Plan Commission

Suburban Sprawl in Culver?

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Wikipedia defines Suburban Sprawl thus: “Urban sprawl or suburban sprawl describes the expansion of human populations away from central urban areas into low-density, monofunctional and usually car-dependent communities, in a process called suburbanization.” While Culver isn’t exactly racing down the road to strip malls, it’s worth looking at the changes occuring in recent and proposed developments in Culver.

Culver’s early development was very traditional. Despite dealing with the curvature of Lake Maxinkuckee, a traditional grid system was used for both the commercial and residential areas with the section of Lake Shore Drive along the Park being one of the few deviations with some curvature to reflect the lake shore. Since that time, the newer subdivisions have not followed the grid. The Riggings, Maple Ridge and Edgewood Estates are all dead end or loop streets with no plans to tie into the grid. It’s a little cheesy, but Adam Conover of “Adam Explains Everything” does a quick run down of some of the issues here:

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Pete Trone

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Pete Trone
Pete Trone

Culver lost another one of our history resources last week with the passing of Pete Trone. I considered Pete a friend and the fact that I lost Pete and Bobbie Ruhnow both within a year really puts me at a loss for historical references. I used both as touchstones for what happened here as they both lived through a lot of Culver history as well as had enough interest in Culver to have researched a lot of what happened before their time. Much of this history was imparted at BZA meetings where they would tell homeowners the history of their properties interspersed with their ongoing argument regarding which of the two of them was actually “older than dirt”.

I had several conversations with Pete at Miller’s Merry Manor when I was researching the Extra Territorial Boundary issue. Even when his body was failing him, his mind was sharp and he was able to give me a lot of the history of why Culver’s zoning boundaries looked they way it did. If you had a conversation with Pete, you could always expect a reasoned response. When it was something regarding the town, whether in a public meeting or not, he left you feeling that he had the best interests of the community in mind. On those few occasions that we disagreed, we could have a spirited conversation and still part friends.

And that is noteworthy in the current political season. Bobbie and Pete were of opposite political parties and I was pleased to be on their political joke chain. I often got the best and most biting political satire from one of them directed at their own party. They could see the humor, poke fun, accept the ribbing and remain friends. Much of that seems to be lost this year. It seems that’s something we should all strive for.

Today would have been Pete’s 87th Birthday. Happy Birthday Pete! You’ll be missed!

Parking Lots & the Environment

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I’ve written about the new parking lot slated for downtown Culver here and here, I had a somewhat heated exchange the other day regarding the parking lot and whether it was an issue that affected Lake Maxinkuckee.  So here is my mini rant list on why this is an environmental issue:

  1. Parking Lots and their environmental impacts are addressed repeatedly in the new Culver Comprehensive Plan. Yes, I realize it is a “plan” and plans change…  But, it is only 14 months old!!!  It seems ridiculous that all of the recommendations regarding future land use for that piece of property and how parking lots should be installed and whether we even need another parking lot are outdated at this time!  All of those things were addressed in detail in the Plan.  (It’s interesting… and sad… to note that at the three town meetings I attended where this issue was discussed, the Comprehensive Plan was only brought up one time and that was as part of a protest from an adjacent property owner.  It was never referenced by the Boards and Commissions reviewing the proposal.)
  2. Parking lots are the antithesis of green space within Lake Maxinkuckee’s watershed. This parking lot only works by violating the buffer requirements. The Culver Zoning Ordinance calls for 20′ wide buffer on C-2 parcels that abut residential properties.  The properties on either side of this parking lot are zoned R-1.  Buffers would have been green space. The Town requested variances down to 1′ from the property line on each side and after debate obtained variances for 1′ on one side and 7′ on the other side.
  3. The Culver Zoning Ordinance now includes limitations on impervious surface. This lot was rezoned to C-2 in order to accommodate the parking lot. C-2 zoning districts require a maximum 60% impervious surface coverage. As originally proposed with 1′ setbacks on each side there is no way the impervious surface requirements would not have been violated.  Even with the revised variance which was approved it is questionable whether coverage is not greater than 60%. In any case no calculations were provided to show that this requirement was not violated.

All of this is nothing but a philosophical argument at this point anyway. The die has been cast on this one and my only reason for arguing about it is to point out a missed opportunity.  Still, it is frustrating to see those opportunities slip away…

Comic source:  thedrunkencyclist

Extra Territorial Boundary Update (cont.)

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Pitchforks and Torches were out at the Council Meeting

The Culver Town Council held a public hearing on the new building permit fees Tuesday evening. As expected, someone had rallied the troops, and there were quite a few people there to protest. The room wasn’t quite filled to capacity, but it was close. There were quite a few contractors present as well as residents living in the extra territorial boundary. Kevin Overmyer, Marshall County Commissioner, was there as well as Chuck DeWitt, Marshall County Building Inspector. Al Eisenhour was there speaking on behalf of the Marshall County Home Builders Association as well. For the most part they echoed the concerns I expressed in my previous post here. Where it took a wild bounce though was when they started comparing permit fees between those proposed in Culver and those proposed in the county. They were listing comparisons where the fees would be double or sometimes quadruple or more for a permit for the same building in the county as opposed to within Culver’s jurisdiction. This appeared to resonate with Commissioner Overmyer. It was fairly clear that he was there to support those in the audience not the Town of Culver. This concerns me because it is my understanding that Culver’s extra territorial boundary is administered by Culver at the discretion of Marshall County.  It could be rescinded. It appears that instead of taking steps to expand our extra territorial boundary for which I have lobbied, Culver is now in a position of potentially losing what they have.

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Extra Territorial Boundary Update

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There has been some recent debate about Building Permit Fees in Culver.  Two things have prompted this:  The first being the new County Online Building Permit system and the second being the low reimbursement fee Culver pays the County Building Inspector.

Culver has a Building Commissioner to review zoning requirements and issue building permits.  Our Building Commissioner does not have the proper certifications to do building inspections so we have relied on the County Building Inspector to do building inspections.  Several years ago a fee to the County of $50 per permit was set for projects that required building inspections.  Building inspections are required on any construction involving new or changes to structural, mechanical or electrical systems.  Since that time, some of the larger home projects and commercial projects at Culver Academies have resulted in multiple trips (sometimes dozens) by the County Inspector.  Obviously the $50 fee did not cover the costs.  The County came to Culver asking for several revisions to the way Culver issues permits so as to bring the fees in line with the County fees and to make it more standardized so that the building permit process could be automated across the entire county.

For various reasons, Culver has chosen to not just raise the fees to cover the additional expenses, but to jump the fees well above those in the County and surrounding area.  Where the County has a flat fee for a commercial building, Culver has a fee based on square footage and value which could easily double or quadruple the fee the same building would cost in the county.  The same applies to residential projects.  This is hard to justify within the Town limits, but almost impossible to justify in the Extra Territorial Boundary where there are no municipal utilities, roads or other services.

As discussed here before, I thought it was in Culver’s best interest to expand their Extra Territorial Boundary to the maximum allowed by law.  I fought it when the Town gave up areas due to the new County Online Permitting.  I gave up the fight when Culver didn’t follow the County’s Wind Turbine Ordinance for the Extra Territorial Boundary. (Too Tired to Fight About it Further…)  Now this latest overreach could jeopardize the Extra Territorial Boundary we currently have.  If the County feels the Town is taking advantage of landowners in the Extra Territorial Boundary, they could rescind Culver’s control over this area.  Instead of providing a service this could be considered a case of taxation without representation.

This issue will be before the Town Council tomorrow night.  It has already been before the Plan Commission where it was passed.  I will probably not speak tomorrow night since I already did at the Plan Commission.  My points there were the following:

  1. The fees aren’t justified.  While Culver should be able to recoup costs involved with having a Building Commissioner and the costs to reimburse the County for the time spent by the Building Commissioner, Building Permit fees should not be a money making venture.  The arguments I’ve heard that the Contractors will just pass on these costs to the owners and in the case of large commercial customers and Lake homeowners that “They can afford it.” don’t justify it.  Building Permit fees are supposed to be a fee for services, not an admittance fee.
  2. It seems ironic that Culver has formed an Entry Level Housing Task Force charged with trying to bring some affordable housing to Culver while they contemplate raising fees on building construction.  Granted, the building permit fee is a small percentage of the cost of a new home, but so is the water tap fee and the sewer tap fee and the stormwater control requirements and the green space requirements, etc., etc., etc.  All of those small percentages that the Town increases are on top of all the new Building Code requirements and other impact fees that affect the cost of a home.  I’m not saying that any of these aren’t necessary or don’t make the home better, but they all contribute to pushing the cost of a home out of reach of the average young family in Culver.

It will be an interesting meeting tomorrow night.  I understand the troops have been rallied against this.  I think what started as a reasonable response to outside costs have taken an unfortunate turn.  We’ll see how it shakes out.

Picture Source:  colliergov.net

Comic Source:  studious-catz.com