28 April 2014 Dearborn
County Plan Commission Meeting Notes
Present: Mike Hall, Chairman, Dennis Kraus Jr., Russell
Beiersdorfer, Mark Lehman, Mike Hornbach, Art Little, Jake Hoog, Dan Lansing.
ABSENT: Jim Thatcher.
Also Present: Mark McCormack, Plan Director, and Arnie
McGill, Attorney.
Minutes approved from February meeting.
Arnie McGill was reappointed as board attorney.
OLD BUSINESS:
Review of the
Preliminary Plat for an 8-lot major subdivision- Soap Hill Meadows by A&B
quality Homes nka Timberline Homes & Development, LLC on Soap Hill Road in
Manchester Township on 29.142 acres on R and Ag land. Mike Hall stepped down
and left the room as he was the surveyor on the project. Dennis Kraus, Jr took
over the meeting.
This item is no longer being heard as an appeal but as an
application for a major subdivision upon the advice of the board attorney per Dennis
Kraus, Jr. Soil for septic systems are not officially approved- that is done
when the lots are purchased and set for building. They do have preliminary
approval. This is a major subdivision because of the street improvement
proposed.
Teresa Hall
presented for Hall Surveying. She gave an overview of the development plans and
how they had decided to upgrade the road. They have to do something about the
water heading for the Stafford’s property though there is a swale that exists
for that now and it dumps the water beyond their house. They also addressed
that aesthetics are not part of septic leach approvals as they are designed to
keep water on the owner’s property. Water cannot leave the property any more
than it does before development. The
main road stops where it does as that is the maximum length allowed by
ordinance for a cul-de-sac street. She said that the suggestion that they do 2
fifteen acre lots to fit in with the current density is not accurate as there
are many 1-2 acre lots in the area. Lot density is well below what is allowed.
Proposed home size and design is fitting to the area per Hall. She suggests
that landscaping will soften the privacy factors. And tagt each neighbor do
their own per their preferences. The future homeowner saves money when the
developer saves money which makes the county more attractive to business.
Andrew Lohmiller-
in full disclosure stated that he is real estate broker who will be helping
sell the lots. People need an affordable house. 3 bedroom home for about
$200,000 -$250,000. These are not pole barn houses. Going to take this cost
down to $150,000-170,000. His parents live 2 miles down on Goose Run Road. He
thinks this will increase values in the area- including for his parent’s home.
Cynthia Stafford-
called attention to recent annual report by Commissioners looking for strategic vision and hold
ourselves accountable and putting the citizens first. She said also from the
website that the planning dept is to radiate development out from existing
development. This looks more like it was randomly placed – not radiating out
from existing development. Who is doing the overarching plan about where
subdivisions should be placed. She also said that item 2a of Mike Hall’s
response addressing water runoff and erosion control is not completely
accurate. She said it is exactly the point that it already flows to their
property. She wants to know how they will measure the current flow and they want
to be able to validate that. She does not believe that the problem is easy to
solve. She addressed the letter to the PC and got an answer from eth surveyor.
They want the answer from the Plan Commission. Are we thoughtfully planning out
where these developments should go? She said there are many available lots in
existing subdivisions. Do we even need this?
Lance Stafford-
Nearly all of the septic systems are draining in the 160 ft draining towards
his lot.
Greg Edwards- He
doesn’t see that they have brought up any of the water lines etc they are going
to bring in. A few years back Elk Run Golf course burned to the ground. He
thinks that the developer needs to upgrade the water and have fire hydrants. He
also took issue with Mike Hall coming back in after the last meeting saying
that it didn’t really matter what was said they were going to put it in. He
thinks that is wrong- they should listen to the residents. He talked to a
neighbor owning a subdivision across from DC Country Club that hasn’t had
anyone want a lot in 3 years. Hillcrest only has 4 lots of 17 sold. All the
driveway on the left side of the road is sloped. Are utilities going down the
road? ( yes) he thinks the county needs to concentrate more on subdivisions
along the main roads- not back on a country lane. Hope you listen and take our
concerns into consideration. He thinks the septic evaluation should be up to
date- not from 2001. You know you want to get everything dotted and up to date
BEFORE they start. Everything here will run off onto my property behind
Staffords. How do you keep it all on their land? The property behind me almost
lost their house to the last hard rains.
Dan Neff- asked
about the accuracy of the property lines. Runoff is an issue for him also. His
kids play in the creek. I bought the property to have clean water for kids to
play. Health dept can’t approve the system until they know how many bedrooms
are planned per Kraus, Jr. There is no date on the hea;th dept letter he said.
He doesn’t know if they are bringing water to the development but a 6 “ line is
planned inside the development per Kraus, Jr.- answering Neff’s questions. He
is also concerned about the intersection being to narrow for trailers to get
in.
Greg Hogston-Dennerline
at the Sewer Board said that we have problems with septic systems failing, So
why are we building more of them?
Emmert Leffler-
Lives about a mile from the development- originally proposed 32 homes here and
dropped to 11 eventually. It was turned down every time for Rollander.
Brian Riddle-
This is country- it is not a place for another subdivision. The time to stop
this is now- before is goes further. Concern for reduced water pressure. Who
deals with that? What about noise? How does this affect the country setting.
Teresa Hall-
there are calculations that are done for pre and post run off. It determines if
there are rock dams and detention ponds. These septic systems are not discharge
systems. This was previously proposed by Rollander Enterprises. He had a larger
septic treatment proposed.
Greg Edwards-
Knew Rodney Dennerline quite well and when we were fighting the old subdivision
proposed here he said that 90% of the homes would be condemned because of
septic systems today. Is there any plan for running any public sewer up 148?
What would it cost us to fix this if the septic systems fail? Also concerned
for the road conditions. Goose run is 3 miles to Aurora and SR 148 takes 5
miles. People take a shortcut. And it’s a bad road on Goose Run. Especially
when school lets out.
END PUBLIC DISCUSSION
Lansing asked- what
has changed in infrastructure since 2002 to allow this? Lehman said that this
is different as it is smaller. They may have to combine lots too. Beiersdorfer
said that we have no control over the water pressure and fire hydrants. He said
it is tough to turn semis and trailers but you get used to it. Beiersdorfer said
they have to approve it as it meets all the standards. Or we will get sued. He
motioned to approve and Lehman seconded. All ayes except Lansing. Passed.
[NOTE: The Plan
Commission may have no control over what utility companies do, but they DO have
control over whether or not they should allow development where the utilities
are inadequate or not even planned for the near future. If the ordinance is written so loosely that
they fear lawsuits, perhaps they need to look at what they have written in
their ordinance. This is an example of the PC working at cross purposes with the
stated goals of ALL government- to ensure the HEALTH, SAFETY, and WELFARE of
their citizens. It is also disingenuous to
have developers think they have a green light, when in fact they may lose some
lots due to no septic permit. That affects their bottom line also. It also
affects the quality of their product and their reputation in the end.]
8:22 PM
NEW BUSINESS
Proposed changes to the DC Zoning Ordinance related to
animal allowances in residential districts, definitions of large and small
animals, and storage of certain types of vehicular units. This was being
discussed again as the county attorney is redoing the animal control ordinance.
Beekeeping was also addressed. Set back issues were discussed. Kennels were
also brought up. They want to get this language in concert with the animal
control ordinance. He will let the board submit their comments to him in
writing and he will redo some of the language. The current ordinance in the
planning ordinance is largely unenforceable.
Vehicular unit storage in article 2558 in residential areas.
Storage of boats, RVs etc. are becoming an issue. Angela and Steve Callahan (County Coroner) came to talk about
this. They showed evidence of how their camping vehicle was screened even
though out of compliance and a neighbor complained apparently. This was an
example of how they might want to reword the ordinance. Callahans bought a lot
in a campground for $1800 for this now. They came to stop this from happening
to someone else. They have already fixed their problem.
There may be no May meeting as there is no applicant yet.
They can get some write-up for June for them to consider on vehicular storage
rules.
ADMINISTRATIVE:
Tucker development bringing new set of engineer plans for
their subdivision with an engineer stamped set for them to consider per Mike
Hall. Jeff tucker was not there- Jay was for that discussion.
Issues with Harvest ridge intersection.
Vinnie Fazzino moving back here from Wash DC area- is 6’7”
tall – new planner he hired. (joked about a PC basketball team)
Regional trails plan was attended by Mark McCormack. He said
it was a good learning place. He brought brochures for the PC members too. He
keeps the Facebook page updated.
Meeting adjourned at 9:30 PM
Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township
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