The Centier Bank
branch on South Calumet Rd. wants to swap its freestanding sign for a
monument sign on its west side bordering North 100 East.
The current sign is
18 feet tall and the bank is requesting to use the top part for its monument
sign at 9’ x 8’ feet for a grand total of 172 square feet, but some members
of the Chesterton Board of Zoning Appeals feel it is still too large.
At Thursday’s board
meeting, Centier got a continuance for the public hearing until next month
but attorney Greg Babcock said it would like to hear what suggestions the
board would have for them.
Babcock said that
when the area became a business district after the sign was installed in
2003, more traffic has been using 100E instead of the curve onto Calumet Rd.
which no longer has an outlet to CR 1050E and Ind. 49.
Centier originally
wanted to put up a freestanding sign on the 100E side but BZA members Fred
Owens and Kim Goldak, during last month’s preliminary hearing, said that
would not fit the vision for the area as it is now.
Goldak made the
suggestion that the bank’s wall-mounted sign at its drive-thru could be
moved up to the west of the building where it would be more visible to 100E.
BZA member Jim
Kowalski, who was absent for the preliminary hearing, added that the “days
of the huge freestanding signs” are diminishing and said he favors
decreasing the size for the proposed monument sign.
If the sign is too
big, neighboring businesses would complain to the BZA the that their
visibility is blocked, Kowalski said.
“You need to go
back to the drawing board. I’m just giving you the hint. This is
outrageous,” he said.
Babcock said
Centier would consider the comments and make a presentation at next month’s
public hearing.
Special meeting for
single family homes
Also Thursday, the
board decided it will hold a special meeting Wednesday, Aug. 31 for Brian
Lewandowski’s request to reduce the lot sizes at 1523 Park Ave. so he can
build two single-family residences for sale or rent.
BZA attorney Julie
Paulson said that it was the Town’s error that the notice for the public
hearing did not make it into the newspaper until nine days before when by
law it needs to be ten days before.
The board could
discuss the request still, Paulson said but advised to not make any final
decisions in case someone made an allegation that the hearing wasn’t given
notice in a timely matter. She said that a special meeting could be given as
long as there is 48 hours’ notice.
Lewandowski and the
board agreed they could meet on Aug. 31 at 6:30 p.m.
After last month’s
meeting, Lewandowski said he did speak with neighbors who had concerns about
having two separate homes there and after those conversations, the neighbors
were then an agreement with the petition.
Another option
would have been to put a duplex on the property but Lewandowski said he felt
the two homes would fit better with the character of the area.
Hearings set
Two more public
hearings will be held in September.
A petition by James
Kurczewski of 1004 S. Jackson Blvd. requests permission to have a front
porch 18’ and 6” from the front lot line when a maximum of 20 feet is
allowed. Babcock said Kurczewski wished to make improvements on the porch to
make it look better. The porch had been there when he purchased the house in
1980.
“It does look
nice,” Goldak said of photographs of the porch.
After Town staff
inspected the construction, it was discovered that there was a violation of
the setback, Babcock said.
Next, the board
heard a petition by the Joyce Fleming Revocable Living Trust for a reduction
of the front yard setback of eight feet and a reduction of nine inches for
the side yard setback in the 100 block of Wilson St. where it tees with
Indiana Ave.
Cliff Fleming
representing the Trust said he and his wife Joyce wish to build a one-story
home towards the front of the property and leave the back as it is since it
serves as a backdrop for Coffee Creek Park to the west.
Fleming, who
currently lives in the Villages of Burns Harbor, said he hopes to start
building in October and be ready to move in next summer.