By VICKI URBANIK

The Courts of Northwest Indiana at U.S. 6 and Ind. 49 in Liberty Township will be expanded with a second building geared toward children’s parties, under a conditional approval that the Porter County Plan Commission granted Wednesday.

The project involves construction of a 12,000-square foot recreational building for the Pump It Up franchise, which features giant inflatable jumpers for kids. The Courts hopes to complete construction in the spring.

The County Plan Commission granted the project development review approval, which is required for all new commercial building in the unincorporated areas -- but only after a members raised concerns about drainage, landscaping, and construction materials now stored on site.

“I’m not happy,” said plan commission member Tim Cole, who strongly opposed the presence of piles of concrete, ribar, and crushed stone stored on the premises.

Cole said that outdoor storage of materials was an excluded use when the plan commission first approved the rezoning for The Courts several years ago. He said he feels that the materials stored on site are “distasteful” and that their presence has circumvented the intent of the rezoning.

But E. Donald Bengel, a former county surveyor who presented the case on behalf of The Courts owner Mark Bengel, said the materials stored on site are there because they will be used as part of the construction for the new building. Items that shouldn’t be there – such as a propane tank – will be removed, he said.

Bengel also said the parcel involved is isolated, and that no one except those coming to The Courts can see it. No one, except for Cole, has complained about the materials before, he said.

But Cole said he has the right to complain. He said the materials should have been taken to a properly zoned site. “It should never have been there in the first place,” he said..

Drainage was another major concern.

The project earlier won a variance from the Porter County Board of Zoning Appeals exempting it from having to comply with the county’s stormwater regulations, which call for the county’s drainage consultant, DLZ, to review and approve all drainage plans.

Plan Commission Member Herb Read said the property is a critical site for drainage, especially since the proposed building and parking area will blacktop a large area. He asked if the BZA’s variance specifically prohibited the DLZ review. Plan Commission and BZA attorney Scott McClure said it didn’t, but he questioned the point of an independent review if the project is exempted from other stormwater regulations.

Bengel also said that the project still has to provide drainage controls, including a drainage pond. But Read said further review of the drainage is in order.

Cole agreed, noting that the county’s rezoning decisions in this area have been “called into question.” He was likely referring to the Liberty Landowners Association’s lawsuit filed against the rezoning for the nearby Porter Hospital on the west side of Ind. 49.

Cole said it’s important that county officials are assured that the drainage calculations are correct. “We must be prepared for future problems,” he said.

Read noted that the project received other variances from the BZA, including a variance from the county’s architectural and landscaping requirements. Cole said Porter County wants quality development, but that with the variances approved by the BZA, the county has lowered its standards in this case.

Because of the concerns aired, the plan commission’s 5-0 approval of the development review plans came with the following conditions: First, The Courts must remove all the stored materials and clean up the site by June 1; if not, the certificate of occupancy for the new building will not be granted, or a stop work order will be issued. Also, a landscaping berm must be in place by April 1 and newly planted trees in no later than the fall. And lastly, the drainage calculations, including the impact on properties off-site, must pass a review by the DLZ consultants.

Plan commission members voting in support were Cole, Read, Rich Burns, Robert Detert and Kevin Breitzke. Absent were Robert Harper, Elizabeth Marshall, and Rita Stevenson.

Posted 10/9/2008