The week of 8/16/10 was a big week for the planned Culver Garden Court project. On Tuesday, August 17th, I presented the Minor Subdivision plan for the Wade & Claudia McGee Subdivision to the Culver Plan Commission for approval. Culver allows Minor Subdivisions of property consisting of three or less parcels to be completed with a single presentation. This presentation went smoothly and was accepted by unanimous vote. All members of the Plan Commission seemed pleased that the project was moving forward.
On Thursday, August 19th, Brent Martin, Project Architect, and I presented the Special Use Permit request to to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). The BZA had a full schedule and we were fifth of five on the agenda. Brent had the opportunity, whether he wanted it or not, to observe the Culver BZA in action on several things before we presented.
The Special Use Permit covered several items: 1) We applied for the Culver Garden Court project as Apartments which are allowed, but require a Special Use Permit under the existing S-1, Suburban Residential, Zoning District. 2) The 535 sf units are smaller than is generally allowed under Culver’s multi-family housing requirements. Since this is a HUD project and the 535 sf size is a HUD maximum square footage under 202 projects, the BZA agreed to this change and allowed the project to move forward. 3) Culver’s parking space standards require 2 spaces per unit. We were granted a change from the required 26 spaces to 16 spaces. This has proven to be an adequate ratio on previous Garden Court projects.
Culver’s Board of Zoning Appeals is operating with one vacant seat. Fortunately this wasn’t an issue and the Special Use Permit was granted unanimously, 4-0.
On Friday, August 20th, there was a press conference at the Culver Union Township Public Library officially announcing the planned Culver Garden Court. Dr. Ronald Liechty, President of Garden Court, Inc., gave a speech congratulating all involved. Congressman Joe Donnelly spoke as well, giving accolades to Garden Court, Inc. and his assurances that he did all he could to make this project possible and that he knew that it would be a positive addition to the Culver Community.
There was a fair turnout for the event. Culver Town Council board members Ed Pinder, Lynn Overmyer and Ralph Winters all attended. Greg Fassett was there representing both Miller’s Merry Manor and also wearing his hat as Culver Chamber of Commerce President. Representatives from the Garden Court, Inc. Board were there as well as several representatives from Real Estate Management Corp. Jeff Kenney, Editor of the Culver Citizen, was there reporting for the Culver Citizen/Pilot News. We ended up with a front page picture and article in the Pilot News, but it didn’t make the website, so I can’t provide a link. There were citizens there as well and Dr. Liechty fielded several questions from the audience regarding this project specifically and Garden Court in general.
We are currently waiting on plans from B.A. Martin Archtects, P.C. in order to begin pricing. We hope to have things together for a closing on this project prior to September 30, 2010 which is HUD’s year end. Unfortunately, we are also waiting on release of the 501(c)3 designation for this project. We cannot close without that. Despite all the talk about efforts to expedite projects, Washington still moves slowly on most of these things… We will be breaking ground on this project as soon as we can get the release.
We struggled with this project through the winter when just a couple of more good weeks would have kept us going. Then with the wet weather this Spring, our progress on the site was further impeded. The site soils have a lot of clay, so when it gets wet, it stays wet, it’s not workable and doesn’t want to dry out. Despite covering the site with concrete blankets, the underlying ground became saturated and frozen.
Utilities have been an issue too as both the Town of LaPaz and AEP have vacillated on what they wanted regarding the sewer and electric service respectively. The sewer situation has been settled and is in the ground. We believe that the Town of LaPaz made good decisions for both themselves and LaPaz Garden Court. The revised solution provides gravity service to the site and also provides capacity for future expansion in the area. The electric service has basically gone back to the original design after exploring multiple scenarios. We think this just clarified the best route in both cases.
We’ve made some great strides forward this Spring and early Summer though! We are gaining on our schedule and the project is really coming together. Siding installation has just been completed bringing exterior finishes on the building to about 95% complete. Site work is proceeding. The detention ponds are roughed in and nearly complete. The walks and curbs are in place and the driveways should be started any day.
Inside, all infrastructure rough-in is complete and drywall is complete. Painting and other finishes will be starting within the week. Things are coming together nicely!
Unfortunately we had a break-in , but for whatever reason, the resulting damages and missing materials were minimal. We have secured the building further against similar assaults and have been assured of additional patrols by the State Police. We don’t anticipate this being a problem again as the building is secure and well patrolled.
This is our 7th Garden Court facility (See others here) and we continue to enjoy our relationship with the Garden Court team of B.A. Martin Architect, P.C., Hughes & Associates, Real Estate Management Corp. and Dr. Ronald Liechty representing the Garden Court, Inc. organization. We continue to look forward to Culver Garden Court starting later this year.
I have served as the Town of Culver representative to the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) for the past three years. This took the group through incorporation as a 501(c)6 corporation. Since that time I have been vice chairman of the corporation. My term expired at the end of December last year and I volunteered to be reappointed to the corporation board. I am pleased that the Culver Town Council chose to reappoint me at their meeting, February 10, 2010. (Pilot News Article here.) I have represented Culver to the best of my ability and believe I have served the Town well.
MCEDC has made great strides in the short time it has existed. We have established offices in Plymouth and hired an Executive Director, Administrative Staff and just recently a dedicated Grant Writer. We have a functioning website and have established ourselves as a regional leader with State and local officials as well as site locators throughout the nation. We are currently working to increase our regional position through cooperation and strategic partnerships with surrounding counties.
The Culver Town Council held a public hearing on the annexation of 80 acres on South Main Street on January 26, 2010. Part of this property is the parcel slated for the Culver Garden Court. There are three properties involved in this annexation. One property owner is protesting, but the Town Council has chosen to move ahead despite this. The Annexation passed on the second reading by a vote of 4 to 1. The article is currently online here and is available in two scans, Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
Despite the protest, this annexation should benefit all three property owners as well as the Town of Culver. The Town plans to extend water and sewer to this area in an effort to promote future development. There is a distinct dearth of developable land within Culver that has adequate water and sewer. The few parcels that do have the potential for development are currently held under ownership with no interest in development on their own or in selling parcels for development. Two of the parcel holders within this annexation have expressed an interest in development. Regardless of their intentions for their property, the third property owner will no doubt see and increase in their property value resulting from the potential achieved here.
We had the official Ground Breaking for the LaPaz Garden Court yesterday, Thursday, October 29, 2009. An article and some pictures are in the Pilot News here. There were about 25 or 30 in attendance, representing various entities that support the project. This was about 10 days after we began the actual earthwork on the site. Today’s unfit weather has slowed us down, otherwise we would have been cutting in the footings today.