City Council notes – 11/10/2009

Notes from this evening’s Fort Wayne City Council meeting.

Councilman Marty Bender is absent.

The vote for the Council’s appointment to the Metropolitan Human Relations.

Two persons have submitted their names – Paul Morrison and Jerome Gaines. Karen Goldner
and Glynn Hines voted for Gaines, Liz Brown, Tom Didier, Mitch Harper, Tim Pape John Shoaff, and Tom Smith voted for Morrison.  Before the vote, Councilwoman Goldner stated she thought they both would make fine Commissioners, however, Gaines was a constituent and she would be voting for him.

Public Hearings

No one spoke at any of the public hearings.

R-09-10-30

Elissa McGauley is before the Council.  Approved, none opposed.

R-09-10-32

Heather Pressley, PJ Thuringer and Dawn Galloway, Keller Development, are before the Council.  Mayor Henry signed a letter of recommendation for the project.  Competition will be in 2011.  It is in City Council district #1.  Councilman Tom Smith is supporting the project, praising developer efforts to work with the surrounding neighborhoods.  Approved, none opposed.

R-09-10-34

Same three before Council.  Serving those making 60% below the poverty level.  Councilmanic District 4.  Councilman Mitch Harper is also stating the developer worked well with the neighborhoods and processes.  Hines is asking if the person buying the home, a 15 year rent-to-own lease, knows the amount they will need to pay at the end, up front.  The answer is they don’t, it’s a state-structured program the City has no control over.  What happens if someone moves out after 10 years?  Last person living there get’s the benefits of the previous payments and equity gained.  Approved, none opposed.

R-09-11-02

Approved, none opposed.

Z-09-09-01, Z-09-09-02 and Z-09-09-03

Michelle Wood is before the Council.  This is the former Rogers, most recently George’s supermarket site at the corner of Fairfield Avenue and West Packard Avenue.  Part of this development is a gas station.  Councilman Tom Didier is talking about how the design provided is nicer than some of the buildings in his district.  He is asking Tim Pape what the issues are.

Pape is responding that different people have different issues with it.  It’s generated a certain amount of difference in opinion.  Concerns over fit and whether or not another gas station is needed in this area.  A suburban design put into the urban core and surrounding historic neighborhood.

Didier is responding that he’d rather see something there than nothing.

Pape is responding that he thinks the developer has done a good job of working with the neighborhood.  He thinks there are other things the developer could do to make the development fit in and be more urban in character and design.  “If you don’t do something unique with this design, you will rob the neighborhood of character.”

Councilwoman Goldner.  Concerned about lease restrictions not being binding at this point.  Hours of operation is one area.

Councilman Shoaff.  Asking why gun shops are not included in the owner’s list of restricted businesses which may operate in development.  Michelle is stating that gun shops are an included restriction in the  CM2 zone classification.  Talking about it being fair for limitations on hours of operation to be asked for to limit disruption to the surrounding neighborhood.

Councilman Smith.  Kim Bowman, Department of Planning is now before the Council.  Asking about timing of putting this off.

Councilwoman Liz Brown.  Liz is pointing out that the Council is not the body to make restrictions and rules and is concerned about the Council acting in that manner.  Is it necessary to do a market analysis when a business moves in?  Kim – no.

Councilman Didier is asking about feasibility of hours of operation restrictions?  Things change.  If someone’s going to invest that kind of money into a project like that…I would think they would be jumping up and down for joy to have something like that coming in.  Didn’t the college just close down?  Boards on the windows…  Or do we want a Humpty Dumpty there for years?

Councilman Pape – there are no guarantees that this will be successful.  Council has the broadest discretion in these matters.  He is making a motion to hold, seconded by Councilman Smith.

Didier is asking the developer to come to the Council table to talk about what delays could mean to the project.  Chris Rongos, Phil Troyer, Jerry Rongos.  The Rongos’s own Georges market on the corner of Broadway and Taylor Avenue.

At this point, I had to leave the Council meeting.  I had to leave my recorder at the meeting and will pick it up tomorrow evening.  Here ends the reporting.

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