Plan Commission members present: Mark Mitter, Chairman, Rick Pope, Tarry Feiss, Mike Hall, Nick Held, Dave Schmidtgoesling, and Roger Woodfill. Absent: Karen Shell and Patrick deMaynadier. Attorney Arnie McGill present as was Travis Miller, Planning Director and Mark McCormack, Enforcement Officer.
Soaphill Road Subdivision- 25 lots from Rollander Enterprises - was tabled after nearly two hours of testimony and discussion. Mike Hall removed himself from the board for this because he was the surveyor for the development. Attorney for Rollander was Richard Butler who is also the attorney for the County Health Dept. [Note: Because there are issues surrounding the type of sewage treatment being sought on this land and because the Health Dept. has indicated that they will require a 2nd leach site, it appears that there may be some ethical conflicts for the attorney. This was brought up by one of the residents in the area.]
Approximately 35 residents attended.
Issues to be resolved for the next meeting include but are not limited to: roadway width, evaluation of intersections at both ends of Soaphill Road, traffic counts with regard to the seasonal activity of Elk Run Golf Course, conflicting info on the traffic counts from the developer’s previous study two years ago and the current counts, fire hydrants, water line pressure and line size, septic considerations and the future connectivity to a sewer line.
The developer presented plans for a fitness trail at the meeting- this was not included in the application. The trail appears to access the 10.7 + acres reserved for leach fields and the greenspace area. It should be noted that the 10.7+ acres has a little less than half of it as a reasonably flat area for leach fields. According to the topographical map that area is surrounded on 3 sides by fairly steep slopes, so that the leach fields will run off to the surrounding properties and creeks. It should also be noted that the 25 homes in this development will send all their septic tank effluent thru a pump and high pressure lines to this field of about 5 acres.
Sewer Board was approached about providing oversight. They cited several reasons why they couldn’t- timing as well as it not being in the current geographical area they service at this time. The board is still getting the original district set up- and don’t want to add to it till they get this part right. [Note: see minutes of the previous sewer board meeting on this site for details.]
Applicant’s attorney- Richard Butler, presented his letter from two years ago restating why he thought the board had to accept the subdivision. He also stated that IDEM has the authority over the septic issues and that, in his opinion, the Plan Commission has no authority to deny based on septic issues.
Item tabled and will come back in May for consideration with more facts at that time. [Note: It was apparent that the applicant was not ready at this meeting- if all items are not in place the Planning Department should not schedule a hearing.]
Several technical items concerning roads and results of the transportation assessment study were discussed for two hours and approved for review and approval by the commissioners at their June meeting. These will update the code books.
The Plan Commission scheduled a working session May 12th to begin the review of the draft master plan. Copies were passed to members for their review prior to that meeting.
Meeting adjourned 11 PM.
Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township
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