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Site Groundrules
From the December 22, 1999 issue
of the Brown County Democrat newspaper.
Headline News Stories
Back to the Front Page Browse the archive of Back Issues
New station lights annoy longtime shop owners
First it was the brightly colored signs at the new fast-food outlets on the south end of town. Then the newly-remodeled service station next door turned on its powerful new lights.
Those two developments on South Van Buren Street have the town council trying to anticipate problems that may arise because of new construction in town and thinking about how to draft ordinances that will keep Nashville looking like a small, rural town.
Last week town manager Roger Kelso met with the Area Plan Commission and reported back to the town council on the issue of guidelines for new construction (see related story).
Also at last week’s town council meeting, two long-time Nashville shopkeepers presented the council with a proposed draft ordinance concerning illumination in Nashville.
Jim and John Lawrence, who have operated Lawrence Family Glassblowers in Nashville since the mid-1970’s said the lighting at the new Amoco station is "intrusive" and could even be dangerous.
"The fact that it’s already there poses a threat to drivers and pedestrians because of the intense glare," Jim Lawrence said. "I noticed when I drove by that directional signs were obscured. It’s not only an aesthetic consideration, it’s a public safety issue as well."
"I don’t have anything against the building, but the lighting is intrusive," said his brother. "I can easily see the lights from my house two miles away. They’re intrusive
"I’d like to see the stars, please," John said. "With these kind of gas stations, it infringes on my rights. In the (recent) past, we’ve had some beautiful buildings designed, like Coachlight Square. For awhile it appeared they were trying to build in a Brown County style. Maybe all of us went to sleep. Then these new buildings came in."
The brothers presented a proposed illumination ordinance based on a similar measure in the Marysville, West Virginia municipal code.
The measure would require outdoor lights "to be shaded, shielded or directed so that their brightness shall not adversely affect surrounding premises," "not blink, flash, flutter" or "exceed a certain degree of illumination."
The proposed ordinance would prevent lights from being over 19 feet tall or higher than the business to which they belong, shining on or directly reflecting into residential structures or adversely affecting safe vision of drivers or pedestrians.
It would exempt municipal street lights, official or government building lighting and temporary lighting for construction.
The proposed ordinance says it is required to "preserve and protect the architectural heritage of the artists and residents" and the "natural beauty, historic and rustic characteristics of our town, which are vitally important to its welfare."
"The number of businesses increasing the intensity of their lights without regard for the quality or placement of those lights, causing it to spill onto surrounding properties, is increasing," the proposed law said.
"Businesses which are similar in nature will feel compelled to to compete with bigger and brighter lighting. The uncontrolled use of high intensity lighting . . . can be injurious to property values of both businesses and residents of this town and may seriously detract from the enjoyment and pleasure of the natural charm of this village."
The proposed ordinance recognizes the right of a business to illuminate itself, but requires that it be done "in a manner that benefits the public without adversely affecting the economic well being" of the town.
Mr. Kelso said the lighting appears even brighter because the south end of town is "so dark." He said it is "quite likely" there are areas in town that don’t meet minimum lighting standards.
He said that both in the case of the Taco Bell/KFC and the new Amoco station, it was obvious that the builders had made an effort to alter their design to "fit in" with Nashville’s small town image, but in both cases, one addition near the end of the construction process jarred the sensibilities of town officials.
At Taco Bell, the council found the bright colored signs not in keeping with the "look" of the town and at the new service station, the lights were brighter than anyone had anticipated.
"People are doing what they think fits right in," he said.
Town attorney Ben Hoff said that for years, the council has taken a laid back approach and waited until problems cropped up to try to solve them.
"In my opinion, the time has come to think about what ordinances we need so that we don’t get blind-sided," Mr. Hoff said.
He pointed to recent ordinances concerning noise abatement and the carriage business as two instances where he had to quickly draft regulations to solve problems that might have been anticipated.
"We need to take the time to think of things down the road and anticipate," he said. "To try to be proactive is going to take money and it’s going to take a lot of people getting together and looking ahead and hammering something out.
Council member Danetta Dorsett predicted the town is probably getting ready to "have some light wars."
"Businesses are going to come here that have already established trends in other cities," she said. "Some people have taken care to have picturesque lighting and these new businesses coming in are negating all of that. —Jeff Tryon
Town may control new development
Nashville Town Manager Roger Kelso met with the Brown County Area Plan Commission last Tuesday night to discuss ways to improve the town’s control over the appearance of new construction and increase amount of parking space in town.
Planners suggested the town flesh out existing appearance ordinances with concrete details and then submit them for approval.
The plan commission agreed to appoint a subcommittee which would review proposed new construction to make sure it fit into the new guidelines and to review that panel’s decisions.
"The town would like to see some kind of architectural review over new developments in town," said plan department director Joan Wright.
"They want to have a more comprehensive review that would apply to both business districts."
She said she had talked with colleagues in Carmel, Greenwood and Zionsville, who "are all going through a similar process to try and preserve the nature of the town."
She suggested the town draft its new ordinance with an eye toward a specific section of Indiana Code that provides for plan review of new development.
Mr. Kelso said part of the existing code alludes to maintaining the character of the town in one of the two business districts, but is "too vague."
"They just used the word rustic, but the code doesn’t really flesh that out," he said. "We may have had the wrong legal approach.
"The key thing is we don’t want to keep the shop people from making changes, at the same time we don’t want radical change," Mr. Kelso said. "But we do need to keep similar appearances. That doesn’t mean cookie-cutter buildings, where everything has to look the same.
"We would like to see a milder effect visually," he said. "The problem is, if we don’t protect that, Nashville is like an economic pump; if we allow things to get too urbanized, people are not going to come. It’s a valuable industry and I think we need to protect that.
"We’re not dictating, we’re looking for direction from you folks," Mr. Kelso said. "It’s probably going to come down to some kind of site review on each business."
Plan commission member I.E. Lewis agreed.
"I personally think it’s imperative that we preserve this uniqueness," he said. "That is essential."
Mr. Kelso said the council is more concerned with the appearance of downtown area "where everything is belly to belly" than with outlying areas like Salt Creek Plaza.
If the town drafts the new ordinance along the lines suggested by the state code, review and enforcement will fall more to the plan commission.
"We could have a site review committee with the members all appointed by the town council," said commission President Archie Johnson. "Then if someone appeals a decision, it would come to this board."
Mr. Kelso also asked the plan commission to review a part of the Nashville town ordinance that exempts part of the town from meeting parking requirements.
Under town ordinances, new buildings are required to have a certain amount of parking space, but some areas are exempt from that requirement.
About 1981, the town council appointed a panel to determine which blocks had been developed in 1960, when the zoning ordinance was adopted. Blocks which had been at least 50 percent developed at that time were exempted from the parking requirement.
"It depended on what the use had been in 1960," Mr. Kelso said. "Maybe that was a good idea 40 years ago, but I think the council feels it’s not a good idea now.
"We’re not trying to get after anybody in the business community, but it seems silly to allow structures to be built at 100 percent of the lot size without even allowing for tenant parking, let alone customers," he said. "It seems silly that you’ve got a special tax for parking and restrooms and yet you waive the parking requirements in some parts of town. It’s almost like you’re working against yourself."
"I think the town board needs to give us a little more direction," Ms. Wright said.
Mr. Kelso agreed that the town will try to create a more detailed, specific ordinance and then return to the plan commission.
—Jeff Tryon
Library fundraising efforts now past half-way mark
With a $70,000 gift from Kevin and Barbara Sheehan for the children’s area, contributions are topping the halfway mark in the Great Expectations campaign form the new Brown County Public Library.
And county resident Don DeWees has volunteered to design and install computer wiring for the new facility.
That gift has been valued between $8,000 and $10,000.
Groundbreaking ceremonies are being planned for 2:30 p.m. Sunday, January 2.
The more than $450,000 total includes such recent donations as:
• $1,385 from the National Junior Honor Society fundraising at Brown County Junior High School.
• Nearly $1,000 from the sale of collectible "Toby Mugs" and antique dolls from an anonymous donor.
• $2,550 from an Internet auction sale of another anonymous donor’s watercolor originals by children’s artist Tasha Tudor.
In making the $70,000 gift, the Sheehans said they recall years past when their boys used the former library building on Nashville’s Jefferson Street opposite the Methodist Church and later were pleased to use the newer location on East Main Street.
"It was a pretty simple gift decision for us," Mr. Sheehan said.
"We looked for something we could do that reflected our interest in children. Libraries are important for children to explore and learn."
The Sheehans have resided the past several years in Indianapolis, but recently acquired the former Luigi Crispino property on Jackson Branch Road.
They also are donating slabs of stone from the property for library fireplaces and veneer.,
"Both our mothers also were librarians, so libraries are in our blood," Mr. Sheehan said.
Mr. DeWees, a Cummins Engine Company employee, assisted network wiring at three school buildings last year.
The son of a former library board member and retired Nashville postmaster, Joe DeWees, Mr. DeWees said he looks forward to giving something back.
"It’s something I do for a living and it’s a way I can contribute to the new library," he said.
"I grew up in this community, and I look forward to giving something back."
Junior high school students "raided piggy banks and nagged parents" to raise $1,385, according to the school newspaper, "Eagle’s Wings.
Donors were treated to an ice cream party in the school library.
Top fundraisers were in Kathleen McDonald’s homeroom followed by rooms of Connie Ford and B.J. Kritzer.
The donated Tasha Tudor paintings were sold at $2,550 via the eBay.com on-line auction the same day that another of the Vermont artist’s primitive paintings was sold at the local Children’s Christmas Auction for $2,950.
The four watercolors, painting on a single sheet and framed, were intended to be printed as greeting cards.
Administrators contracts extended one year
There were no surprises at last week’s school board meeting.
Board members gave administrators of the county’s six schools one year contract extensions through the 2000-2001 school year.
The recent high school production of "Grease" and the content of future plays also was on the board’s agenda.
Several community members, along with some of "Grease’s" players spoke about what they thought of the recent controversy surrounding it.
County businessman Ken Birkmeier said "I believe there was nothing obscene.
Some have raised questions about how to measure the content of high school productions spurring an outpouring of public opinion.
Mr. Birkmeier said he thought the production of Grease fell within the school corporation’s policy on the matter.
Three of the production’s actors were on hand to share their opinions.
High school junior Brandon Kirkham addressed the board, citing specific examples of controversial American literature that has become part of the school’s curriculum.
"I don’t feel that Grease is any worse than any of these," Mr. Kirkham concluded.
Senior Andrea Swift told board members that the behaviors mocked in the production wasn’t anything new. "We see these things every single day," she said.
Jessica Arnett played Rizzo in the play. She said her parents had read the script and were supportive and that several family members on hand for the play weren’t shocked by what they saw. 15 members of her family attended one show. "Everyone loved it," she said.
A Brown County student since the fourth grade, Miss Arnett said she had seen some of her classmates drop out, get pregnant, overdose and have auto accidents that were alcohol-related.
"The bottom line is that all of these things occur without the help of Grease."
"Just because I see a movie that maybe my grandparents may deem unacceptable doesn’t mean I’m going to go out an commit any violent or offensive act against anyone. I was brought up in a strong family with strong guidance. I think that’s all the help that anyone really needs."
"I’m very, very proud of the work we did and very, very proud of the decision that were made."
Mrs. Arnett’s comments were met by applause from the audience assembled at the junior high school.
No decisions were made about censoring any of the high school’s upcoming productions at the meeting.
In other business:
• Accepted the resignations of John Miller, a custodian at Nashville Elementary School and Jane Parker, high school study hall monitor.
• Hired Roger Feltner to be custodian at Brown County High School and Erin Schmidt as assistant cheerleading coach.
• Approved health curriculum at the high school.
For many other local news stories, see this week's issue of the Brown County Democrat.
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