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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSoccer Field Approval Email 05-08-24Re: Al Salam Islamic Life Center Soccer Field Mock Up Conn, Angelina V <Aconn@carmel.in.gov> Wed 5/8/2024 2:51 PM To:Zain Akbar <zain.akbar@yahoo.com> Bcc:Jordan, Alex <ajordan@carmel.in.gov>;Thomas, John G <jthomas@carmel.in.gov> Zain - Thank you for the additional responses. I will add a copy of this email conversation to Laserfiche online, to docket nos. 19090001 SUA and PZ-2021- 00014 TAC, related to the Islamic Life Center. Please continue to work with the Carmel Engineering Dept. to gain approvals for the leveling of the dirt. Sincerely, Angie Conn, AICP I Planning Administrator Carmel Planning & Zoning Dept. - DOCS 3rd Flr., 1 Civic Sq., Carmel, IN 46032 0:317-571-2417 1 W: carmeldocs.com From: Zain Akbar <zain.akbar@yahoo.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 7, 2024 3:01 PM To: Conn, Angelina V <Aconn@carmel.in.gov> Subject: Re: Al Salam Islamic Life Center Soccer Field Mock Up Hi Angie, I apologize for my delayed response to your message as I was out of town this past week. Thank you for your update and I am glad that The Planning Staff meeting went well. We will be in touch with John Thomas in the Carmel Engineering Dept. regarding leveling and earthwork moving forward. As for your comments/concerns, I can respond to them now. We will be sure to use the driveway and future ILC parking lot to address all parking needs related to sports on the leveled field. On the residential parcel, there is a barn and 2 garages where we can store the goals when not in use by our youth. If the field ever starts to get more intense use and we would want to improve even more on that land, we will be sure to return to the BZA for Special Use Amendment approval. Please let me know if there is anything else you would like for me to address. Thank you again, Zain On May 1, 2024, at 11:47AM, Conn, Angelina V <Aconn@carmel.in.gov> wrote: Hello, Zain - The Planning Staff meeting went well. In general, we can be supportive of the proposed temporary sports field, but a few questions/comments came up that we need written responses to, please: • Parking needs to occur on the driveway and on the future ILC parking lot. • Where will the goals/nets be stored when not in use? • If the sports field starts to get more intense use, with matches and tournaments, wanting to add bleachers, port-o-potties, snack stands, lighting, etc., then you will have to come back before the BZA for Special Use Amendment approval. For now, Planning Staff is okay with you only needing to gain approval from the Carmel Engineering Dept. for leveling the ground and doing earthwork (working with John Thomas). Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns. Sincerely, Angie Conn, AICP I Planning Administrator Carmel Planning & Zoning Dept. - DOCS 3rd Flr, 1 Civic Sq., Carmel, IN 46032 0:317-571-2417 1 W: carmeldocs.com From: Zain Akbar <zain.akbar@yahoo.com> Sent: Monday, April 29, 20241:28 PM To: Conn, Angelina V <Aconn@carmel.in.gov> Subject: Re: Al Salam Islamic Life Center Soccer Field Mock Up Hello Angie, As always, thank you so much for your response and I apologize for bringing it up again after you having already given me so much information. I appreciate being willing to bring up this topic when you meet with the Planning Director this Wednesday. I would just like to emphasize again that this would hardly be considered a proper sports field, especially not any time in the near future. As of right now, our only vision for the field is for it to be leveled out and the youth of our community can play on it which would include soccer and football, just like they would in Coxhall Gardens, and with no additional structures like bleachers except for portable goals with nothing being permanently placed in the ground. As for your question regarding parking, because it isn't planning on being a field that would attract a lot of attention from our community, we would use the current drive way and asphalt on the property for parking and once the mosque is finished we would also use that parking as well. But the most amount of people I would expect to use that field for pick-up sports would be 20 youth at most and about 10-12 cars. I hope that this email was clarifying and that I was able to sufficiently address any questions or concerns you had with parking. Thank you again for your time and willingness to find the information to address my questions Please let me know if you need any more information from me. Thank you, Zain On Apr 29, 2024, at 10:09 AM, Conn, Angelina V <Aconn@carmel.in.gov> wrote: Good morning, Zain - We have a staff meeting this Wednesday afternoon with the Planning Director, and I can bring this up again... Other churches/places of worship had to go through similar BZA review/approval processes with their sports fields and athletic fields... Please also let me know what the parking situation would be. Would the parking lot to the south be used for this sports field use, too? Or would there be a need for an additional parking area? And, would use/programming be occurring in the place of worship building at the same time as the sports field? Sincerely, Angie Conn, AICP I Planning Administrator Carmel Planning & Zoning Dept. - DOCS 3rd Fir., 1 Civic Sq., Carmel, IN 46032 0:317-571-2417 1 W: carmeldocs.com From: Zain Akbar <zain.akbar@yahoo.com> Sent: Friday, April 26, 2024 4:35 PM To: Conn, Angelina V <Aconn@carmel.in.gov> Subject: Re: Al Salam Islamic Life Center Soccer Field Mock Up Hi Angie, Sorry for yet another message, but I did receive a question from our youth community members who wanted to ask one more clarifying question. I have been relaying everything we discussed with some community members so that everyone is in the loop and they are a little surprised by the scope of what needs to be done just for a field to play soccer on, so they just wanted me to state plainly that the term soccer field may be being misinterpreted. Our vision of a "soccer field," is mainly just leveling the land we spoke about, setting up 2 portable soccer nets, and then playing soccer there. We don't have any intention of putting up lights, bleachers, or any other structure. I spoke with John Thomas, as you recommended, and he stated that simple landscaping improvement such as leveling could be done easily as long as we receive a storm water permit, after that we can start making those improvements. If we were to do this and then some of our youth started playing soccer and other sports on that leveled land, would that be a problem and cause any concern from the city? Ultimately, we just want that land to be leveled so that our youth can run on it without any risk of twisting an ankle. I apologize again for repeatedly emailing you about the same topic and I greatly appreciate everything you have been able to inform me on of thus far. Zain On Apr 26, 2024, at 2:43 PM, Zain Akbar <zain.akbar@yahoo.com> wrote Hello Angie, I greatly aprpeciate all of the information you were able to gather for me! I will review these documents and forward your message to the proper people so that we can get this underway. If any questions or concerns come up during this process, I will be sure to reach out to you or Joe Shestak. Thank you, Zain On Friday, April 26, 2024 at 02:30:06 PM EDT, Conn, Angelina V <aconn@carmel.in.gov> wrote: Good afternoon, Zain - It has been confirmed that adding a soccer field to 14138 /14120 Shelborne Rd. will require Special Use Amendment approval from the BZA (Board of Zoning Appeals.) Listed below is some information related to that public hearing process: • For reference only, attached is a Handout about the Special Use process, which contains a checklist, instructions, affidavit, etc.However, the official creation and filing of the Application must be done on the online application portal. Then, a few days after that, you or whomever is listed at the ProjectDox/ePlan contact person will get invited to the project via email and will also receive an Applicant Upload task. That is where you/they will upload things such as an aerial photo, site plan, photometric/lighting plan, signage plan, grading & drainage plan, parking plan, findings of fact, etc. (ProjectDox is our online plan review software.) • As part of the process and timeline, you will need to send plans to all Technical Advisory Committee -TAC Members for review and comment, per their plan receipt preferences on the TAC Members list. You will not be required to attend any TAC meeting; you will just work with each TAC member, individually, to gain review comments and approvals. • Please refer to the BZA webpagg which contains things like the Calendar. Flowchart of the Process, and more. • Listed below is a tentative timeline for the next available BZA meeting: June 24 Regular BZA meeting timeline filing deadline 5/10/2024 Fri., by 5pm deadline for public notice legal ad to be sent to The Current in Westfield (so that it prints on Tues. June 4) 5/24/2024 Fri. by 5pm public notice deadline for mailings to be mailed / sign to be posted 6/4/2024 Tues., by 5pm fees/info packet due - agenda released 6/14/2024 Fri., by Noon dept. report issued/ proof of notice due 6/19/2024 lWed., by Noon BZA meeting 6/24/2024 IMon., 6:00pm This should be enough to get started. Please let Joe Shestak (Planner II) or me know if you have any additional questions. Sincerely, Angie Conn, AICP I Planning Administrator Carmel Planning & Zoning Dept. - DOCS 3rd Flr, 1 Civic Sq., Carmel, IN 46032 0:317-571-2417 1 W: carmeldocs.com From: Zain Akbar <zain.akbar@yahoo.com> Sent: Friday, April 26, 2024 12:54 PM To: Conn, Angelina V <aconn@carmel.in.gov> Subject: Re: Al Salam Islamic Life Center Soccer Field Mock Up Thank you so much for your response and for the information that you provided me! I will be sure to reach out to John and get his input on leveling out the field. Also, when you do hear back from Carmel Legal Dept. pleease let me know, so that if there is a Zoning Board approcal that is needed, we can get that under way as soon as possible. Thank you again, Zain On Friday, April 26, 2024 at 09:46:15 AM EDT, Conn, Angelina V <aconn@carmel.in.gov> wrote: Good morning, Zain - I saw your other email from this morning, but I want to respond to your question from your Wednesday email, too. I heard that you spoke with another Planner about that, and that she referred you to speak with John Thomas in the Carmel Engineering Dept. about moving and levelling out dirt. I agree with that.. Here is John's contact info if you need it: jthomas@carmel.in.gov and (317) 571-2441. Sincerely, Angie Conn, AICP I Planning Administrator Carmel Planning & Zoning Dept. - DOCS 3rd Flr., 1 Civic Sq., Carmel, IN 46032 0:317-571-2417 1 W: carmeldocs.com From: Zain Akbar <zain.akbar@yahoo.com> Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 202412:42 PM To: Conn, Angelina V <Aconn@carmel.in.gov> Subject: Re: Al Salam Islamic Life Center Soccer Field Mock Up Hi Angie, Thank you so much for your email and all the information that you were able to provide for me. Please keep me updated on what Carmel Legal Dept. says on the matter. In the meantime, would we be allowed to simplyjust level that area of our land so that it can be a safer area for our community members to walk on given how uneven the field is? Please get back to me when you have the chance. Thank you, Zain On Apr 24, 2024, at 10:25AM, Conn, Angelina V <Aconn@carmel.in.gov> wrote: Good morning, Zain - Thank you for your email. This site is zoned residential, and there is a BZA Special Use approval for the southern parcel, for the place of worship land use (with commitments). I have contacted the Carmel Legal Dept. to seek guidance on what approval route you will need to take for this proposed soccer field. Once I hear back from them, I will let you know what they say. I have a feeling that you will need a BZA Special Use Amendment approval (which involves another public hearing in front of the Board of Zoning Appeals). And, you might need a BZA variance for the sports field being located in front of the buildings. In the meantime, please note that there is a major gas pipeline easement that runs diagonally through the site, where you want to place the soccer field. Thank you for your patience. <image.png> Sincerely, Angie Conn, AICP I Planning Administrator Carmel Planning & Zoning Dept. - DOCS 3rd Flr., 1 Civic Sq., Carmel, IN 46032 0:317-571-2417 1 W: carmeldocs.com From: Zain Akbar <zain.akbar@yahoo.com> Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 4:13 PM To: Conn, Angelina V <aconn@carmel.in.gov> Subject: Al Salam Islamic Life Center Soccer Field Mock Up Hello, My name is Zain Akbar and I am reaching out to you on behalf of the At Salam Foundation. On our Islamic Life Center lot, located on the North-West corner of 141st St and Shelbrone Rd, we would like to level a portion of our land so that it may be used as a soccer field for our youth to use. I spoke with a member of the cities Planning and Zoning Office who recommended that I submit a sketch of what we would like to do with the land to see if we could receive administrative approval or if we would require a permit. Attached below is a quick sketch that was made to give the city an idea of what we would like to do with the land. In summary, the land currently is uneven and not fit for any activities, so we would like to make the land level, paint soccer field lines on it, and then set up 2 goals and soccer barrier nets with no plans of making any large structures. Please let me know if you require any more inforamtion regarding this and you can feel free to reach back to me at this email or call me at 317-989-5994. Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Zain Akbar <IMG 0362.JPG>