By KEVIN NEVERS

Under state law, a municipality may make an offer on a piece of property of no greater amount than the average of two separate appraisals.

That means that the Town of Chesterton can only offer the Tonner family $40,750 for the four 25’ x 125’ lots on the graveled parcel across the street from the town hall.

As Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann told the Town Council at its meeting Monday night, one of the appraisers hired earlier this summer valued the four lots at $40,000, the other at $41,500. What they determined, he added, is the commercial property in Chesterton is worth around $3 per square foot.

The average of the two appraisals, however—$40,750—is as much as the council may offer the Tonners, significantly less than the $100,000 price which the Tonners originally quoted.

By a vote of 5-0 members accordingly authorized Lukmann to make the Tonners that offer as well as to inform them that, should they reject it, the council will pursue eminent domain proceedings.

The council wants to acquire that property to ensure that it remains a public parking lot.

Waiver Denied,

Waiver Granted

In other business, members voted 5-0 to reject the petition of developer Brett Carney for a waiver of the Town Standard requiring a sidewalk in front of all new construction.

Carney is seeking to build several duplex and multi-family dwellings in an area west of 11th Street, and had proposed building a sidewalk on one side of the three streets on which he is planning construction, instead of one on both sides of the three streets: on the north side of an improved Union Ave., on the west side of 13th Street, and on the north side of an improved Portage Ave.

Members agreed, though, that given the high density of the dwelling units contemplated—both R-2 and R-3—and given the fact that there will likely be a good number of children living in those units, it would be unsafe to force children to cross the street just to use a sidewalk. Carney, meanwhile, was unable to show that the construction of sidewalks on both sides of Union Ave., 13th Street, and Portage Ave. would in any way hamper the swales he intends to install for stormwater management. For that reason members voted 5 -0 to reject his petition for the waiver.

But they did vote 4-1 to grant his other petition, this one for a waiver of the Town Standard requiring curbs and gutters in front of all new construction. President Dave Cincoski, R-3rd, voted against the motion.

As Carney’s attorney, Greg Babcock noted, there is no stormwater system in place in that part of town and Carney’s network of swales is intended to maintain the natural southeast direction of runoff flow. So members granted that petition but with some conditions: that Carney, per the department head’s recommendations, install ribbon curbing on the roadways, install speed limit and no-parking signage, install a guard rail on unimproved 13th Street—just north of his project—to prevent motorists from cutting through it, and stripe a crosswalk across 11th Street and post pedestrian crossing warning signs for both directions of 11th Street.

Wright Petition Tabled

Members also voted 5-0 to table discussion until their next meeting, Oct. 8, of the petition of Larry Wright for an amendment to the annexation and development agreement into which he entered earlier this year with the town.

As part of that agreement—under which the council annexed around 40 acres of Wright’s property south of C.R. 1050N in Crocker, immediately west of Abercrombie Woods—Wright committed to the construction of no more than 91 residential units.

But as his attorney, Greg Babcock, informed members, the configuration of the development has been significantly altered in the interim, and a stormwater detention pond slated for construction at the southeast corner of the property has been moved to the west edge, leaving space for three additional units, or a total of 94: 48 single-family homes and 46 paired-patio homes.

Member Sharon Darnell, D-4th, told Wright that she needs more time to think about the amendment, and the council thus voted to table the matter.

Public Hearing

Scheduled on Vacation

Members voted 5-0 as well to schedule a public hearing for their next meeting, on the petition of DTM Properties LLC for a vacation of a portion of a utility easement on Outlot D, located south of Westwood Lane South in Abercrombie Woods III.

Babcock, also representing DTM Properties, told the council that a garage on Lot 136 was inadvertently built on a part of Outlot D on an easement consisting of a large underground stormwater pipe. The solution to the problem is to remove part of the pipe, cap the remaining underground parts, and then install a new pipe beneath a new easement. But that will entail a vacation of the present easement.

Sidewalk Waiver Petition

Finally, members agreed by consensus to act at their next meeting on the petition of Dawn Dees for a waiver of the Town Standard requiring a sidewalk in front of all new construction. Dees is building a home at 1152 25th Place in the Western Acres subdivision, and Dees advised members that there are no other sidewalks in the subdivision. She also advised members that a stormwater ditch in her front yard would make construction of a sidewalk problematic.

Posted 9/25/2007