Tips
Connections to Culver
It came to my attention the other day that there are people suggesting that The Dunes not have a street connection to the Town and only connect to S.R. 17 to the west. This seems ludicrous to me, from a planning standpoint, an economic development standpoint and a citizen involvement standpoint. Aside from the bad planning involved with this idea, it is probably a logistical moot point. 1) S.R. 17 is a limited access highway and INDOT is rather jealous with their driveway permits and 2) Cabinetworks owns the parcel to the west between The Dunes and S.R. 17 and are unlikely to want to bisect it with a road. *The picture to the right shows the relationship between the property being developed as The Dunes and S.R. 17.)
Interestingly though, this seems to be a recurring “problem” in Culver. This goes back to at least the early mid 2000’s when The Riggings were initially developed on the north side of town with its street, Anchors Way. At the time of the initial development, the town required a connection to State Street, but later the development was allowed to void that connection. Similarly, there were no connections required between The Riggings and the adjacent vacant property to the west.
West of the The Riggings, the Maple Ridge PUD subdivision was built a few years later. It again does not connect back into Culver, but only connects out to S.R. 10. Maple Ridge was not required to provide any connection points to adjacent properties.
This came up again with The Paddocks with a suggestion that it connect with S.R. 17 in lieu of Jefferson Street. (The Paddocks connects to Culver on Jefferson Street and includes long range plans to connect back to Academy Road to the north.) And then again, the Culver Meadows development proposed on the NW corner of town by Culver Investment Corp (CIC) was allowed to proceed through the primary PUD process with no connections back to Culver.
The Culver Meadows project was particularly troubling since it was allowed to ignore the Culver Comprehensive Plan recommendations for the extension of Academy Road to S.R.17. The reasoning given for not making the connection a requirement was that there were property owners between Culver Meadows and Academy Road that were opposed to the connection. But that is short-sighted. The Town of Culver is theoretically here in perpetuity. Those homeowners will change over time. Culver Meadows should have been required to provide their portion of the required Right-of-Way through their property and Culver could have waited for the right time to make the connection using that Right-of-Way. CIC was already planning a connection to S.R. 17, so it was just a matter of making that connection where it could serve both needs.
From the developer’s standpoint, these controlled entrances are the next best thing to creating gated communities, but with the benefit of dedicating the streets for municipal maintenance. Theoretically they are reducing traffic in the development to their residents only. This is part of the mindset where we’re seeing more privacy fences and complaints at Council meetings about street traffic. The last drawing I saw for The Dunes has a single entrance and that didn’t even align with adjacent streets. (That drawing is several months old.) There are reasons why towns are laid out on grids and Cul-de-Sac developments lead to more sprawl. (See previous post here.) Grids don’t always work, but the connections are still important.
Connected streets cut down on traffic bottlenecks. What are the residents of The Dunes going to do when street work is required at the entrance? That’s 200 residences with no redundant connection. There is a reason water lines are looped. The same principle applies to streets.
Connected streets promote walking and biking. They invite current residents into the new neighborhoods and vice versa. This is how connections are made. This is where a new resident might get invited to a local Church or civic club. This is how they hear about town initiatives.
Connected streets promote block parties, garage sales and other community involvement activities. The goal of new development goes beyond the head count and ad valorem increase. Culver should want the new residents to become community members. We don’t need more part-time residents and we don’t want to be a bedroom community.
I talked about changing The Dunes’ connections to the town before. (here) I think that idea should be expanded to include additional connections. Make them part of our community for the future. Maybe this is another case made for an Infrastructure Czar… And as far as a connection to S.R. 17? Let’s suggest connection points to the west and south for future development. It’s just good planning.
Planning Conundrum
Because I can’t say no, and because I generally believe in giving back to the community, I agreed to be on the Subdivision Ordinance Review Committee for Marshall County. (Currently I’m on the Plymouth Comp Plan Committee, (2x) and the Culver Comp Plan Committee (3x)) Marshall County Plan Director, Ty Adley, wisely recognized that the proposed new sewer districts working their way through the County could result in an increase in requests for new subdivisions. Apparently, for the first time in many years, a subdivision application was made last year, alerting him to issues with the old ordinance.
There’s lots to change and I think we can make major improvements. Apparently there have been some updates, but never a rewrite. There are issues where it ventures into Zoning requirements and thus creates some conflicts.
One of the larger discussions at the last meeting was how to balance fairness and good planning when it came to subdivisions that could reasonable be expected to be gateways into additional property. So in Sketch 1 to the right, there are properties A, B, C & D all under separate ownership. Properties A, B & C are of sufficient size to support 15 lots while parcel D could reasonable support 90 lots. The owner of parcel B comes to the county and proposes a 15 lot subdivision. They would be required to access the highway from one point. They would, at a minimum, be required to stub their road to their property line (2) with parcel D, to allow access to that property. If the county determined that they wanted to limit access points to the highway, they would require road stubs connection parcels A & B as well. (road stubs 1 & 3 on the diagram.) This is good planning. Good planning would also suggest that the road connection to the highway be sized to accommodate the potential growth. This might include Accel/Decel lanes, turn lanes and a traffic blister or island. It might include heavier duty pavement specifications due to the anticipated traffic from trash collection trucks, moving vans and the anticipated traffic from the adjacent developments. While the county doesn’t currently have But there’s the rub…
If the county requires the owner of Parcel B to include all of those things because of the potential development on parcel’s A, C & D there are a few possible results:
- The cost per lot of all these improvements will be born by the first 15 lots, in lieu of being spread out over the anticipated 135 lots. This could potentially kill the 15 lot project.
- All of the improvements could be made per county requirements and no development ever happens on parcels A, C & D. Assuming the streets are dedicated to the county, the county is then maintaining infrastructure that isn’t needed.
- Standards change, so if the adjacent parcels do not develop quickly, then there may still be additional work needed, disturbing the current property owners.
- The development plan may change. Generally a temporary cul-de-sac is a reduced version designed to fit within the road right-of-way without a bulge. What happens if it becomes a permanent cul-de-sac because the adjacent property is developed without using that access point?
We didn’t really settle on any solutions, but I will follow up on this post with some potential ideas as I work through them. I think there’s a way to make at least some of this reasonably fair to the initial developer, though it will be hard to make it totally equitable.
Librarians Need Your help
I have a good friend who is a Librarian. She shared this with me. I have a sister-in-law that is a Library Director. We have done work many libraries throughout this area where the Librarian or Library Director are friends from our past work together. This is an important issue for Libraries and you should consider contacting your legislator about it.
The flier above gives information for legislators in Pulaski County. Since most of my lurkers are from Marshall County, our State Senators are:
Ryan Mishler if you’re a resident of District 9 in NE Marshall County
200 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 800-382-9467
or 317-232-9400
Email: Senator.Mishler@iga.in.gov
Mike Bohacek if you’re a resident of District 8 for the remainder of Marshall County
200 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 800-382-9467
or 317-232-9400
Email: Senator.Bohacek@iga.in.gov
And our State Representatives are:
Jack Jordan if you’re a resident of District 17, which covers the majority of Marshall Count
200 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 800-382-9841 or 317-232-9651
Email: H17@iga.in.gov
Jake Teshka if you’re a resident of District 7, which covers a small part of Marshall County west of LaPaz
200 W. Washington St.
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Phone: 800-382-9841 or 317-232-9981
Email: H7@iga.in.gov
App Anxiety
Like almost everyone I know, I’ve become a cell phone junkie. That said, I hate to talk on the damn thing. I’ve considered stealing a voice mail message I heard once: “Hello. This is Kevin’s phone. If this could be a text, hang up and text me. if you absolutely must leave a message, I’ll listen to it… eventually… and maybe decide to reply. if it’s still relevant by then…” To paraphrase Gary Gulman, the phone is just a seldom used app on my phone and if you call me on it, I’m immediately mad. How dare you!?!
I use the camera on my phone… though not for the selfies that most people do. I generally am using it for work. I’m a big fan of Twitter. I’m currently managing 6 twitter accounts and I strive to change the voice of each. I use Instagram… and Facebook… but mainly because I think I need to for work. If I know it’s your Birthday, I’ll probably send you a text. I don’t do the smarmy, self-congratulatory Facebook wall posts. Facebook is way to saccharin for me. I prefer the sarcasm of Twitter and I’ve recently found Reddit which I like as well. Reddit can be REALLY harsh… And those people are darkly funny!
Despite my love of the technology and the wild west of Twitter and Reddit, I’ve always had concerns. All the stories of scams and phishing concern me. Some are overblown, but when you’re offered a “flashlight” app that requests access to your contacts… well, that just doesn’t seem right.
So when our government tells me that TikTok is full of spyware, I don’t have a lot of trouble believing that. They have banned it on all Federal government devices. Even Indiana has banned it on State devices. While I’ve watched more than a few TikTok videos sent to me by friends, I have no desire to add that app to my phone. Yes, I’m pretty boring, but I still value at least a little bit of my privacy. As attested above, I rarely give out my cell phone number because I don’t want calls on it, but I’m starting to get more and more calls on it and a lot of spam calls on it. Is that because people I know are downloading TicTok and “Flashlight” apps and giving access to their contacts? Is that how my number is getting out there?
Even with all the warnings, use doesn’t seem to be going down. TikTok remains the trendy thing. I am disappointed that institutions that should know better continue to push it. We attend the Notre Dame Women’s Basketball games and they do a TikTok challenge. Often they’re bringing little girls out to watch videos made by the players and asking them to emulate them. You know that those kids immediately want to have the app and be like the big girls they idolize… I was at a local town meeting and a young (20’s) participant said that Culver needs to expand their social media presence to include TikTok. She said that she was embarrassed to admit that she, like many in her generation, is on the app 2 or more hours a day. This is someone I consider smart and with her drive, she has a bright future. Is she at risk because she has things on TikTok that could come back to stymie a future political career or job opportunity? Not that there isn’t a risk of that with any social media, but we’ve been told that this TikTok is specifically harvesting information for a hostile foreign government. If reports are correct, Chinese children on the app are bombarded with STEM encouragement. American children are bombarded with mindless drivel and worse, things that are causing body dysmorphia and the resultant depression. That’s problematic.
I guess this isn’t too surprising when millions of Americans are sending off DNA samples to trace their ancestry, despite the accompanying sign-offs that say the company can do what they want with the DNA information provided. How much more personal can you get? At what point will that information be available to employers, insurance companies, divorce lawyers and others that may use it to harm us? At what point will it become common place enough that it’s required? Will the history questionnaire at the Doctor be replaced by a tube to spit into, at which point they’ll know anything they want about you and your ancestors?
As with anything, it is the camel’s nose under the tent… And doesn’t that metaphor really shows this has gone on forever!?! Bad things would be stopped if they happened all at once, but work up to them bit by bit and most people will go along.
Crosswalks
June 15, 2023
Kevin Berger
Commentary, Culver, Safety, Tips
Community, Culver, government, Plymouth, Safety, Tips
At the Culver Town Council meeting this Tuesday, Don Fox made a presentation on Make My Move. It’s an interesting pilot program to encourage full-time remote workers to relocate to Indiana. Culver is a participant in the pilot program and already has someone interested.
Later, under public input, Don again spoke. He first commended the Council for their wisdom for installing the crosswalk markers in the middle of Lake Shore Drive at the Beach Lodge, Osborn’s Mini Mart and The Lakehouse Grille. He then requested they consider adding these at State Street, Washington Street and Madison Street.
It was quickly pointed out that the crossing at State Street was included in the original sign placement, but it quickly became apparent that it interfered with the ingress/egress of fire trucks at the fire station. Someone in the audience extrapolated this to be a problem if a sign was installed at the Madison Street crossing due to the narrowing of the street in this area created with the landscape/traffic islands. This also devolved into a conversation about whether this would require a sign ordinance reference or if it was exempt since it was State Law. At that point it was tabled until the next meeting.
Culver’s traffic is not unique, but it is often comprised of a mix of locals that know the area and visitors, both motorists and pedestrians, that are not as familiar with the area. One suggestion I would put forward in lieu of the center-of-the-road signs is to use Shark Teeth as an added reminder. (See left) They serve two purposes: 1) Providing a visual cue that there is a crosswalk and 2) Providing a visual cue for where to stop when there is a pedestrian in the intersection.
Nothing is free, so even though it’s just paint, there would be some cost for installation and maintenance. These will not work for snow covered roads, but at that point, you can’t see the crosswalk either! Also, the Town only has the the yellow center-of-the-road signs up Spring through Fall, since they would be destroyed by snow plows in the winter. To the best of my knowledge, Shark Teeth have not been used within the Town of Culver, but they were installed by INDOT on S.R. 10 at the crossings to the Academies sports fields. Unfortunately those are currently an example of what they look like when they aren’t maintained…
The ones in the picture above are from Plymouth, IN and I believe they are on one of their Safe Routes to School. I will say that when I first ran across them, I slowed to try and figure out what they were, but had to look it up later to actually know. I’ve also been behind people in Culver that have seen the little yield sign on the center-of-the-road signs and stopped… even though there were no pedestrians anywhere near the crosswalk… Education is an important component of any plan. But just some slowing and extra attention is the point, isn’t it?
I’m sure there will be other ideas, but this seems to be an economical and efficient solution.
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