26 July 2021 Dearborn County Plan Commission Meeting Notes
Present: Dennis Kraus, Jr., Chairman, Russell Beiersdorfer, John Hawley, Mark Lehman, Jake Hoog, Dan Lansing, and Eric Lang
ABSENT: Joe Vogel and Jim Thatcher
Also Present: Mark McCormack, Plan Director, Nicole Daily, Zoning Administrator, and Andy Baudendistel, Attorney.
Baudendistel read the Title VI statement as legally required.
ACTION ON MINUTES- Minutes from March 22, 2021 meeting approved
OLD BUSINESS: none
NEW BUSINESS:
Request: Waiver to not construct sidewalks; Hidden Acres Subdivision Applicant / Owner: Maxwell Development, Inc. Site Location: Grubbs Road, approximately 1,800 feet south of the intersection of Sneakville and Grubbs Road Legal: Section 34, T7N, R1W of Logan Township Section 3, T6N, R1W of Miller Township Size: 158.3 Acres (Original affected property) Zoning: Residential (R)
McCormack presented. Zoned R from 2006. There are different phases of this. 21 neighbors notified. Had 2 comments from the same house and one other resident also submitted written comments.
They looked to see if the changes requested were major or minor. Sidewalks are considered a major request. Part of this subdivision was intended to be required- but not all of it. Public hearing for primary plat was in 2006. 295 lots were approved in primary plat on 2006. Secondary plat was in 2008. In reviewing the plans for Phase 2 in 2020 they noticed that the sidewalks required for Phase 1 were not there. Tech review for Phase 2 was in 2020 and the original one had expired. ( It was 13 years before)
There are 30 lots on 19.34 acres Phase 1
15 lots on 18.53 acres Phase 2
6 lots on 17.959 acres for One Mile that is the broken off portion of Hidden Acres.
These are less dense than what is originally proposed. The density would require sidewalks on one side of the street, except for the cul-de-sac perhaps. The sidewalks were approved out of the county right of way.
The width of sidewalks changed to 5 ft from 4 ft due to ADA standards. Bond will be on Grubbs Rd as the other phases are still not done and there will be construction traffic on it. There was a 10 ft walking trail on Melanie Meadow. Pictures show that there are culverts and utility boxes where the sidewalk should have been.
The sidewalks should be verified before a certificate of occupancy is granted. That did not happen in this case. There are residents who don’t want a sidewalk there and others do want them. There have been few sidewalks required in the past few years as they were not needed per the rules.
Randy Maxwell hopes for a discussion and said these plans are now going to have lower density so that sidewalks won’t be required. They had no platted pathways in Phase 1. When they submitted Phase 2- and he knocked on doors where sidewalks would be needed. Saw that there were impediments to getting these done according to ADA standards. Listerman did not want them in the county ROW as they don’t want to maintain them. He also said that they didn’t try to avoid doing what they were supposed to do. (put in sidewalks)
Eric Lang asked why they can’t put them in if they were designed in the plan.
Maxwell said they signed off on them but they didn’t do the engineering for them.
Lang said he is having trouble making the connection as to how that got messed up. There is a lot of time from 2006 to now.
Maxwell said- Morgans Ridge is the same problem and same timeline. That is 60 lots on 115 acres. This will be similar.
The sidewalks should be tied to curb and gutter Maxwell thinks. There is only one subdivision in the county that has sidewalks installed per ordinance. That is Park Place. Density would have to be less than one unit per acre. 30 lots on 19.34 acres- that would need sidewalks per ordinance. 14 on 18.5 acres. The one or 2 lots in the back are 5 acre lots. [NOTE: Larger lots can be replaced later to create more lots if the economy improves.] He noted that the numbers are really less as some owners have purchased adjoining lots. [NOTE: That does not mean that they won’t build on those adjoining lots or sell them.]
Mark Lehman said the connectivity was to try to get pedestrian bike paths to be more creative in getting communities connected. That is why it is CAN versus SHALL in the ordinance.
Maxwell said that he reached out to the homeowner on Renck for a path and they said - no way. Not sure if the county has right of way there. [NOTE: When this was approved in 2006 the motion was that Renck and Picnic Woods would NOT be connected to this. ) the neighbors didn’t want the extra traffic from another subdivision)]
Public Comment
Mark Rosen wants them to NOT have sidewalks required as the drainage would be a big problem and it would take a lot away from the land and the curb appeal. His wife note that there is a swale instead of a culvert as they are on the high side of the street. Electrical boxes etc are also in the way. Everyone walks on the road and is courteous. Don’t see a need for one. Their home is 1/2 mile from Sneakville. Feasibility to walking along Sneakville not so good.
Other resident on Grubbs opposes the sidewalks. Connecting to the Bright Park is not feasibility as it is far down Sneakville and the traffic is not good for walking. He sees the sidewalks as going no where on this and not much traffic back there. He sees it as a waste of development dollars. Stands with Randy Maxwell and his fellow neighbors the Rosens in opposing sidewalks in this case.
End public discussion.
McCormack said he wouldn’t advise Sneakville either to get to the park- just other ways to connect.
He also said when this was approved, there was approved with a sidewalk. And it should have been communicated to the buyers by the sellers. If the sidewalk gets changed after the fact so be it- but it should be communicated and that’s the sellers job.
Much discussion from the board on getting inter-connectivity another way to make up for the missing sidewalks. The board can’t seem to figure out how to connect to any other neighborhood from this. Maxwell couldn’t either.
Lehman said there was a large amount of green in the other area that could be a trail and then when adjoining farms sell in the future they too can connect. Connect the southern end of Grubbs Farm to One Mile Road is what Lang suggested as the tradeoff for not doing the sidewalks that were supposed to be done. Maintenance is a question. HOA in the subdivision so can they? This subdivision was 295 units proposed earlier. Now it is much less. Though the approval was for 295 originally and that approval has expired now.
Maxwell said he feels like they are requiring something that the density wouldn’t require now and that no other ones around them have sidewalks. He is going to design the interior street system that is not a thoroughfare. He agrees that connectivity is a good idea. He really wants to just do the entire subdivision- all phases so that the density is low enough to NOT need sidewalks. He wanted to decide tonight and not table for next month,
Lang motioned to approve the sidewalk waiver as requested with the stipulation that the developer be require to develop an intermodal connection at a future phase between the south line of the property near One Mile to the south line of the Grubbs Farm and to be reviewed by the tech review committee. Lehman seconded. ( Maxwell will be back for a new primary plat approval on this as the old one has expired.) All Ayes. Approved.
5 Minute Break at 10:00 PM
ADMINISTRATIVE:
McCormack went over the few changes in the proposed Solar Energy Systems Article 19 of the Zoning Ordinance. He also said the Economic Development Agreement idea was not put in as it properly belongs to Redevelopment etc. He also communicated that to Jim Thatcher as he wasn’t going to be here tonight. He said Thatcher also thought the rest of it was good to go now. Beiersdorfer moved for Favorable recommendation to Commissioners. Seconded by Lang. All Ayes.
Financial Guarantee Updates passed out.
Zoning Workshop Update- Had significant issues with PR. Newspaper came over closer to the even time and unfortunately the date didn’t get in. And the maps weren’t in the story and that has always been done in the past. He was counting n that map to get people interested. WSCH did not get back to them. Previous times they had done an interview to get the word out. So no extensive coverage there. Beacon needs a large time period to get into their monthly paper. He had sent emails to many people in the county who were at the previous master plan events. Board decided to do one more workshop and make a bigger attempt to get the word out in the county to get more input. McCormack felt like it was important to be sure people were notified better thru the media and yard signs to be sure they are aware of the zone changes. I suggested getting the maps in some frequently visited public places that people can see. ( Library, Walmart, Krogers?) [NOTE: Some people are not aware that the workshops allow for masking and distancing - it's not like a meeting where they are seated close together.]
The two Ag zones may need to be looked at to rename Rural Residential to something less confusing to the public per John Hawley.
Meeting adjourned at 10:35 PM
Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township
