Green space. The Munster Times reports today that the Porter County Commissioners' plan (reported in earlier ILB entries) to require builders to set aside 20% of a residential site for open space has been delayed:
The task of hashing out the differences in the proposal was left up to Porter County Planner Bob Thompson, who quickly began assembling a volunteer advisory committee.RLUIPA. The federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act is in the news in Louisville, according to this Courier-Journal story. Some quotes:Also lending a hand will be Bradley Johnson of Ground Rules, a consulting firm hired by the commissioners Tuesday to bring county ordinances up to date and in line with the county's new land use plan.
Tuesday's public hearing echoed many of the same comments heard by the plan commission, which approved the open space changes last month. Developers opposed the proposal in its current form, while some county residents and environmentalists called for its immediate adoption.
Developer Bob Coolman said the blanket requirement of setting aside 20 percent of a residential site for open space could end up defeating its aim by requiring the development of more open space in order to build the homes needed. "Does it constitute good planning?" he asked.
Chesterton resident and long-time environmentalist Herb Read gave several examples of developments near and far that have set aside more than 20 percent for open space. Read, who's an architect, offered to lend a hand to any local developer unable to make this requirement work. "I think all developers owe something to their community," he said.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville says in a federal lawsuit that metro government is interfering with religious freedom by refusing to allow buildings to be torn down to make way for church parking.Historic preservation. Another Courier-Journal story today concerns an effort by the city to get developers to preserve historic facades and incorporate them into a new development. (Indianapolis residents will recall that facade preservation was accomplished successfully here, incorporated into the construction of the downtown mall.) Some quotes:Louisville blocked plans to provide space for parking across Shelby Street from St. Martin of Tours by granting landmark status to the buildings, once home to Tonini Church Supply Co.
The lawsuit, filed last month in U.S. District Court, places the archdiocese in the middle of a national debate over whether governments can restrict how religious institutions use their property. * * *
If the lawsuit goes to trial, it "will be a good test" of a 2000 federal law that requires governments to show a compelling reason why a church's rights should be limited, Haynes said.
The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act is the latest effort by Congress to protect religious freedom against excessive land use restrictions, he said.
Although many cases involved in the law are winding through the courts, Haynes said Louisville's is unusual because buildings that the government is trying to protect aren't a physical part of the church. A more typical case would involve a church fighting a historic status designation that affects the main church building, such as precluding an old altar from being moved, Haynes said.
The developers' studies conclude that the buildings can't be preserved, while the government's studies contend that one or more of the buildings' facades can be saved and incorporated into the new construction.Posted by Marcia Oddi at July 7, 2004 12:32 PMJim Segrest, a Butchertown activist and president of Neighborhood Planning and Preservation Inc., which is leading the fight to save the old Brinly-Hardy complex, referred to the engineering studies hired by the developers as "bunk. ... You can get anybody to say anything, if you pay them."
Henry Potter, one of the developers in Fleur-de-lis LLC, said, however, that the buildings are falling apart and are unsafe. Potter, who strongly defended the worth of the studies done by his engineering consultants, said it would cost nearly $1million to incorporate two facades of the old Brinly-Hardy headquarters building on the Preston-Main corner into the new housing. He said the housing project is estimated to cost $16million.