes we get business there.
Hoog- thinks it fits in pretty well with the Comp plan.
Thatcher- nothing
Lehman-has some legitimate concerns with traffic. Without a site or improvement plan, this can go at a whole bunch of different directions. It is required at the zone change. So we should consider this even if we don’t think it will generate that much traffic.
Beiersdorfer- I’m good.
Lang- I’m good.
Kraus, Jr.- This is in the are that the county is marketing for economic development for the tax base.
Lehman- Motioned to give a favorable recommendation to commissioners to change the zone to M-2 from Ag and B-2. The applicant needs to exclude the southernmost 25 acres closest to the Miami Whitewater and that they have a traffic study if the use exceeds 1000 trips per day. Second by Beiersdorfer. All ayes- Passed.
8 PM
ADMINISTRATIVE:
Interviewing people for assistant planner this week. Second interviews will add some PC members to interview process. He noted that with pay he has about 35 applicants.
Tagged 65 properties in Aurora ( by hand) and has spreadsheet for enforcement with their new affiliation with Aurora and the County. He is eliminating that process- and getting it streamlined. He talked to the city manager and the attorney to get this accomplished.
Had money that they couldn’t touch due to clerical issues with Council and Auditor. He has worked with them to get this rectified. They have also fixed the part time hours situation for the county, but it didn’t work out with what the PC thought they had allowed for their part timer. It cut one hour a week from Jamie also. ( 52 a year)
McCormack detailed all the work his staff is involved with now too. Especially now that they are short handed with staff. This has affected the comp plan work also.
Working on St Leon’s Comp plan also- and they have proceeded with meetings.
They are working on state and federal code changes in wireless communications and also the sign ordinance. The supreme court changed what rules we can apply to signage content.
The board asked him if he had a good vacation- McCormack said it was awesome. He went our West.
Meeting adjourned at 8:15 PM
Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township
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