By KEVIN NEVERS

Lots fronting three roads don’t come along very often, so when restaurateur Kristos Christodoulakis had the chance to purchase the parcel at 1607 S. Calumet Road—which fronts South Calumet, C.R. 1100N, and Ind. 49—he jumped at it as the perfect location for a new Round the Clock.

Location means little, however, without the signage best to take advantage of it. Hence Christodoulakis’ petition before the Chesterton Board of Zoning Appeals.

At its meeting Thursday, the board voted 4-0 to grant that petition for three variances:

•The first permits the erection of a 24-square foot wall-mounted sign on the east side of the so-called “clock tower” entrance to the restaurant, which fronts C.R. 1100N. That sign would be placed in addition to two other wall-mounted signs already permitted under the Zoning Ordinance: an identical 24-foot square foot sign on the west side of the clock tower and a 41-square foot sign on the south side of the clock tower.

•The second variance permits the erection of a 140-square foot double-faced freestanding sign at the southeast corner of the lot. This variance is necessary because the gross surface area of all signage at the site total 237.2 square feet, 87.3 square feet more than the maximum of 150 square feet permitted by the Zoning Ordinance.

•The third variance permits the erection of two 2.5’ x 1’ double-sided traffic directional signs at a height of 3 feet.

Member Katherine Cook was not in attendance.

Although the board was not disinclined to grant the petition, Member George Stone did want to know why the freestanding sign is necessary, since the sign on the east side of the clock tower would already face Ind. 49.

Christodoulakis’ architect, Dave Kinel of Gerometta & Kinel, said in response that motorists southbound on Ind. 49 wouldn’t see the sign on the east side of the clock tower until it was too late to turn right onto westbound C.R. 1100N. The freestanding sign would give them plenty of notice, he said, and at the same time would be more visible to motorists northbound on Ind. 49 than the sign on the south side of the clock tower.

At a public hearing which preceded the vote no one spoke in opposition to the petition. Ray Carnes, on the other hand—a long-time customer of Christodoulakis’ other restaurants—spoke in favor of it. “It’s an all-hours family-style restaurant,” he said, “which we don’t have right now,” he said.

“I wouldn’t want to disappoint Mr. Carnes,” Member Jeff Trout joked.

Hayden

In other business, the board declined to get in the middle of a he said/he said dispute between next-door neighbors, and approved the petition of Thomas and Joan Hayden for two variances: the first to permit the improvement of a non-conforming structure; and the second to reduce the side-yard setback from the minimum of 8 feet required by the Zoning Ordinance to 0 feet.

Attorney Terry Hiestand, representing the Haydens, told members that his clients want to enclose a screened porch at their home at 601 S. Second St. and convert it into a four-season room. The hitch: at some point after their home was built in 1981, the original owner added a porch apparently without benefit of either a building permit or a variance to reduce the side-yard setback, and though the Haydens have no plans actually to increase the footprint of the porch—merely to replace the screens with solid walls—the porch seems to abut the property line in the side yard.

At the public hearing which preceded the vote, one person spoke in favor of the petition: the Haydens’ daughter, Therese Hoffman, who told members that the four-season room “would greatly benefit their life” and “would do nothing but improve the house.”

The Haydens’ neighbor immediately to the east, however, Christian Kerns, objected to the petition and remonstrated through his attorney, Nicholas Catsadimas. Kerns’ contention: that the Haydens’ gutter already hangs over the property line, that the proximity of the four-season room would pose a fire threat to his own residence, and that the porch is built only on a slab and that to enclose it would require tearing the structure down and putting in a foundation and footings.

Hiestand said in response that Kerns, a building contractor, may have been prompted to remonstrate after the Haydens rejected his bid to do the four-season room as too high. Kerns denied that charge. Hiestand also said that the Haydens want to enclose the porch and build a windowless wall facing Kerns’ property to block their view of his yard, which is stacked with cinder blocks. Kerns replied that he is in the midst of a renovation project.

In the end the board granted the petition, after Trout observed that the proximity of the porch to the property line did not appear to bother Kerns when he bought his home.

In any case, Member Jim Kowalski said, “we’re not going to get into a situation with two landowners. That’s their problem. What I can see here is a feud between two neighbors.”

“I don’t blame these people for wanting to do something,” Kowalski added. “Because your property,” he told Kerns, “is not well-kept.”

For his part Town Attorney Chuck Lukmann noted that granting two variances is not the same thing as issuing a building permit, and that if Building Commissioner Mike Orlich determines it to be impossible to construct the four-season room up to code then he won’t issue a permit.

Glover

Members also voted 4-0 to grant the petition of Carlton and Melissa Glover for a variance to build a six-foot privacy fence in the rear yard of their home at 1401 Parmaker Drive. Under the Zoning Ordinance, six-foot fences are permissible except in areas adjacent to public right-of-ways, and because the Glovers’ home sits on a corner lot any fence which they would build in their rear yard—adjacent to Tee Drive—is legally limited to a height of four and a half feet.

As Carlton Glover told members, he and his wife plan to install a hot tub in their rear yard next summer and they want both the privacy and security which the taller fence would provide. “We have one neighbor with seven kids,” he said, “another with three, so we need a little privacy.” Glover noted as well that the taller fence would prevent people from cutting through their yard, that it would reduce the noise associated with lawn mowers and traffic, and that it would be consistent with the fences erected by several neighbors.

Member Kim Goldak asked Glover whether he understood that the fence would be erected on a drainage easement and that he would be responsible for the cost of dismantling it should that easement ever be needed. Glover said that he did understand and did accept responsibility.

At a public hearing which preceded the vote, no one spoke in favor of the petition and no one in opposition to it.

Preliminary Hearings

•Members voted 4-0 to hold a public hearing at its next meeting, Feb. 26, on the petition of Mark Miller Jr. for a variance to reduce the front-yard setback from the minimum of 35 feet required by the planned unit development ordinance governing Tamarack Plaza to 32.5 feet, a variance of 2.5 feet. Building Commissioner Mike Orlich told members that the garage in front of the home at 155 Spencer Court projects 2.5 feet past the building line as a result of an incorrect stake survey. He added that Miller would not have had to come before the board at all if the home were in an R-1 district—where the minimum front-yard setback required by the Zoning Ordinance is 25 feet—but that the PUD ordinance governing Tamarack Plaza established a more extensive setback.

•In addition, members voted 4-0 to schedule a public hearing at its next meeting on the petition of Alyce Scott for a variance which would permit her to build—to re-build—a single-family residence in a B-1 district at 416 W. Indiana Ave. Scott’s home, the Blue Swan, was destroyed by fire almost a year ago, and now she wants to re-build on the same site. The problem: her lot is located in a B-1 district, and though the Blue Swan—reportedly built in 1876—was a legally non-conforming structure, the Blue Swan II needs a variance to get off the ground. Babcock, representing Scott, proposed two conditions to the board: that under the variance Scott would be prohibited from renting rooms; and that the variance establish on either side of the home a setback of 8 feet.

Bits and Pieces

•Members voted 3-0 to elect Kowalski to the presidency, Kowalski abstaining; 3-0 to elect Trout to the vice-presidency, Trout abstaining; and 4-0 to re-appoint Gail Murawski to the secretariat.

•Kowalski took a moment at the beginning of the meeting to present Murawski with a gift in recognition of her service to the board in 2003.

•Kowalski also welcomed the board’s newest members: Stone, appointed by the Plan Commission as its representative; and Kim Goldak. “Glad to have you aboard,” he said.

Posted 1/26/2004