I ranted a bit in a previous post here about the lack of action on the fence at 404 Lake Shore Drive. This has been an ongoing issue since pre-pandemic. While I was recently told nothing could be done about it, things changed when the property owner at 404 Lake Shore Drive applied to combine their two parcels in to one lot at the 1/17/23 Plan Commission meeting.
I attended the meeting with the intention of asking that bringing the fence into compliance be a condition of the replat, but before it got to Public Input, one of the commissioners brought it up on their own. That in itself was gratifying after all this time and hassle. At that time the owner’s representative asked what I wanted done. I requested it be brought into compliance and that there be a date set for compliance. In an abundance of consideration for the homeowner, the date was set for 8/31/23. If for some reason this has not been remedied by that time, daily fines can be requested until it is resolved.
On a somewhat amusing note, the date was pushed to the end of summer due to potential problems in finding a contractor to make the change. One commissioner suggested there was a contractor in the room that could probably do it expeditiously, pointing to me. Somehow I don’t think I will receive that call! Ha! I’m still pleased that this is moving towards resolution. Thank you Culver Plan Commission!
At Tuesday night’s Culver Town Council Meeting, Town Manager, Ginny Munroe reported on the annexation progress for the “Tamarack Road project”. This is the storage facility project proposed by Beachview Properties LLC at 18710 Tamarack Road.
I get why it is referred to by the Tamarack Road moniker since that is the property address, but it has me thinking about the future. While this is truly none of my business, I would anticipate the future business on that site will want a West Shore Drive address. That would be more recognizable than Tamarack. But will it or should it remain Tamarack Road after the annexation?
Currently South Main Street becomes Tamarack Road at the town limits. I’d need to consult our local historians, Jeff Kinney or Kurt Garner, but I assume South Main Street was Tamarack Road until some point in the past. This seems likely since on the north side of Culver, School Street becomes Tamarack Road again at the town limits.
I assume the street/road will need to be addressed by the Town and County as part of the annexation processes. Situations like this, where one side of the road is annexed, but not the other side aren’t particularly clean. The County is generally more than happy to transfer the road and it’s associated maintenance to the Town. The Town generally wants to negotiate some kind of split where costs are shared until such time as the other side is annexed. This leads to fun questions like does each entity only plow their half during snow events?
Beachview Properties Tamarack Rd Site
Assuming the Town and County work out some amicable agreement, what happens to the name? Does it remain Tamarack Road or does it become the next section of South Main Street? Circling back to the address question, would the future business see more benefit to addressing themselves as being on Main Street?
In all reality, is South Main Street really the appropriate name for even the existing portion of this street? Generally “Main Street” designates the main business district of a community. (Often communities move on and Main Street becomes relegated to a side street.) In my limited knowledge, there were only one business on that section of street in the past. There was a florist shop on the east side of the street just north of the Masonic Cemetery. That business has been gone for decades. Currently South Main Street is solely residential and assuming the Comp Plan is followed, not to mention the current plans for The Dunes, this area will be totally residential for the foreseeable future. Given that and the fact that it doesn’t even line up with Main Street proper, makes the naming question more interesting.
I don’t really have strong feelings on any of this. Just musing about the possible future and it’s ties to the past…
***********
After writing Tamarack multiple times in this post, I took a drive down this road and didn’t spot a single Tamarack tree, thus I’m assuming the name is due to Marshall County’s peculiar choice to name north-south roads after trees in a mostly alphabetical order.
Easterday Construction Co., Inc. lost a friend last week. Allen Chesser passed away Wednesday. (Obituary) Allen was our primary banking contact with First National Bank of Monterey (FNBM). We’ve followed and worked with him from his time as a loan officer to his last position as Bank President. There was no real change in the way he treated us. Last year, when it was time for our Line of Credit to renew, he personally delivered the documents and inquired about my parents. That is service you don’t find anymore. FNBM has been our go to bank because of that service, but there are cases where they actually send us elsewhere when our need is outside their niche. We’ve never gotten the same service as we received from Allen.
I helped recruit Allen to join the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council (LMEC) back in the 90’s. Allen wasn’t sure if it was what he wanted to do and he said he wouldn’t be able to do more than one term as a council member. He was still on the council doing great work to advance the mission when he passed, far surpassing my 20 year tenure. He is even the voice of LMEC in one of the survey videos. Not only was Allen an advocate, he was out getting his hands dirty as necessary. I left things in good hands and he advanced the group significantly. He’ll be missed there too.
Log Bike Rack at The Paddocks Bld 100
Personally, Allen has been a friend of the family. My father, Larry Berger, serves on the FNBM board and has often spoke about his trust in Allen. Allen’s son-in-law, Andrew Schouten, worked for Easterday Construction for several years, increasing our ties to the family. We can always count of a Christmas Card from Andrew and Emily, and have watched the growth of their children, Adrian, Katie and Nicholas. I had the opportunity to meet Adrian last year when he had volunteered for one of the committees for Culver Crossroads. It was easy to see Allen’s legacy of having a servant’s heart was passed on.
Log Bike Rack at The Paddocks Bld 300
Last year I asked Allen for a lead on someone that could create the sustainable log bike racks I wanted to install at The Paddocks. Instead of a making a connection for me, he made the racks. And then argued about taking compensation.
Allen was a friend, confidant and business partner. I don’t know that I know anyone else as genuinely nice as Allen Chesser was. His passing is a loss on a personal level to many like me, but I know it will also be felt throughout our region. Allen left a legacy of which he and his family can be proud.
After the quickie Blue Zones vote at the last council meeting (See Earlier Post), councilman Rich West requested that it be added back to the agenda for this meeting. Six people spoke for the program including myself. Other than two councilmen, no one spoke against it. After the discussion, one of the councilmen reversed themselves and it was funded at a lesser level, $15k, in a 3:2 vote. It was made clear that this did not change the pledge of $25k in each of the following years.
Though it’s good that they changed their position, there were still repercussions. Ginny Munroe tendered her resignation as Town Manager due how this was handled. Not only was the public, the Crossroads Committee and the Blue Zones groups blindsided by this decision, Ginny was as well. The town will struggle to replace her and is unlikely to find an “employee” that has the passion for Culver that Ginny has exhibited through her tenure as Town Council President and then Town Manager. None of the past town managers have and it’s unlikely that the next one will. I’ve told Ginny several times that good leaders leave a legacy and there is no doubt she has left her mark on Culver. In the past couple of years, that has extended to all of Marshall County. I think I am just a one person among a multitude that wishes her the best of luck in her next endeavor. I have little doubt that she will do well with whatever she decides to tackle next. (Here is her Linkedin profile in case you want her on your team. She has my endorsement.)
There was one other person that spoke to the way the decision was made. He expressed how that vote damages trust in the Council. It resonated with me as I have been in the position described a couple of times. Town Council Attorney, Jim Clevenger, has said on occasion that the Town never “partners” with others on projects. No matter the term used, it is how it is perceived. By pledging money and supporting Ginny as she worked on Blue Zones and told others that Culver supported Blue Zones, they had encouraged the Blue Zones committee. They were considered a partner. It would have been assumed that they could be counted on to follow through. That trust has been shaken. Despite the reversal Tuesday, the Blue Zones committee has to understand that they’re one vote away from losing funding again.
There are three major development projects working towards breaking ground in 2023 that I know have been working closely with the Town. Likewise, there are other civic groups like Blue Zones that receive pledges of funding and backing from the Town. There have been commitments made. Those commitments should not be taken lightly or these things that should move the Town forward will dry up. I would assume all of them are looking at that vote and are weighing the value of their investments in time and money to date.
Trust is a hard earned commodity. When damaged, it isn’t easily rebuilt. It should always be guarded jealously…
The Plan Commission heard four cases in a long meeting on Tuesday, December 20th. The first case was a rehearing of the PUD (Planned Unit Development) request for 415 Lake Shore Drive. It was approved earlier this year, but vacated by the judge in a lawsuit against it. I’m a little unclear on how this is being handled. PUDs require a primary and secondary plan. Last time they were passed simultaneously, which is common for single phase PUDs. This time, it was presented and passed for the primary plan only, with instructions that they go before the BZA (Board of Zoning Appeals) for a variance before requesting secondary approval. So, is the BZA hearing just for the PUD, which would be unusual and unprecedented, or for the underlying zoning variances such as site distance and storm water control, which generally be handled as part of the PUD? I may have to attend the BZA meeting to find out as the BZA members I spoke to indicated that they have not seen anything on what’s coming before them.
114 Lake Shore Drive
There were three other hearings for rezoning R-1 properties to R-2. I do question the rational for these. In two of the three cases, the use is grandfathered as long as it doesn’t change. The property at 114 Lake Shore Drive was built as a single family residence, but has been a triplex for four decades and has been commercial and multi-family since before there was a zoning ordinance in Culver. While this one received the most opposition from neighbors, this is the one I have the least objection to, since it is actually adjacent to an existing R-2 parcel. It expands that existing zoning district in lieu of “spot zoning” and creating a new district. This one is clearly grandfathered and has minimal affect on the surrounding neighborhood now or in the future due to the new zoning.
810 South Main Street
The property at 810 South Main Street has a duplex on it, was built as a duplex and has been a duplex for decades. The case for spot zoning here is a little messier, but while their is no R-2 adjacent to it, there is R-2 directly across the street (Culver Garden Court). Spot zoning could be argued here, but a case can be made otherwise. It is clearly grandfathered and should have minimal affect on the surrounding neighborhood now or in the future.
217 South Ohio Street
The property at 217 South Ohio is a bit dicier. This property was developed as a single family residence in an R-1 district. At one time in the past, an addition was put on and it was used as a daycare. There was no discussion about whether there was a special use or anything that allowed the daycare. It may have just happened. That would have been in the 70’s or 80’s. After the daycare closed, it was remodeled as a mother-in-law suite. The owner would like to rent it out now, so requested the R-2. There are two reasons I think this one is bit more complicated. 1) It is spot zoning. There is no R-2 adjacent to it. 2) Unlike the other properties, this one is fairly large. Looking towards the future, if this house goes away, there could be a significant R-2 development on that lot… creating an island of multifamily in the middle of a single family district.
In general, I was against the rezonings, but fine with the grandfathered continued use. This is one of those cases where I know all the parties involved. I know those rentals have a place. But a zoning change follows the land, not the owner and the rezoning has opened things up to future issues. That said, if this is to be allowed and encouraged as it was Tuesday night, maybe a definition change would have been the better option. It would make more sense to me to change the R-1 Zoning District to allow multi-family as a Special Use where a variance could be obtained. Then it could be heard by the BZA and it would be a one meeting variance decision, not a multi-meeting rezoning that must also go before the Town Board. The Plan Commission has discussed changes to the zoning ordinance that would allow denser residential and multi-family options in what’s currently the R-1 Single Family District. The rezoning may be a premature response to this. Time will tell. (Plus the Town Council could deny the request.)
I think all of our boards and commissions get caught up in personalities. The concern is, that the current owner, which they know and would like to help, will not always be there, but some of the decisions made about the property live on in perpetuity…
