District 3 Advisory Board

District III Advisory Board Minutes for Oct. 3, 2012 District III Advisory Board Minutes Oct. 3, 2012 www.wichita.gov The District III Advisory Board meeting was held at 6:30 p.m. at the Wichita Water Center at 101 E Pawnee; nine District Advisory Board members were in attendance; 10 City staff and 18 members of the public were present (two did not sign in). Members Present Staff Present Jody Bennett Officer Genaro Arroyo, Patrol South Paul Davis Capt. Jim Wilson, WFD Elena Ingle Officer Rebekah Johnson, Patrol East Danny Johnson Gary Janzen, Public Works Engineering Gay Quisenberry Bill Longnecker, MAPD Wendy Ratliff Scott Wadle, MAPD David Robbins Darren Matthews, WFD Roger Smith Brandon Barnes, WFD Connie White Scott Siple, WFD Council Member James Clendenin Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Services Members Absent Guests Terry Brewster Listed on the last page ORDER OF BUSINESS At 6:30 p.m. Council Member Clendenin called the meeting to order. Minutes from the Sept. 5, 2012, meeting were approved with one correction. PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled items No items Non-Scheduled items No items Action: Receive and file. STAFF REPORTS Community Police Report Officer Rebekah Johnson, Beat 32 Patrol East, announced Halloween in the Park is slated for Oct. 26th at 6 p.m. at Edgemoor Park. She said the Community Police Section would appreciate any donations. She also reported the arrest of a woman who is suspected as being responsible for the tire slashings in the Fabrique neighborhood. She also noted four burglaries in the area of Lincoln and Edgemoor, and the Planeview Cleanup scheduled for Oct. 6th Connie White said she thought it would be nice to take up collection to donate to Halloween in the Park. Council Member Clendenin said that was a good idea and Janet Johnson will deliver the money collected to Officer West. Officer Genaro Arroyo, Beat 28 Patrol South, said the Bureau has been devoting a lot of time to the issues in Old Town. In addition to the shootings, they are also seeing a robbery trend. The suspect approaches 1  District III Advisory Board Minutes for Oct. 3, 2012 victims and asks for the time or a cigarette and then he punches them out and takes their wallet. He said Sgt. Gulliver is in charge of the special enforcement projects in Old Town and they have a zero tolerance; anyone caught breaking the law will be cited or arrested. He said Officer Cavanaugh is having issues with the homeless people living by the river near Garvey Park who have been starting fires to burn the casing off copper wire. She is asking that if anyone in the area sees smoke, to please call 911. Jody Bennett wanted to know if the shootings in Old Town are gang related; Arroyo said yes, especially on the weekends. Connie Klassen said she wanted to recognize and thank Officer Arroyo for his help at their Sept. 15 th clean up. She said he made a good impression on the neighborhood. Council Member Clendenin stressed that in spite of the negative coverage, Old Town is still a safe place to visit. He said all the shootings, etc., are happening around 1 and 2 a.m., when most of us are home in bed. He said he has met with the Old Town businesses and residents (more than 2,000 people live in the area) and they are engaged in making the area a safe place. He said the City Council will be reviewing the City Ordinances that impact Old Town and looking at the loitering issues, as well as the environment, including the need for more lighting. Wichita Fire Department Report Capt. Jim Wilson reported there were 14 fires citywide in September and four were in District III:  830 S. Pershing – arson  2227 S. Glendale – vehicle fire  1408 E. Catalina – 2 fires – arson/burglary He said Fire Prevention Week is next week and the Fire Department will be having a number of activities related to that. He also encouraged citizens to go ahead and sign up now for the Citizens Fire Academy that starts in May. He said if people have questions they can call Capt. Schowalter at 268-4443. Elena Ingle participated in the most recent session and she said it was a very good experience. Action: Receive and file. NEW BUSINESS 34th/South Broadway Bridge update Gary Janzen, Interim City Engineer, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the status of the bridge. He said the bridge was built in 1938 and has gone through several rehabilitations over the years. It currently has the 2nd lowest rating of all 250 bridges in the City system. Janzen said a number of neighborhood/stakeholder meetings were held and it was clear there were three primary concerns: impact on the neighbors; traffic; and cost. He said there have been some challenges in working with the railroad and that has slowed the process down; however, the City has been able to secure additional Federal funding for the project. He said the historic house will be moved to a location nearby, and if things go according to plan, Broadway shouldn’t be shut down for more than a day or two during the construction process. He said they expect to open bids on Nov. 16th and there is still some private utility work that needs to be completed. Janzen said they hope to start construction in early 2013. He said it’s going to be a challenging project, “but we’ve come a long way.” Elena Ingle said she recalled vertical clearance for the railroad being an issue; Janzen said yes, it was an 2  District III Advisory Board Minutes for Oct. 3, 2012 issue, but the engineers were able to figure out a solution. Dave Robbins asked if the historical house on the northwest side of the project would be impacted; Janzen said no. Gay Quisenberry asked what it is about the house that is being moved that makes it of historical significance; Janzen said it has to do with the architecture, and mentioned there is a secret trap door for bootleggers Roger Smith asked how much the project is going to cost; Janzen said they estimate around $17 million, and they have $10 million from the Feds. He said the right of way costs on this project were pretty expensive. Paul Davis said from the area businesses aspect, the current construction plan is quite a relief. Connie Klassen said we need some kind of “welcome to Wichita” center in south Wichita. Jim Gulick asked what the expected completion date is; Janzen said it will take a strong year – depending on the weather. Regarding two other projects, Janzen said the Lincoln Street Bridge and dam is about a month away from completion and they will have a ribbon cutting ceremony for that project. Also, the South end bike path that runs from Garvey Park to Planeview Park (four miles of bike path) is about 2 or 3 weeks out from being completed. Council Member Clendenin said he would like to have a naming/ribbon cutting for that project as well. Action: Receive and file CON2012-00042 Bill Longnecker, Metropolitan Area Planning Department, presented a request for a Conditional Use to allow outdoor vehicle and equipment sales on the LC Limited Commercial zoned Lot 1, Rapid Muffler Addition. Per the Unified Zoning Code, outdoor vehicle and equipment sales may be permitted with a Conditional Use in the LC zoning district. The site is located on the southwest corner of Woodlawn and Lincoln Street and has a vacant three-bay door auto repair garage/office (built 1960). The site is completely paved over around the building, with the paving in poor shape. While the site does not entirely meet the “Comprehensive Plan’s” criteria of locating car lots in areas where they are already clustered, it does conform to the MAPC’s past recommendations of locating smaller car sales lots within sites that had previously been used or continue to be used for auto related businesses. In this case the applicant proposes to retain the permitted by right limited vehicle repair garage, while operating a car sales lot on the same site. Introduction of a car sales lot into an area can lead to other car sales lots and this is an issue that must be addressed on a site-by-site basis with a Conditional Use application. Danny Johnson was concerned that this car lot might be a “tote the note” business because the immediate neighborhood consists primarily of low income residents. He said these types of businesses are predatory in nature and he wouldn’t be supportive of that. Longnecker said there is nothing in the zoning code to address the financing policies of the businesses. He said the Planning Department did come up with language for a protective overlay to address payday loan types of businesses, but there is currently nothing that addresses that type of car sales businesses. He said this is the second time he’s heard this concern recently so it might be worth asking the Law Department about it. 3  District III Advisory Board Minutes for Oct. 3, 2012 The applicant was present and he said they will definitely not be a “buy here/pay here” business; he said they already have one small lot on South Broadway and it isn’t that type of establishment either. Paul Davis said he appreciates it when the applicant actually shows up. He wanted to know why one of the conditions is not to allow the sale of motorcycles and trailers; Longnecker said when you get a lot of trailers on the lot, it starts looking like a U-Haul place. Jody Bennett asked how many cars they plan on having on the lot; the applicant said the original plan called for 20, but the revised plan calls for 16 or 17 to allow more room for employee and customer parking. Bennett wanted to know how many employees will work there. The applicant said initially it will be him and two additional employees. Roger Smith asked what the name of the business will be; the applicant said Cars for Deals. Dave Robbins asked if he is the owner; he said no, he will be the manager. Robbins also wanted to know if they would be responsible for the re-model; the applicant said yes, but they wouldn’t invest a lot of money in property improvements until they knew if the conditional use would be approved. Robbins said it sounded like it would be an improvement to what is currently there. Paul Davis asked where the lot on South Broadway is located; the applicant said a block north of MacArthur. He said they looked at a lot of potential locations and this is the one that really stood out to them. Elena Ingle asked if any residents from the neighborhood were present; none were. She asked Longnecker if he had received any objections to the CUP; he said no. Connie White said she lives in the area, and she thought it would be an improvement. Connie White (Smith) made a motion to recommend approval of the Conditional Use application. Action: Motion passed 9-0. Bicycle Master Plan Scott Wadle, Metropolitan Area Planning Department, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the Bicycle Master Plan. The three major goals of the plan are to:  Increase the amount of bicycling in Wichita  Imrpove the safety of bicyclists in Wichita  Foster and promote a culture where bicycling is a viable and acceptable form of transportation The plan includes 30 strategies for achieving these goals. Elena Ingle had a number of questions related to the width of bicycle paths and Mt. Vernon Street. There was a discussion on traffic counts and the pros and cons of three lane streets. Gay Quisenberry said the bike lane on 1st street makes her nervous because you have to cross the bike lane in order to make a right turn. She wanted to know if the education strategy would be geared toward bicyclists or motorists; Wadle said both. Connie White said her son is deaf and he is an avid cyclist. She said she fully supports the plan and anything that can be done to make cycling safer because her son was hit by a car. She said she really likes the three lane streets. Jody Bennett said when you have the bike lane on the street, there needs to be some kind of regulation for making right turns; Wadle said there are solutions to those situation. 4  District III Advisory Board Minutes for Oct. 3, 2012 Wadle also pointed out there is no money associated with the plan. Dave Robbins (White) made a motion to recommend that the City Council endorse the Plan. Action: Motion passed 7-2. Neighborhood Cleanup Plan Janet Johnson, District III Neighborhood Assistant, presented the proposed plan for the future of neighborhood cleanups. The City helps organize and provides funding for equipment and disposal fees for about 80 neighborhood cleanups per year. Cleanups range from large-scale, neighborhood wide cleanups to small one to two block cleanups (in areas without a neighborhood association). The budget for neighborhood clean-ups was reduced by $50,000 in May 2012. Due to this reduction the neighborhood clean-up program was reviewed to determine how to manage this program at new funding levels. It is recommended that the program be redesigned to be a need based program. The program will look at the median income of an area and determine if they could participate in the program at “no cost” to the neighborhood and/or through a new component the “Dollar for Doers” incentive. The criteria for determining the thresholds were based on the median incomes from the 2010 census data. Neighborhoods whose median income is very low to low-moderate will qualify for a “no cost” cleanup. Neighborhoods whose median income is moderate or high will qualify for a “Dollars for Doers” clean up based on fund availability. MEDIAN INCOME CATEGORY VERY LOW 9,849.00 – 22,180 LOW-MODERATE 22,180.01 – 44,360 MODERATE 44,360.01 – 88,720 HIGH 88,720.01 – 208,594 The “Dollar for Doers” incentive is a $1 for $1 matching program that will allow the neighborhood clean-up program to still be inclusive of all neighborhoods in Wichita, but with the financial support of those neighborhoods that can assist with the cost of their clean-up. Neighborhoods that participate in the Dollars for Doers program will be responsible for submitting a payment 30 days prior to their scheduled clean up date. The payment amount will be based on an estimate using prior year’s expenditure as the estimated cost. Neighborhoods will then receive a final bill after the actual invoice has been received asking for any additional costs associated with the clean up. Payments not received for additional cost would prohibit a neighborhood from having a clean up in a future year. If the cost is less, the City will issue a refund. The DAB members said they were okay with the plan as presented. UPDATES, ISSUES AND REPORTS Council Member Clendenin said the most current Council Redistricting Proposed Map is available at the City’s website www.wichita.gov Someone from the Planning Department will be at the next meeting to present the proposal. Meeting was adjourned. The next meeting for District Advisory Board III will be held at 6:30 p.m., Nov. 7, 2012, at the Water Center at 101 E. Pawnee. Respectfully submitted, Janet Johnson, Neighborhood Assistant – District III 5  District III Advisory Board Minutes for Oct. 3, 2012 Guests Connie Klassen Jim Gulick Tom Strickland Betty Strickland Ethel Prather Bill Prather Hazel Drummond Bill Davis Steven Walters Jan Hunt Pat White John Fisher Austin Ratliff Nathan Ratliff Ron Becker David Neff 6