VANDERBURGH COUNTY

REZONING BOARD

JUNE 17, 2008

The Vanderburgh County Rezoning Board met in session this 17^th day of June, 2008 at 6:10 p.m. in room 301 of the Civic Center Complex with President Jeff Korb presiding.

Janet Greenwell: Good evening, I’m Janet Greenwell with Area Plan Commission.

President Korb: Hi, Janet.

Janet Greenwell: We ask that you approve the rezoning minutes from the last meeting.

Commissioner Tornatta: So moved.

Commissioner Nix: Second.

President Korb: All those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. The motion passes.

Janet Greenwell: Thank you.

Janet Greenwell: We have just one petition to come forward tonight. It’s VC-4-2008, 1501 North Burkhardt Road. Hirsch-Martin Development is requesting to rezone approximately 190 acres located at 1501 North Burkhardt from agricultural and C-4 with a use and development commitment, to C-2 with a use and development commitment. This site is located on the east side of Burkhardt Road over to I-164, and from Columbia Street to Oak Grove Road. This site is located in an area designated on the future land use map and the comprehensive plan as an area of mixed use, including residential, commercial and industrial. The use and development commitment included as part of the rezoning ordinance addresses traffic and infrastructure improvements. With these commitments in place, the rezoning is consistent with the comprehensive plan. The petition was heard at the June 12^th Area Plan Commission hearing, and was recommended for approval with seven affirmative votes.

President Korb: We, thank you very much, Janet. We obviously have someone here. Hello, Steve, how are you?

Steve Martin: Alright. How are you?

President Korb: I’m good. State your name for the record please.

Steve Martin: Steve Martin, 8201 Carolwood, in Evansville. I would like to take just a moment and tell you a little bit about what we’re doing. I know you’ve all three been very involved in the process, and very supportive, and I really appreciate that, but I thought I would take a few moments, and we’ll make it fairly quickly. Let me give you some information here.

President Korb: Thank you.

Steve Martin: We really did appreciate Area Plan passing that unanimously last week, and appreciate the community support. I’m here today as a Managing Member of Hirsch-Martin Development LLC. I want to thank you for all the support that you’ve given us, and taking time to talk about our C-2 zoning. Before we get into that, I wanted to take a moment to share a brief vision with you, and our concept of The Promenade. It’s been my honor over the last 18 months to get to know the Hirsch family, and the partnership that we’ve formed. They are a great family, and very community involved. I’m sure many of you know them as well. I’ve also had the opportunity to work with my father for the last 31 years, and we’ve had some fun putting this project together. We’ve got a great team in Jim Farney at Bernardin Lochmueller, and Don Fuchs at Bamberger Foreman Oswald and Hahn, and we also hired a firm called Bird Houk Collaborative that does master planning. We’ve really been thrilled with that. So, we’ve put a great team together, and the concept of the team is let’s make sure we do this right. We’re doing something here at the entrance to Evansville. Let’s take our time and plan. We’ve taken the last 18 months to do that. Our goal here is to create a special place that further establishes Evansville as a regional hub for retail, for entertainment, for medical, for a 75 mile area around us. We want a development that helps retain youth, attract talent, and attract new companies for the residents of Evansville. People ask me all the time, is this development possible? It really is possible. We are tremendously encouraged by all the support that we’ve gotten throughout the community in that endeavor. I’ve given you those books, you can take them with you. I’m going to also show you here, I’m going to point here a little bit as I go through and just give you a little break down of what is going to, what we anticipate developing out at The Promenade. First is retail. That is really the catalyst of what we’re trying to accomplish. It’s the, we’re trying to create a people place. The town center is going to have six to eight hundred thousand square foot of development. The retail study that we did shows that that is possible for Evansville. In that town center, which is located right here, this area, this is Burkhardt, to kind of get your bearings. This is Burkhardt, this is Oak Grove, this is 164. So, this is the town center area, and inside of there, in addition to six to eight hundred thousand square foot of retail, we’re going to have 80 to 100,000 square foot of office, and 100 to 200 units of apartments. They would be on the second story of that town center. The Greene in Dayton, Ohio is a very similar development in a community that’s very similar in size to Evansville. They have done this, on their first phase, and they are now starting the second phase it’s been so successful. It’s been very successful. In addition, we’re going to have a multi-family area right here. In that multi-family area we anticipate there being 100 to 200 for sale condos being available as well. There’s going to be a hospitality, convention area, which is right in here, close to the entertainment zone, and it will have 225 to 300 rooms with 30,000 square foot of conference center. We have an office area, which is right along Vogel right here, and that area is going to have 120 to 150,000 square foot of office. This area between Cross Pointe, which you mentioned earlier is about to start construction and 164, this area here, is a campus area. We are hoping to see corporate headquarters located there, as well as possibly medical and educational type campuses that can utilize that proximity to 164, future I-69. Again, what we’re trying to do is create a special people place that emphasizes architecture and the cultural aspects of construction. We will set an architectural standard that will be adhered to and will be monitored by an architectural review board, and we want to encourage environmentally friendly buildings. We’re trying to create a development that will last for generations. We anticipate that it will create significant new jobs, and a lot of money, obviously, in taxes will be spent and brought into the community. Property taxes alone will increase by over ten million dollars a year on this site, once it’s fully developed. So, that’s, and that’s in today’s dollars, that’s not in future dollars. When the Greene town center was developed in Dayton, Ohio, it created 3,000 jobs in phase one, and added 400 million dollars, had a 400 million dollar economic impact. So, obviously, there’s going to be a lot more of that here, because this is a little bit bigger site than what they did there. In addition, the sales tax that we anticipate, just from the retail, will be in excess of ten million dollars a year as well. These are all dollars the county will have in their county budgets, the schools will have to increase the schools, the educational system we have here in Vanderburgh County, these are all dollars that will come into Vanderburgh County. In addition, other types of taxes, like Innkeepers Tax will help with tourism and other types of tax as well for the county. I could go on, but you get the idea of what the economic impact this development is going to have. Let me wrap up by just sharing with you, Evansville, a vision of what we’re trying to create here is a new development where Evansville citizens get new amenities that we don’t have now, and opportunities that we have to go to Louisville, Indianapolis, Nashville, St. Louis to enjoy now. It will attract new talent, new companies, help retain youth, and lastly we want The Promenade to further establish Evansville as that regional center it has been in the past, for the medical, retail and entertainment for the people in a 75 mile radius. I want to thank all three of you for all of your support. You’ve been tremendous. We appreciate all your help. Don Fuchs and Jim Farney and dad and I are here to answer any questions you have. So, thank you.

President Korb: Steve, I’m assuming this is going to be done in phases?

Steve Martin: It will. It’s totally dependent on, there will be a variety of developers involved.

President Korb: Okay.

Steve Martin: Multi-family, and as we bring them in, but it definitely will be done in phases, yes.

President Korb: Your, any concerns about the economy and the shape that it’s in right now? Does that impede the process?

Steve Martin: It probably slows us down a little bit. But, we’ve been in a planning process, and we still have some of that to go--

President Korb: Okay.

Steve Martin: –and getting infrastructure in. So, we’re hoping it will be over with by the time we get there. Maybe we’ll see some benefits of putting that infrastructure in actually from it.

President Korb: Okay.

Commissioner Tornatta: Where do you see starting first?

Steve Martin: Well, obviously, the area that we think will start first, we don’t know, but the area along Burkhardt will be, we have activity on that now. People are wanting to do things along there. We believe that coming down Vogel in here, we’re having a lot of activity right in this area, and we have activity here and down here right now, people wanting to get involved in different things. So, this area, once the town center starts, it will come deeper into the property. That’s probably three years out, a good three years out I would suspect.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay, and then at one point we had talked about on Burkhardt Road maybe putting the medians into the project. Have we put anymore thought to that? Then, is that going to be potentially one of the things that’s gonna cross it?

Steve Martin: I think that we can, as we develop the association that’s going in here, we can probably pull that into the entire association, to tie that into the theme of what we’re doing. We think it’s a great idea. I don’t think we could do it until we have this component involved in that. I think once we know who this, and we’re talking to three different groups right now, when that is determined, then I think we can look at that real seriously.

Commissioner Tornatta: Okay.

Steve Martin: I think it’s a very good idea.

President Korb: I’m sorry, what’s the idea with the town center?

Steve Martin: The idea is that this area along Burkhardt, where there is landscaping, the county has to maintain now, and if we tie that into the theme, as it has a feel as it’s coming into our development, and it wouldn’t be, since we have a lot of landscaping we’re going to be taking care of on here it won’t be that much additional that we could work out some kind of maintenance to take care of that as well, and tie it into ours.

Commissioner Tornatta: Well, there’s not really any landscaping.

Steve Martin: There’s a couple trees.

Commissioner Tornatta: There’s not many.

Steve Martin: There’s mulch and plants.

Commissioner Tornatta: Right, there was an issue. So, in looking at that, if that was a possibility.

Steve Martin: Sure.

Commissioner Tornatta: Thanks.

Steve Martin: Any other questions?

President Korb: And what’s going in the town center, Steve?

Steve Martin: Pardon?

President Korb: The town center, that’s going to be?

Steve Martin: That will be, well–

President Korb: I know where it is, but what’s gonna–

Steve Martin: Well, down here you’ll kind of see, this is the land, but down here you can see there will be things such as department stores, a lot of shops. There are, it will all be retailers, with above it office and multi-family apartments.

President Korb: Gotcha. Okay. Great. Thank you. Any questions, any further questions for Mr. Martin or his? Mr. Fuchs, you’re going to get off here easy tonight. Yes, sir. I think we need to call the question, gentlemen, unless you have any other questions?

Bill Jeffers: Did you call for remonstrators?

President Korb: I haven’t, but I will. Mr. remonstrator?

Bill Jeffers: Bill Jeffers, Vanderburgh County Surveyor. I noticed the project will be started along Burkhardt Road, and just wanted to announce to the developer and to the Commissioners, that yesterday we were able to revise the flood plain map to reflect the most recent Morley report that was approved by DNR, that contains the floodway within the culvert that the County Commissioners spent about a million and a half dollars to put along Burkhardt Road. So, that means that any construction that this development wishes to proceed with will not have to have permits, and go through that half year process, because the floodway is within the culvert, previously, until yesterday, it showed out across the field. So, that’s a plus. I believe this project prevents leap frogging of development into Warrick County, that a lot of us were apprehensive about. This will anchor this development in Vanderburgh County. It not only in fills the Hirsch 190 acres, but it may by its, you know, attractiveness and commercial appeal, backfill that area between Burkhardt and Green River Road that’s kind of been leaped over. This will, you know, give a reason for people to commercially develop that area that’s lying idle, already zoned between those two roads. I truly look forward to working with this developer on drainage issues. A very creative design. I hope they’re going to use dual purpose, the lake, not only for detention, but for recreation, etcetera. I don’t foresee any problems with drainage. I have a very high respect for Bernardin Lochmueller and Association and their ability to plan the drainage very well. I look forward to that. So, I just wanted to throw a few ideas in there for you on that, in that regard.

President Korb: That really wasn’t what I was expecting to come out of your mouth, since you were remonstrating. Maybe I totally missed it, but–

Bill Jeffers: Well, remonstrators can be positive too, can’t they?

President Korb: Rarely. Not that I’ve been here. So, but, yeah, thank you very much. Okay, I’m breathing easier.

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.: Steve, I think you need to include him in your list of thank you’s to all the people that are helping you with this.

President Korb: Yeah, poinsettias at Christmas.

Steve Martin: I would agree. That was the best remonstration I’ve ever seen.

Commissioner Tornatta: That was his summation. So, motion to approve.

President Korb: You know, every now and again you like to throw us curve balls, don’t you, Mr. Jeffers? Atta boy.

Commissioner Nix: He was hired for the summation, so, I guess, that’s where we’re at.

Commissioner Tornatta: No, I said, when he came up, that was the summation.

Commissioner Nix: I will second the motion.

President Korb: There has been a motion made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye.

All Commissioners: Aye.

President Korb: Opposed same sign. Congratulations, gentlemen, make us proud.

Commissioner Tornatta: Roll call vote.

President Korb: Oh, roll call vote. Okay, Mr. Nix?

Commissioner Nix: Yes.

President Korb: Mr. Tornatta?

Commissioner Tornatta: Yes.

President Korb: Commissioner Korb votes yes. Now you’re free to go.

Madelyn Grayson: Mr. Martin, I will need you to sign the use and development commitment so I can record that with the ordinance.

Commissioner Tornatta: Starting Drainage Board immediately, please.

President Korb: Meeting adjourned.

(The meeting was adjourned at 6:22 p.m.)

Those in Attendance:

Jeff Korb                                   Bill Nix                                      Troy Tornatta

Ted C. Ziemer, Jr.          Janet Greenwell                       Madelyn Grayson

Steve Martin                             Bill Jeffers                                 Others Unidentified

Members of Media

VANDERBURGH COUNTY

REZONING BOARD

Jeff Korb, President

Bill Nix, Vice President

Troy Tornatta, Member

(Recorded and transcribed by Madelyn Grayson.)