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Planning commission sets public hearing on industrial permit billing, discusses utility and lighting rules
Summary
The commission scheduled a public hearing on proposed code edits to allow engineers to review commercial and industrial permit applications and recover review costs; members also discussed drafting utility work, sidewalk and lighting ordinance language and agreed to interim outreach to car dealerships about bright lights.
The Burns Harbor Planning Commission voted to set a public hearing next month on proposed code-book language that would clarify that commercial and industrial permits are subject to engineering review and that applicants will be billed for review time.
Chair and staff said the existing code language was unclear about industrial permits and billing for engineering review; the proposed amendment would explicitly add "industrial" to the list of permit types that come before the planning commission and would allow the town to recover the time and cost of engineer review through permit billing. The commission moved and approved setting the item for public hearing so the change can be debated publicly and refined.
Commissioners also discussed draft requirements for utility work after recent issues with a provider (Frontier). Staff said they are drafting language to ensure contractors clean up and that the town can recover review costs; commissioners agreed to review drafts before the next meeting and to rely on the town engineer and model ordinance templates as starting points.
On lighting concerns, residents and commissioners described bright nighttime lighting from nearby car dealerships (identified in the meeting as CIT) and agreed to both an informal, interim request to dealerships to reduce glare and a longer-term ordinance review. One commissioner said a municipal ordinance template has been circulated as a starting point for language on enforcement, testing and cost recovery.
The commission also noted ongoing sidewalk ordinance drafting and asked staff to send draft materials before the next meeting so commissioners can discuss them in depth.
