CROWN POINT | City residents can view the full proposal for a controversial development at six forums, Mayor David Uran announced Thursday.
The Preserve at Beacon Hill, valued at $81.9 million, proposes creating 572 apartments, 34,300 square feet of retail space and two commercial outlots adjacent to the Beacon Hill shopping center, at the southeast corner of Summit Street and Broadway.
The City Council is scheduled to vote on approving a zone change for the development at its April 6 meeting. The forums begin Tuesday and continue through April 2.
Uran received several dozen phone calls and e-mails from residents who had concerns about the development, but once they received more information, their position either changed or they were more receptive to the idea, Uran said in a written statement.
He said it is his responsibility as mayor to bring before residents any issue that would affect them and that the project would have a positive effect on the city's finances.
The first news of the forums on Monday surprised and alarmed some City Council members, who questioned the mayor's decision to spearhead the forums.
Councilman Mark Schweitzer said he hadn't been informed the city was working on forums until the mayor mentioned it to residents during the public comment portion of Monday's City Council meeting.
"I do disagree that the city is the one holding the forums," Schweitzer said. He said he would have no problem with a developer organizing similar forums, but was concerned about the precedent that city-hosted forums might set.
"Is this a new thing we are going to do for every controversial project? We should be prepared to do the same thing for ... any other person who wants to do a project in Crown Point," he said.
Councilwoman Carol Drasga said she is worried about the city appearing biased because it hasn't promoted similar meetings for other developers.
"If the developer has things he wants to straighten up, that's up to him. ... It's not up to the city to send out a press release on city stationery," she said.
Community Development Director Curt Graves said he did not know of any previous instance in which the city organized forums for a private development.
In his statement Thursday, Uran defended his position.
"I have heard that some of our council is concerned with the city participating in the forums, that it may not be the city's job to do this," Uran said. "This confuses me, as I have been told by all of the members who oppose this project that their main reason for opposing it is because of public sentiment, and yet, during the March 2 council meeting, all of the remonstrators against the project indicated that they have not even seen the proposal.
"Why would anyone oppose the public seeing the full proposal and then deciding?"
A forum will be held in each of the five City Council districts, and will be funded by the developer, the statement said.
The companies involved in the development include Crown Point-based Rossman and Associates, Indianapolis-based Kite Realty and Indianapolis-based Buckingham Cos.
IF YOU GO
Here's a schedule of the forums by district:
At-large: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Lake County Government Complex auditorium Building B, 2293 N. Main St.
District 1: 7 p.m. March 19, Bethel Church Auditorium, 10202 Broadway
District 2: 7 p.m. March 16, Living Stones Church, 909 Pratt St.
District 3: 7 p.m. April 2, SS. Peter and Paul, 9700 Broadway
District 4: 7 p.m. March 3, First Christian Reformed Church Sanctuary, 909 E. Greenwood Ave.
District 5: 6:30 p.m. March 18, First United Methodist Church, 352 Main St.
