28 April 2008 Dearborn County Plan Commission Meeting Notes
Present: Hall, Chairman, Kraus, Jr., Laws, Lehman, Nelson, Lansing, Thompson, and Beiersdorfer.
ABSENT: Held
Also present: McGill, Attorney and McCormack, Planning Director, and Listerman, County Transportation Director.
Kathy Scott- Candidate for D-1 Commissioner was present in the audience
The agenda was rearranged to accommodate the citizens present for 2 of the items.
1. Corrections to Sheet 1 of the Zoning Maps- Washington, Hogan, and Center Townships.
All errors were in Washington Township. Two corrections were made as supported by the records of meetings and files: One was to parcels 16 and 17 of Section 3 Washington to Ag grandfathered in a Residential zone. The other was to Section 10 of Fairmeadows Subdivision, which stays as B-2 with footnote on the map.
Section 12- the Legge property is tabled for more research to bring back in May.
Nine citizens from the area were present for the meeting and had all been notified.
2. TBS Development addressed the Plan Commission to discuss the motion from July 23, 2007 meeting. TBS owns Lot 156 of Sugar Ridge and UCB Bank (Bill Ritzmann and EG McLaughlin) were also present as holding the mortgage for lot 157 which is currently in foreclosure. Lot 157 depends upon an easement thru 156 for access to Augusta Drive.
Restrictions placed on them are impossible to accomplish due to Macke bankruptcy. Macke’s lands are going to banks and insurance companies. Bonding is not in place. There are 3-4 HOAs and 20-30 sections of the Sugar Ridge PUD. Two roads are public- Augusta Drive and Oakmont.
UCB- Ritzmann- stated that they were holders of the Lot 157 mortgage and viewed TBS as “innocent victims” in all this.
McGill’s personal and not legal opinion was that the county let the bonds lapse and will end up with paying for top surface on the public roads and also the stoplight.
TBS and their attorney, Pat Mobves of Ft. Wright, argued to end the moratorium on building as their losses are accumulating at $15,000/month and they will end up in foreclosure if this keeps getting tabled.
Hall said: Your client knew this was a problem area.
TBS: Not until we got to the Plan Commission- after we’d bought it.
Nelson: There is a tier of people who come after TBS- the condo owners- we have to protect also. What if they get more problems as this is NOT fixed? What about UCB trying to get their road?
There is no moratorium on development- but the variance is dependent on conditions that have not been met. The Plan Office is issuing permits on single family homes.
Nelson motioned and ?? seconded to let the TBS condos proceed conditioned upon:
1. Posting a $20,000 bond toward the overall development cost of finishing part of Augusta Drive (Total cost to finish approx $ 150,000 per Listerman)
2. Provide acceptable agreements with Lot 157 owners for acceptable access.
3. Statement that you will not resist being part of a TIF if they get one to finish the PUD.
4. Agree to become part of a single master HOA for the PUD.
(Delete the HOA on paper now and use this condo HOA as a “master template” for the rest.)
All ayes. Passed.
Thompson and Nelson also stated they wanted all the property owners etc. listed for the next meeting. McCormack to get that.
3. Proposed amendments to DC Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance.
Both items were tabled for more research after 1.5 hours of discussion.
Items were on sectionalizing and phasing major subdivisions- tabled for more research on condo subdivisions, and dead end streets, turnarounds and emergency accesses. The discussion on cul de sacs went on at length.
Listerman told the board that every road we accept is a loss because of low road funding. He said Hidden Acres off Sneakville had 92 homes off a single access point. If 2 cul de sacs were joined that would have dropped to 40 and if a couple houses were moved it would drop to 20. Harley Springs and Dogridge had similar issues. Listerman urged them to make it work with more accesses and NOT base it on a market strategy. Morgan’s Ridge is better and they are working on accesses there.
McCormack said research shows we have the HIGHEST HOUSE COUNT and LONGEST LENGTH for any cul de sac ordinance. Typically lengths are less than 1000 ft. Ours in 1200. Our ordinance was taken from Boone County’s ad they never intended theirs to be 1000 ft per branch- it was to be total number of feet from the main road – including branches.
Emergency accesses were discussed with respect to EMS finding them even and also 15% grades being difficult for fire trucks. Maintenance will be from HOAs preferably.
Tabled till May.
ADMINISTRATIVE:
1. Bond report passed out. Park Place and Eden Gardens finishing up. Tucker’s subdivisions will get no more permits if he doesn’t get his bonds in. Villages of Sugar Ridge in bankruptcy.
2. Copies of new Zoning books passed out.
3. Records are being digitized and stored in two locations. Bought a good scanner and doing this in-house to avoid excess costs. [NOTE: Also a good productive use of employee time with the lack of development projects now.]
4. Doing inspections thru 2004 and found about ½ with problems. Subdivision inspections are next.
5. Fiscal Impact study with OKI – met May 23 and told them what they expect and we will get data to them for the model. We hope to be done by Nov- Dec.
6. US 50 Collaborative met and will meet in June again. They will try to work with some businesses using info from the Gateway Study and Strand Study to get ROW access and preliminary design work so as not to wait until 2016 when INDOT money is available to start.
7. The Building Dept has suspended all commercial inspections because of the state. Greendale is OK as they do their own inspections, but all other cities and towns depend on us for this and have to wait for a stat inspector now per Thompson.
8. Trying to set up a working session in June for working on redoing the Ag districts and Residential per the comp plan. McCormack urged PC members to contact commissioners to get the Comp plan approved so this can proceed.
9. May meeting moved back a week due to Memorial Day.
Meeting adjourned 11:25 PM
Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township
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37 comments:
Restrictions placed on them are impossible to accomplish due to Macke bankruptcy. Macke’s lands are going to banks and insurance companies. Bonding is not in place. There are 3-4 HOAs and 20-30 sections of the Sugar Ridge PUD. Two roads are public- Augusta Drive and Oakmont.
If you like this sort of mess, please reelect Fox, Hughes Fehrman and Barrett!
They just love making the taxpayers guarantors for all their development buddies' projects.
A comp. plan in place, with an eye to sustainable "smart growth" are also not very agreeable to Fox, Hughes, Fehrman and Barrett!
Remember everything Fox, Hughes, Fehrman and Barrett have done and are willing to do to help out their development buddies when you vote this year!
The mentality that brought us Sugar Ridge is the very same mentality populating the dcrsd board.
"McGill’s personal and not legal opinion was that the county let the bonds lapse and will end up with paying for top surface on the public roads and also the stoplight."
McGill sees that as a liability, Ewbank would see such a trend as an investment in HIS future financial wellbeing.
As long as development interests are always catered to on the backs of us taxpayers.
As Planning Commission attorney, has McGill ever berated a citizen at a public meeting, as Ewbank has done in the past, or does McGill just do the job he is paid to do buy US and does not think he is King of this County?
Ewbank is unique amongst our local lawyers. His arrogant, condescending and better than everyone else Psyche seems to be more genetic and not law school originated.
What a mess our development cronies, flunkies and shills are trying to leave us!!!!!!!!!!
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
And the development dinks are trying once again to clutter up this blog because it does not contain the Benning development brown nosing gene.
They could create their own blog, but with no comments allowed by non-dcedi members, it would look little more than an ass kissing development press release.
Notice, the Development disrupters did not have to get on the agenda a week before in order to post their little petty distraction on this blog?
Will all the development losers have "desgignated" whinners election night?
We would not want too many whinners on the road election night!
If you have ever seen McGill at a meeting it doesn't appear that he is doing anything for the money he collects from the tax payers. He does other work during the meeting, he reads newspapers and magazines and most of the time it doesn't even seem like he is paying attention to anything being said. IF you think Ewbank is to much, McGill is not enough.
I wonder whose base is really, truly motivated to get out and vote in their parties' primaries?
How many Linkmeyer clones will Ewbank and company have to run in the general?
IF you think Ewbank is to much, McGill is not enough.
Some folks can multi-task. I work at my computer, I have the radio on, the history channel on the tv and I can peruse the internet at the same time.
Not counting I put up all new shelves in my closet to today.
McGill's salary is a pittance- check it out- call the PZ office- he comes to the meetings and is basically "on call."
What do you want? Him to take over?
Him to take over?
We need more hands-on, owner/operators of our politicians like Ewbank and Lehner!
Can you imagine Fox, Hughes, Fehrman, Morris, Barrett and the now politically dead Benning, having to function on their own, with out an Ewbank or Lehner hand up their asses working their jaw strings?
Does McGill "tell" other public and elected officials who to vote for?
Or is that just the province of Ewbank and his ilk?
McGill gets county health insurance which is worth it's weight in gold. Why do you think all the attorney want to be the legal council for all these little boards. It's not for the pay, it's for the perks!
By the way, I enjoyed the speach!
Oops, I mean speech!
Reading the Journal Press this week, I am more convinced than ever that Rick Pope is the development candidate set up by Maxwell and friends to try to dilute Kathy Scott's votes.
Pope will fail.
Like Linkmeyer failed.
Get used to failing, Maxwell and friends.
You cannot bully nor finesse your way to shoving your selfish, greedy agenda down our throats.
I loved how the Journal stressed Rick Pope's characterization of "PALATABLE" in reference to the Comprehensive Plan!
What a crock of shinola Pope is trying to push.
Hey Rick, the only folks who did not find the Comprehensive Plan "PALATABLE" was your good friend and local development bully John Maxwell and his ilk!
Further his comment relative to sewers:
"He may not agree with all the decisions, but there are some bright people working to come up with solutions."
What bright people?
Not on the DCRSD board!
Hell, we have a trailer park owner who has already had his trailer park sewered on our dime!
We have a realtor doing his best to sewer Gabbard Estates on our dime!
We have a developer who has already tried to get 2.3 million dollars of our dimes to foster his development!
And we now have an insurance salesman, who still lives in Ohio trying to do God knows what with our dime!
And yet, High Ridge Estates, the reason the DCRSD was formed, is still dumping raw sewage into our water ways!
What solutions?
The DCRSD board keeps trying to force sewer hookups, no matter the end cost to the "forced" consumer to subsidize development of its board members and buddies!
Just say no to the Development "Trojan Horse" Rick Pope!
How "PALATABLE" was it for the County Commissioners to rush the formation of the dcrsd into a County wide sewer district without any meaningful input from the citizens of this County?
Look for a "glowing" editorial concerning Rick Pope in the Bright Beacon.
Gary and Liz are always willing to play the development owned republican leadership game.
Anything to try to thwart those who do not chearlead incessantly for development.
How "bright" is it to strive for entire regions on sewers that do not work when the power goes out?
First they call him "no pitty Witte" because he is tough.
Now they are calling him "Mr. Softy" because he correctly threw out a drug case because of procedural defect.
Politics and power make people bat crap crazy!
Sorry, new at this posting...
Rick Pope! Yeah! We need more "friends of Maxwell" in office! How about the voters placing Maxwell back in line with the rest of us when it comes to influence with our elected officials?
Maxwell already has enough friends.
While the rest of us were getting forced hookup letters and being sued by St. Leon's Development owned attorney, Maxwell is still not hooked up to St. Leon's sewers. If you should bring that up in front of the commissioners, Ewbank, another friend in of Maxwell, will berate you in public. Enough already John Maxwell's "friends" running this county.
"Macke’s lands are going to banks and insurance companies. Bonding is not in place."
"McGill’s personal and not legal opinion was that the county let the bonds lapse and will end up with paying for top surface on the public roads and also the stoplight."
Who dropped the ball on this? Macke's been playing shell games in Hamilton County for years. All someone had to do was turn over a few stones to see how he does bussiness. He's even burned his own family. Once again our current leadership has left us holding the bag for their greed.
"Once again our current leadership has left us holding the bag for their greed."
Jeff Hughes, Rick Fox, Charlie Fehrman and Maynard Barrett:
ALWAYS PREPARED TO GIVE DEVELOPMENT ALL THEY SHALL ASK FOR AND THEN THEY JUST SEND THE TAB TO THE TAXPAYERS' TABLE!!!
"Who dropped the ball on this? Macke's been playing shell games in Hamilton County for years. All someone had to do was turn over a few stones to see how he does bussiness. He's even burned his own family. Once again our current leadership has left us holding the bag for their greed."
It was between the Planning Department, Engineering Department and Building Department. There hasn't been communication between the departments for years, and they are just now starting. Especially after the whole Macke problem started. I am not sure what it would have to do with the Commissioners. Ralph has been a commissioner for years and didn't do anything about the situation or see the problem comming.
"Ralph has been a commissioner for years and didn't do anything about the situation or see the problem comming."
Years? Thompson took office in Jan 2007.
I am telling you, Sugar Ridge was caused by the almighty forced sewer hookup issue.
"It was between the Planning Department, Engineering Department and Building Department. There hasn't been communication between the departments for years, and they are just now starting. Especially after the whole Macke problem started. I am not sure what it would have to do with the Commissioners. Ralph has been a commissioner for years and didn't do anything about the situation or see the problem comming"
"Ralph has been a commissioner for years and didn't do anything about the situation or see the problem comming."
Which department is in charge of the bonding? That's where the problem started. The housing slow- down just fast forwarded the issue.
Isn't the Messmore in charge, he is the county watchdog. Eubank steps in when it a legal issue.
As far as Ralph Thompson, Macke screwed the citizens of Dearborn County long before RT took office. Don't blame him for shedding light on the issues.
PS: Nice spin, but the citizens have been awakened. I heard there are openings in Washington for spin-doctors.
"I am telling you, Sugar Ridge was caused by the almighty forced sewer hookup issue."
Yeah. Just move along. Nothing to see here. Nothing is happening. The DCRSD sewer scammers are not trying at every bend and turn to force hook-ups. Why, the DCRSD are just altruistic public servants. Who cannot seem to plan for their development without the forced contributions from the rest of us.
Forced sewer hookups.
Big deal!
Just go to your loan officers and ask to borrow the measly $10,000 to 50,000 dollars needed to pay for it!
Remember Brett said that the money we spend to subsidize his development whims will lower our taxes and pay for our new jail!
I guess we all can expect one hell of a tax savings after we spend tens of thousands of dollars on Brett's development!
is this going to be like sub of henderson rd tax payers take it again ??
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