Area Plan Commission Denies Rezone Request
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
In several cases before the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission, local attorney Richard Helm has represented people who were petitioning for a rezoning of land from an Agricultural District to an Agricultural II District.
Wednesday, Helm represented a group of people remonstrating against such a rezoning.
Dewey Calhoun petitioned the commission Wednesday for a rezoning from Ag to Ag II on property on the south side of CR 200N and 1,040 feet east of CR 650E in Washington Township. Calhoun's attorney, Amber Blackford, represented him.
Helm said, "Ag II is in the ordinance for a purpose."
He said Calhoun was proposing a subdivision in disguise. Helm said there would be drainage problems if the APC approved the recommendation.
"There are no plans to subdivide the land," Blackford said. "There is not much purpose for the land."
The APC voted not to approve the rezoning with a vote of 5 to 0 and one abstaining.
In another case seeking rezoning from an Agricultural District to an Agricultural II District, Julia Snoke Gilman was also denied approval for a recommendation.
She was seeking a rezoning for property on the northwest corner of the intersection of CRs 700S and 200E in Clay Township. She said the property had been in her family for 64 years and her family had lived in the area for over 150 years.
"It is not primo farmland," Gilman said.
Gilman said her parents were gone as were her siblings. Her children, living in Cincinnati, were not interested in farming.
"It's up to me as to what is the best thing to do with this piece of property," she said.
She said she wanted to sell off the land so that people could own mini-farms. She said that law would let her break off three pieces of the land and sell the rest in 20-acre lots, but she said that wasn't feasible. She said 20 acres was too much for anyone to buy and the land wasn't good enough to farm.
Plan Commission Director Dan Richard said, "If it's too wet for farming, it's going to be too wet for residences."
Neighbors to the east of the property, Marvin and Deborah Orr, remonstrated against Gilman's petition.
"My immediate concern is the loss of farmland," Marvin Orr said.
Deborah Orr said, "We're not interested in seeing a subdivision across the road. We paid a lot of money to get where we are."
Gilman said, "It's a matter of making more land available to people who'd like it."
Although Gilman was denied recommendation for approval, she can go before the Kosciusko County commissioners at 10 a.m. Nov. 24 for approval. [[In-content Ad]]
In several cases before the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission, local attorney Richard Helm has represented people who were petitioning for a rezoning of land from an Agricultural District to an Agricultural II District.
Wednesday, Helm represented a group of people remonstrating against such a rezoning.
Dewey Calhoun petitioned the commission Wednesday for a rezoning from Ag to Ag II on property on the south side of CR 200N and 1,040 feet east of CR 650E in Washington Township. Calhoun's attorney, Amber Blackford, represented him.
Helm said, "Ag II is in the ordinance for a purpose."
He said Calhoun was proposing a subdivision in disguise. Helm said there would be drainage problems if the APC approved the recommendation.
"There are no plans to subdivide the land," Blackford said. "There is not much purpose for the land."
The APC voted not to approve the rezoning with a vote of 5 to 0 and one abstaining.
In another case seeking rezoning from an Agricultural District to an Agricultural II District, Julia Snoke Gilman was also denied approval for a recommendation.
She was seeking a rezoning for property on the northwest corner of the intersection of CRs 700S and 200E in Clay Township. She said the property had been in her family for 64 years and her family had lived in the area for over 150 years.
"It is not primo farmland," Gilman said.
Gilman said her parents were gone as were her siblings. Her children, living in Cincinnati, were not interested in farming.
"It's up to me as to what is the best thing to do with this piece of property," she said.
She said she wanted to sell off the land so that people could own mini-farms. She said that law would let her break off three pieces of the land and sell the rest in 20-acre lots, but she said that wasn't feasible. She said 20 acres was too much for anyone to buy and the land wasn't good enough to farm.
Plan Commission Director Dan Richard said, "If it's too wet for farming, it's going to be too wet for residences."
Neighbors to the east of the property, Marvin and Deborah Orr, remonstrated against Gilman's petition.
"My immediate concern is the loss of farmland," Marvin Orr said.
Deborah Orr said, "We're not interested in seeing a subdivision across the road. We paid a lot of money to get where we are."
Gilman said, "It's a matter of making more land available to people who'd like it."
Although Gilman was denied recommendation for approval, she can go before the Kosciusko County commissioners at 10 a.m. Nov. 24 for approval. [[In-content Ad]]