The Burns Harbor
Advisory Plan Commission will consider an ordinance governing tree planting
and care for new developments in the town.
During Monday’s
plan meeting, board attorney Chuck Parkinson presented a draft of the
ordinance that would amend town subdivision control and zoning rules.
The most discussed
portion involved planting trees in “parkway areas” or the part of a lot
located between the sidewalk and the road, which is part of the Town’s
right-of-way.
Property owners, or
the corresponding homeowner association, will have to submit proof that they
will assume liability for caring and maintenance of trees in order to plant
a tree in a parkway area, according to the ordinance.
“If you are going
to plant trees in the Town’s area, you’ve got to take care of them,” said
Parkinson.
The ordinance
states that in cases where the property is renovated, in more than 50
percent of the building site area or square footage of a principal
structure, the property owner will need to remove trees in the parkway area.
However, the
ordinance allows current owners of properties with parkway trees already
planted a chance to register trees as property of the Town within 60 days
after the ordinance goes into effect.
In other words, the
Town will assume responsibility for registered trees, but if trees aren’t
registered within the time limit, the property owner will have liability for
them.
“It will be the
owner’s responsibility to maintain the tree after those 60 days,” Parkinson
said.
The Town will keep
a list of registered trees, Parkinson said. The ordinance will be
administered by the Town’s building commissioner.
Commission
President Jeff Freeze said the board will give the ordinance a preliminary
and/or public hearing at its next meeting.
Additionally, the
ordinance requires that developers submit a landscape plan indicating the
number and approximate location of trees to be located in parkways. Trees
will need to be planted before an occupancy permit can be issued.
Trail Creek Phase 2
In other business,
developer Pat Kleihege of Great Lakes Development shared the latest plans on
Phase 2 of the Trail Creek Subdivision, located on the west side of South
Babcock Road.
Phase 2 consists of
20 lots that Kleihege said will be developed in the same character as those
in Phase 1, which contains 40 lots. There will be five-foot wide sidewalks
installed, a T-shaped turnaround and a bridge over Gustafson Ditch, which
runs along the subdivision’s south side.
There is also a
plan to connect to the Prairie-Duneland Trail.
Kleihege said he
will have engineering plans for drainage ready to show at the Plan
Commission’s meeting next month for approval. He said he has had discussions
with the property owner at the southwest corner about connections.
Commission members
inquired how trees and landscaping will be planned. Kleihege said the plan
is to include trees wherever the town desires and the homeowners would be
responsible for maintaining those trees, even in town right-of-ways.
The plans pleased
the Commission members. Freeze asked that Kleihege and his landscaper be in
line with the standards of the MS4 program. “We don’t want to go back
mid-construction,” Freeze said.
2015 officers
In its first
meeting of the new year, the board nominated and elected Freeze to continue
as its president, along with Eric Hull as its Vice-President.
Member Bernie
Poparad was reappointed as the Plan Commission’s representative to the Board
of Zoning Appeals.
Meanwhile,
Commission member Jim McGee said demolition and clearing work has been
successful this past week at the site of the former Westport Community Club
building, on the northeast corner of Ind. 49 and Haglund Rd., and the site
has been seeded.
“It looks real
nice,” he said.
McGee said that he
thought crews might find a time capsule but none was recovered.
Also, McGee told
board members that this week will see the start of major party candidate
filings for town elections.
Filing will begin
Wednesday and the last day to file is Friday, Feb. 6.
Candidates this
year will need to fill out a CAN-12 form stating their economic interests,
McGee said, adding that the form is “pretty simple to fill out.”