This summer Chesterton residents and business owners will get the opportunity to express their likes and dislikes when it comes to design standards that unite the community visually.

The town’s Advisory Plan Commission approved having Shannon Armstrong of the Brick Industry Association undertake a free visual preference survey focusing on commercial properties.

Commission members Sig Niepokoj and George Stone and town manager Bernie Doyle will assist Armstrong in developing the survey, which will be brought to the commission for final approval before being placed in accessible public locations for pick-up.

Earlier this year Burns Harbor residents took a similar survey in person and online for planning studies there.

Armstrong’s survey will consist of photographs of different design elements including buildings, parking lots, architecture, landscaping, signage and lighting. Respondents will be asked to rank the most appealing samples.

By establishing preferred design standards, Armstrong continued, visually uniting scattered retail areas along Indian Boundary, downtown and Coffee Creek Center can make the town more cohesive and project that message.

Commission member Mike Bannon cautioned against setting unrealistic goals. “My concern is if we all say we’d like gold leaf, the Sistine Chapel, don’t we handcuff ourselves with those design standards and discourage development because it’s too expensive?”

According to commission member Jeff Trout, “I absolutely agree if we tell them everything has to be built out of hand-cut Indiana limestone, it’ll be a ghost town.” He said the town needs to identify areas of higher-end activity and not burden other locations with the same design standards.

Commission president Fred Owens said the commission stood firm asking a lot of GK Development when it pitched a Target/Kohls mall at the southeast corner of Indiana 49 and County Road 1100N, so much so the plan was rejected and GK walked away.

"Was that good or not? I don’t know,” said Owens, adding there would be an advantage to having design standards established so developers know the town’s goals upfront.

Stone said it’s been the commission’s policy to review development plans on a case-by-case basis. “I’m a little leery about detailed, enforceable design standards we live and die by.”

Bannon said the commission isn’t mandated to enact what the survey results show. Armstrong said the town will collect the completed surveys, she will determine the preferences and detail them in a report to the commission, hopefully resulting in enactment of new standards.

Once they’re in place, Niepokoj asked if grants would be available for businesses to remodel their storefronts. Commission member Emerson DeLaney said Chesterton has a low-interest revolving loan program for that purpose that has been used by The Flower Cart, Hopkins Ace Hardware and others.

Armstrong was questioned how much representing the brick industry will influence her findings.

"We are planners for the BIA but we’re planners first,” she replied, adding that brick and stone consistently are ranked No. 1 in completed surveys anyway.

Armstrong’s survey results will be used as the commission develops an updated comprehensive plan for Chesterton and a specific downtown overlay plan aimed at reinvigorating the central business district corridors. Upgrades to the South Calumet district are being installed now.

The commission voted 7-0 to recommend that the Town Council proceed with securing consultant requests for proposals to do the downtown overlay.

It will be partially funded with a $14,000 grant from the Lake Michigan Coastal Program to be matched by town funds. Doyle said more grants are being sought. “This is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Sergio Mendoza, a planner with the LMCP, is volunteering to help Chesterton update its 2004 comprehensive plan and last night presented suggestions.

He proposed adding a natural resources chapter, a conservation chapter addressing water quality and energy, and detailing the status of current economic development to plan for more. Also, Mendoza suggested the town’s historical trends be identified to track impacts, and that community design standards be used.

The goal of a comprehensive plan, he noted, is “to turn it from a document with inventory into an action plan, not a wish list.”

In other action Thursday, the commission agreed to hear from developer Cliff Fleming June 18 regarding whether he plans to install the remaining sidewalks at two vacant lots he owns on Wilson Street north of Morgan Avenue. A third lot with a house has a sidewalk installed.

Fleming said there are no other sidewalks on that side of Wilson, and putting them in could threaten the 100 year-old Schweidler maples in Morgan Park. Fleming was told he could seek a sidewalk waiver from the Town Council; the work should have been done by March although a check to guarantee completion is on file.

The commission voted 7-0 to cash in a cashier’s check posted as bond to assure a sidewalk is installed by WiseWay along the store property’s at the northeast corner of Indiana 49 and 1100N.

The check expires May 25. Bannon said if it isn’t cashed by the deadline, the town would lose the money.

Problems with a sinkhole stalled sidewalk completion. It was agreed to hold the money in escrow and even return it if WiseWay completes the project.

Posted 5/22/2009