Regular Meeting Minutes June 21, 2017 The regular meeting of the was held at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, in the Porter County Administrative Center, 155 Indiana Avenue, Suite 205, Valparaiso, Indiana. Debbie Cook presided. Members present were: Marvin Brickner, Michael Young, Bob Poparad, Luther Williams, and Debbie Cook. Also present were Attorney Scott McClure, Kristy Marasco, Monica Gee, citizens, and representatives of the press. MINTUES: Michael Young made a motion to approve the April 19, 2017 and May 17, 2017 minutes as submitted. Marvin Brickner seconded the motion. A voice vote was taken and unanimously carried. CORRESPONDENCE: Ms. Marasco noted that the office has received letters in support of the dog daycare and all have been forwarded to the Board Members before the meeting. OLD BUSINESS: UV-12-0025 Walter and Constance Klemp, 200 West 700 North, in Liberty Township in the RR, Rural Residential District. Motion to deny. The petitioner is requesting to withdraw a Use Variance permitting to operate a small engine repair, lawn/garden sales and service business from their residence. Motion: Michael Young made a motion to deny UV-12-0025. Marvin Brickner seconded the motion. A voice vote was taken and unanimously carried. UV-12-0032 Kelli Ketchmark, 120 East Junco Street, in Pleasant Township in the R1, Low Density Single-family Residential District. Motion to deny. The petitioner is requesting to withdraw a Use Variance permitting a one-chair beauty salon from their residence. Motion: Marvin Brickner made a motion to deny UV-12-0032. Michael Young seconded the motion. A voice vote was made and unanimously carried. UV-17-0047 Kankakee Valley Historical Society Inc., 22 West and 1050 South & 1101 South Baums Bridge Road, in Pleasant Township in the A1, General Agriculture District. The petitioner is seeking a renewal of a Use Variance to allow archaeological and environmental education and festivals on site in a General Agriculture Zoning District. Page 1 of 5
Ms. Mary Hodson presented. Also present was Mr. John Hodson. Ms. Hodson stated that at the last meeting when it was approved for three (3) years, that at the next renewal it would be approved as permanent. Motion: Bob Poparad made motion to approve Case UV-17-0047 as a permanent variance, Luther Williams seconded the motion. A voice vote was taken and unanimously carried. NEW BUSINESS: UV-17-0046 Barry & Theresa Olsen, 134 Martin Court, in Pleasant Township in the RR, Rural Residential District. The petitioner is seeking the renewal of a Use Variance to allow equipment for a landscaping business to be stored in an accessory structure. Mr. Barry Olsen and Ms. Theresa Olsen presented. Mr. Olsen is here to ask for the Use Variance to be extended for another five (5) years so they can house their equipment, mowers and trailers in their shed. BZA while at the same time the petitioner will take notes and respond at one time. No one spoke; therefore, the public hearing was closed and questions/comments were heard from the Members. Attorney Scott McClure asked if the petitioner has had this variance for about 14 years. Mr. Olsen replied that is correct. Q: There have been no complaints? A: No. C: The place looks great and nice; and everything we asked you to do, is done. Motion: Marvin Brickner made motion to approve Case UV-17-0046 for five (5) years, Bob Poparad seconded the motion. A ballot vote was taken and unanimously carried. UV-17-0048 Jonathan & Anna Kraft, 27 South 117 East, in Morgan Township in the R1, Low Density Single-family Residential District. The petitioner is seeking a Use Variance to allow a Federal Firearms License from residence, to legally transfer the ownership of firearms. Mr. Jonathan Kraft presented. He is requesting a Use Variance to get a FFL license to transfer their guns. For us to have it legally, the only way he can have it is if he has a Use Variance. He has gone thru the process of getting their FFL and now they are to the point that they want the Use Variance. BZA while at the same time the petitioner will take notes and respond at one time. No one spoke; therefore, the public hearing was closed and questions/comments were heard from the Members. Q: What is your experience? A: Our family has been in the auction business for 41 years now. He has been doing it for 12 years. Over the past 12 years, we have had a lot of growth, which one area of it is the gun side of it. We want to be able to handle it legally and this is the best way to do it. Page 2 of 5
Q: Will you be handling any reloading supplies? A: No, we will not be doing any retail transactions. Q: But you are a gunsmith? A: No, I am not. We are an auction company; we are just going to be selling auctioning guns. When we sell them, we than need people to come and do their transfers; which right now we are using an outside dealer to do that. There is some gray area in that on how we are doing it and we are trying to get it on the right page. Q: If you have firearms delivered to your house; and you are not home? A: No, we would have to be there. We have an office area in the barn. C: The Board does not want to see firearms delivered when no one is home. A: Legally with the FFL, they have to be there, it has to go in the book and checked in. Q: You will handle all kinds of guns including military style? A: No, this license is just for regular guns, not Class 3 weapons. C: The only problem is if you expand your business. A: We are in the process now trying to find a facility or a warehouse to do it. (At this time there was a brief discussion on the background check.) C: You cannot have any signage. A: No, we do not want any signage. This is temporary for now; we are looking at building on a property. Q: How temporary do you plan on it being here? A: Probably within the next year, he has been searching for a building for the past 3 years. Motion: Bob Poparad made motion to approve Case UV-17-0048 for three (3) years, Michael Young seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and unanimously carried. UV-17-0049 Jean Reeves & Miranda Saldana, 3554 Sturdy Road, in Center Township in the R1, Low Density Single-family Residential District. The petitioner is seeking a Use Variance to allow a canine indoor and outdoor play daycare. Ms. Miranda Saldana and Ms. Jean Reeves presented. Ms. Saldana stated that one (1) year ago they purchased the K-9 Country Club. Before they purchased the property, they spoke with lawyers to ensure that they can carry thru with the business plan that they had; which was to continue the dog park there and also open a doggie daycare facility to provide for our daycare clients that needed that service. They were under the understanding that there was a Special Use Permit that had been granted; that would allow for dog park use as well as day use. They proceeded with the large building that is there; which they changed into a daycare facility. We started operating in September 2016, our doggie daycare at that facility. We were notified about a month ago that the day use variance did not cover what they needed for the doggie daycare. We are here seeking for that Special Permit to be able to continue our business. Ms. Reeves added about the importance of daycare to families in the community in the dog industry itself; the industry is growing so quickly that it is now the seventh (7 th ) largest retail industry in the United States. You have now seen growth here in Valparaiso for K-9 type activities in all of the rescue programs, the new animal shelter, the City is putting in a new dog park; the K-9 community here in Valparaiso is continuing to grow. Dogs are very important to people s lives in maintaining their well-being and making them good citizens; this is truly important. Page 3 of 5
BZA while at the same time the petitioner will take notes and respond at one time. Dennis Duncan, 212 Weblos Trail, spoke in favor of the petition. Carol Duncan, 212 Weblos Trail, is in favor. Jason Griffith, 241 Legend Drive, Apt 103, spoke in favor of the petition. Simone Byvoets, 354 Hawthorne, spoke in favor of the petition. Elaina Balser, 2150 Lennox Lane, spoke in favor of the petition. Tiffany Ferguson, 3201 Treaty Drive, is in favor. Liz Engel, 3402 Churchview Drive, is in favor. Tina Cook, 107 W. Division Road, is in favor. Kim Abner, 302 Roosevelt Road, is in favor. Martha Wischmeyer, 808 Washington Street, is in favor. Kathleen Ranz, 2650 High Serra Drive, is in favor. The public hearing was closed and questions/comments were heard from the Members. Q: Do we have a letter that was opposed to this? A: Yes. C: I am opposed to this, all the folks here do not live in close proximity, there is a large subdivision across the street (but nobody is here). I drove into the facility, because it was hot that day the windows were up; the smell was very bad. It was a chlorine disinfectant mixed smell that was obnoxious. The barking was unbelievable and very loud. There were 36 dogs, 23 inside and 13 outside; that is tremendous amount of dogs to have at this facility. Since nobody came to complain, his suggestion is to heavily tree line with shrubs, double planting, to absorb some of the noise and not sure what to do about the odor. Q: What do you do with the feces? A: It is bagged and put into the dumpster container until removed. Q: How long does it stay there? A: It s removed once a week. C: Would strongly suggest increasing that. C: In the letters that we handed out too, there was a letter from the Homeowners Association from the Prairie Ridge Subdivision, President, right across the street, they did not have complaints at all about the dog park. Page 4 of 5
Q: Do you accept all breeds? A: We do accept all breeds; every dog is evaluated on individual basis. C: I do agree in planting of the shrubs. A: We are working on it with a local landscaping company currently as to giving us recommendations with what would be best to plant to help reduce some of the noise. We are taking those steps. C: I visited the facility, there was noise. I observed what was happening while being there and there was noise and there was some smells. C: We do have staff there; they walk the yard on a daily basis. The waste that is in the yard, is removed on a daily basis, it is bagged and waited to be picked up once a week. We are not opposed increasing how often that waste will be removed from the facility, which is a good suggestion. C: We did have a letter too from the Animal Control in regards to the sound. Q: Based on your letter, the attorney missed this for a variance? A: The variance that was approved for this property before we purchased it was for the dog park and day use. There was a little bit of misunderstanding, we were under the assumption as well as our lawyers that day use covered the daycare facility, since the dogs are there only during the day and they leave in the evening. (Ms. Marasco noted that it was not in the motion.) C: This is not the first time we have had this issue. The problem is that people come in for variances and it becomes an interpretation of what we mean. We have had them before were we had it as dog training (which part of motion included an occasional overnight). We have had this issue in the past. C: You will need to go out twice a day to pick up the dog feces. A: Yes. Motion: Bob Poparad made motion to approve Case UV-17-0049 for a period of five (5) years, subject to landscaping (buffer/screening along the fencing on the north side and west side), the animal waste has to be addressed (at least once a day the grounds are to be picked up, the dumpster to be removed at least 2 to 3 times per week work out something with the Waste Hauler that is being used as to not being dumped only one single time). Hours of operation be the same, Monday thru Friday, (no weekends), 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Michael Young seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken and carried, 4-1(Brickner). STAFF ITEMS: None. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, the June 21, 2017 Board of Zoning Appeals meeting adjourned at 6:15 p.m. Debbie Kerr-Cook, President Attest: Kristy Marasco, Assistant Director Page 5 of 5