Beer's Milford Property Rezoned
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Tim [email protected]
The land, located on the north side of CR 1300N just east of Old 15 in Van Buren Township, has been the focus of debates between local residents and the property owner, Harlan Beer, since Beer first submitted his request to rezone the land late last year.[[In-content Ad]]At several hearings before the commissioners and the Kosciusko Area Plan Commission, residents living on property adjacent to or near Beer's land have spoken out against Beer's request citing concerns about the harmful environmental effects they say heavy industrial development could bring to the area.
March 5, the plan commission voted to recommend the county commissioners approve Beer's request to have the entire tract of land zoned Industrial III - the least restrictive industrial zoning.
The commissioners approved Beer's request after an agreement was reached between Beer's representatives and area residents. Several residents who have acted as spokespeople for the remonstrators in recent months said they were not completely happy with the agreement.
Bill Appenzeller lives on property adjacent to the Beer property. Appenzeller said he felt ambivalent about the agreement with Beer. He said he felt approval of the rezoning was a foregone conclusion.
"It was inevitable they were going to get it in the end," he said. "We did the best we could. I guess this is the best we can come up with, but I didn't build my home anticipating an industrial park."
Teresa Brito also lives on adjacent land. Brito and her husband, Joel, are selling their home because they say their children have health problems, which will be exacerbated by any nearby industrial development. Brito said the question Tuesday was not whether the commissioners would approve Beer's request, but how many private commitments the residents and Beer could agree to before Beer's request was granted.
"They had their mind made up before they came," Brito said.
Area resident Tina Fraley said she has questions about a statement by Beer's attorney Steve Snyder that an ethanol plant will not be built on the site. Fraley said, though Snyder said no ethanol plant, he did not say a biodiesel plant would not be built on the site.
"I feel there was a play on words there today with regard to the biofuels issue," Fraley said.
Tuesday was not the first time Beer's request has come before the commissioners.
In December, the commissioners denied Beer's request to rezone the entire property Industrial III, or heavy industrial. At that meeting, the commissioners said they would be willing to consider a rezoning if Beer included some lighter Industrial II zoning as buffering around nearby residences.
Feb. 6, in a 6-2 split vote, the plan commission approved Beer's second request, which included Industrial II zoning around several residences adjacent to the proposed industrial site.
The commissioners sent the request back to the plan commission last month after a Feb. 18 meeting in which residents and representatives of the petitioner came to a compromise which includes designated buffering for nearby residences, construction of mounds to screen the proposed industrial area and rezoning the entire 225-acre site Industrial III.
Neither the plan commission nor the county commissioners can include conditional agreements in zoning changes, however, voluntary commitments between the petitioner and area residents have played a significant role in the progression of Beer's request. At the March 5 plan commission meeting, Snyder presented a letter outlining eight voluntary commitments Beer is willing to make to appease area residents. Snyder said the list sums up the compromise reached at the Feb. 18 commissioners meeting.
The list includes a 50-foot buffer zone established for property along Old 15, CR 1300N and CR 100E; a 75-foot buffer established around five residential tracts adjacent to the proposed industrial site; a 6-foot high mound with a 36-foot base and plantings to be constructed within all buffer zones; and Industrial-III zoning for the whole tract.
The letter also stipulates that mounds will be constructed as development occurs on the site, the developer agrees to work with residential tract owners to install tiles if mounding creates a drainage issue on any of the five adjacent residential tracts and residents of the five adjacent tracts may choose to have no mound constructed around their property.
Tuesday, the plan commission's recommendation came with a note asking the commissioners to clarify the timing of the the construction of mounds to screen residential areas from industrial development on the property.
Area resident Becky Doll told the commissioners that she and some of her neighbors were under the impression all of the proposed mounds would be built immediately. Snyder said the agreement was to build the mounds as needed to screen residents from development on the property. He said no mounds would be built until development work began on the property.
"We were pretty shocked to find that, after we felt pretty good about our meeting, they aren't going to do buffers in complete," Doll said. "We really felt that, when we left here, it was all done."
After some discussion, residents and Beer's representatives reached an agreement in which some buffering would be built in the near future, and the rest would be built when development on the property begins for any residence within sight.
The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the request.
County Plan Director Dan Richard said the private commitments made between area residents and Beer will most likely be enforced by county government through the plan commission and county commissioners.
"We'll work with them directly on that," Richard said.
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The land, located on the north side of CR 1300N just east of Old 15 in Van Buren Township, has been the focus of debates between local residents and the property owner, Harlan Beer, since Beer first submitted his request to rezone the land late last year.[[In-content Ad]]At several hearings before the commissioners and the Kosciusko Area Plan Commission, residents living on property adjacent to or near Beer's land have spoken out against Beer's request citing concerns about the harmful environmental effects they say heavy industrial development could bring to the area.
March 5, the plan commission voted to recommend the county commissioners approve Beer's request to have the entire tract of land zoned Industrial III - the least restrictive industrial zoning.
The commissioners approved Beer's request after an agreement was reached between Beer's representatives and area residents. Several residents who have acted as spokespeople for the remonstrators in recent months said they were not completely happy with the agreement.
Bill Appenzeller lives on property adjacent to the Beer property. Appenzeller said he felt ambivalent about the agreement with Beer. He said he felt approval of the rezoning was a foregone conclusion.
"It was inevitable they were going to get it in the end," he said. "We did the best we could. I guess this is the best we can come up with, but I didn't build my home anticipating an industrial park."
Teresa Brito also lives on adjacent land. Brito and her husband, Joel, are selling their home because they say their children have health problems, which will be exacerbated by any nearby industrial development. Brito said the question Tuesday was not whether the commissioners would approve Beer's request, but how many private commitments the residents and Beer could agree to before Beer's request was granted.
"They had their mind made up before they came," Brito said.
Area resident Tina Fraley said she has questions about a statement by Beer's attorney Steve Snyder that an ethanol plant will not be built on the site. Fraley said, though Snyder said no ethanol plant, he did not say a biodiesel plant would not be built on the site.
"I feel there was a play on words there today with regard to the biofuels issue," Fraley said.
Tuesday was not the first time Beer's request has come before the commissioners.
In December, the commissioners denied Beer's request to rezone the entire property Industrial III, or heavy industrial. At that meeting, the commissioners said they would be willing to consider a rezoning if Beer included some lighter Industrial II zoning as buffering around nearby residences.
Feb. 6, in a 6-2 split vote, the plan commission approved Beer's second request, which included Industrial II zoning around several residences adjacent to the proposed industrial site.
The commissioners sent the request back to the plan commission last month after a Feb. 18 meeting in which residents and representatives of the petitioner came to a compromise which includes designated buffering for nearby residences, construction of mounds to screen the proposed industrial area and rezoning the entire 225-acre site Industrial III.
Neither the plan commission nor the county commissioners can include conditional agreements in zoning changes, however, voluntary commitments between the petitioner and area residents have played a significant role in the progression of Beer's request. At the March 5 plan commission meeting, Snyder presented a letter outlining eight voluntary commitments Beer is willing to make to appease area residents. Snyder said the list sums up the compromise reached at the Feb. 18 commissioners meeting.
The list includes a 50-foot buffer zone established for property along Old 15, CR 1300N and CR 100E; a 75-foot buffer established around five residential tracts adjacent to the proposed industrial site; a 6-foot high mound with a 36-foot base and plantings to be constructed within all buffer zones; and Industrial-III zoning for the whole tract.
The letter also stipulates that mounds will be constructed as development occurs on the site, the developer agrees to work with residential tract owners to install tiles if mounding creates a drainage issue on any of the five adjacent residential tracts and residents of the five adjacent tracts may choose to have no mound constructed around their property.
Tuesday, the plan commission's recommendation came with a note asking the commissioners to clarify the timing of the the construction of mounds to screen residential areas from industrial development on the property.
Area resident Becky Doll told the commissioners that she and some of her neighbors were under the impression all of the proposed mounds would be built immediately. Snyder said the agreement was to build the mounds as needed to screen residents from development on the property. He said no mounds would be built until development work began on the property.
"We were pretty shocked to find that, after we felt pretty good about our meeting, they aren't going to do buffers in complete," Doll said. "We really felt that, when we left here, it was all done."
After some discussion, residents and Beer's representatives reached an agreement in which some buffering would be built in the near future, and the rest would be built when development on the property begins for any residence within sight.
The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the request.
County Plan Director Dan Richard said the private commitments made between area residents and Beer will most likely be enforced by county government through the plan commission and county commissioners.
"We'll work with them directly on that," Richard said.
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