By KEVIN NEVERS

Inevitably property on the Town of Chesterton’s borders is going to be developed. It accordingly behooves the Town Council to control those borders, and therefore that development, as much as possible by annexing the property when it has the opportunity to do so. So Member Jim Ton, R-1st, argued at the council’s meeting Monday night, just before he and his colleagues voted unanimously to annex 67 acres, formerly known as the Olson Farm, located at the terminus of East Porter Ave. immediately east of C.R. 250E (Friday Road).

At a later date the council will consider the annexation of the remaining 66 acres of the property, the whole of which is owned by Olson Farm LL, whose principals are Vlad and Eric Gastevich.

The Gasteviches have proposed building a 360-unit single-family planned unit development on the 133 acres, a project which according to a fiscal study prepared at the Gasteviches’ expense by H.J. Umbaugh & Associates will cost the town $424,108 in annual municipal services and at least $228,000 in new vehicle and equipment purchases. To fund at least a portion of those expenses, the fiscal study declares, the council plans to file an excess levy appeal for pay-2009 of $264,651.

For their part the Gasteviches have committed to donate 20 acres of land, located in the area of C.R. 1050N and C.R. 250E, to serve as a “catalyst” for a new park east of Ind. 49; to pay any parks and recreation impact fee which may be enacted, in addition to the donation of the 20 acres; and to make a $200 per unit payment to the town—or a total of $68,400—to defray part of the cost of acquiring new equipment to serve the subdivision.

Ton cast his support for the annexation as partly philosophical. “We need to control development at our borders or we’ll be the victim of whoever wants to do something,” he said. “Someone will build on it and we need to control the destiny of our borders.”

But he also cast his support as partly economic. On the one hand, Ton said, the annexation “will pave the way for a successful levy appeal.” On the other, the shift in the property-tax burden from business to residential, introduced as part of court-ordered reassessment, means that homeowners pay more of the freight of municipal services than they have in the past.

Ton’s conclusion: “This property will pay for itself in time.”

His colleagues concurred with him. Member Mike Bannon, R-5th, similarly called it “prudent” for the council to control the development of property at the town’s borders and “wise” to annex it in order to control it. “Because,” he said, “we do a pretty good job of managing that process.”

“Nothing ever stays the same,” added Member Frank Sessa, D-2nd. “You either grow and flourish or you fall by the wayside.”

Members voted 4-0 to approve the annexation ordinance on first reading, then 4-0 to approve it on final reading. That ordinance was introduced at the council’s last meeting. Member Sharon Darnell, D-4th, was not in attendance.

The Wright Annexation

Earlier in the meeting the council called a public hearing on another proposed annexation, this one for 39 acres on C.R. 1050N in Crocker, immediately west of Abercrombie Woods. The owners of the property, Larry and Christine Wright, want to build a mixed-use residential and commercial PUD—dubbed Springdale—with a total of 96 new residential units and an assortment of B-3 uses.

The PUD now in the works specifies 24 R-1 units, 18 R-2, and 34 R-3 on the east side of the property, adjacent to Abercrombie Woods; and B-3 uses on the west, including a convenience store with gas pumps and car wash and a separate provision for drive-through banking or restaurant.

Attorney Greg Babcock, representing the Wrights, told the council that the Wrights, with developer Don Coker, will make a $60,000 donation to the Parks and Recreation Department; will also make a $200 per unit payment to the town—analogous to the Gasteviches’—to defray the cost of acquiring new equipment; will run 1,000 feet of 15-inch sanitary sewer line from Elgin Street to the Westwood Manor lift station to relieve some of the burden from the Crocker lift station; and will reconstruct a drainage ditch on the north side of C.R. 1050N, construct two new storm sewer manholes and two new catch basins, and place new 15-inch culverts under driveways between Elgin Street and the Westwood Manor lift station.

These commitments the Wrights will make in an annexation and development agreement which the council has yet to approve. The council also has yet to receive from the Wrights a completed fiscal study, which would detail any costs which the town might incur as a result of annexing this property. But Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann noted that under Indiana Code a public hearing on an annexation must be conducted within 30 days of the petition’s being filed, and that when the fiscal study is received—possibly as soon as this week—it will be on file at the town hall and available for public inspection prior to a vote on the annexation itself at the council’s next meeting, April 23. Of course, Lukmann said, residents will have the opportunity to comment from the floor at that meeting.

At Monday’s public hearing, no one spoke in favor of the annexation.

Three people spoke in opposition to it or at least raised questions.

Liberty Township resident J.F. Schroeder objected to the annexation on several grounds. For one thing, he said, the wastewater treatment plant has insufficient capacity to take sewage from this subdivision. For another thing, the particular soil in that area is unsuitable for building, and is especially unsuitable for building basements, and the foundation of a home constructed in that subdivision would be liable to “extreme pressure.”

Linda Klaiber urged the council to make all the “facts and figures” about the potential costs of the annexation known. “I want some honest facts,” she said. “And then it should be opened to our community.”

Patrick Sabados, who resides in Westwood Manor, near the proposed site of Springdale, raised questions about drainage. The site has been under water since October and has only recently drained, he said. “I’m not necessarily opposed but there are drainage issues which can’t be ignored.”

In response Babcock respectfully disagreed with Schroeder about the matter of the wastewater treatment plant’s capacity. “There is adequate capacity,” he said. As to Schroeder’s concern about the soil, Babcock observed, every developer takes soil borings prior to building and makes his plans accordingly. Every developer also must work with the municipal staff in crafting a plan which meets Town Standards on stormwater management, he added.

The council took no further action on the Wright annexation. When the fiscal study becomes available, the Chesterton Tribune will publish its conclusions prior to the council’s next meeting.

A Pre-Annexation Agreement

In other business, members voted 4-0 to approve a pre-annexation agreement with Richard and Machelle Blount, who have asked the council to annex five acres on the south side of C.R. 1100N across from the entrance to Dogwood Estates. A single-family home is already on that parcel, Babcock—also representing the Blounts—told the council, and they want to build six more single-family homes there.

Under the terms of that pre-annexation agreement, the Blounts agree to pay the costs of preparing a fiscal study and to reimburse the town all of its legal and professional fees incurred as part of the annexation.

One More Fiscal Study

Members voted 4-0 as well to enter into a contract with H.J. Umbaugh for another fiscal study, this one to be prepared as part of the proposed annexation of approximately 45 acres immediately south of the Indiana Toll Road and east of Ind. 49. Developer Robert Rossman has requested that annexation and through his attorney, Cliff Fleming, has indicated that he wants to build a mixed-use development, with the 33 acres adjacent to Ind. 49 devoted to commercial/retail of an unknown type and the 12 acres further east to residential, also of an unknown type.

Rossman, under the terms of a pre-annexation agreement approved by the council last year, will pay the cost of the fiscal study.

Rossman is also seeking to develop a strip mall on the property eyed last year by GK Development Inc. of Barrington, Ill.

Posted 4/10/2007