County Commissioners OK Rezoning for Agriculture Facility
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jordan Fouts-
Commissioners approved the rezoning of 270 acres at CRs 100E and 1300N at the request of Trupointe Cooperative Inc., which plans to build a grain and fertilizer facility. The change from agricultural to heavy industrial was recommended by the county Area Plan Commission last week and approved during a special meeting Tuesday morning.
Three Milford residents, neighbors of the rezoned land, came forward Tuesday with concerns over how the facility and traffic changes expected to come with it might affect their property values and safety.
“Perception determines property values,” Tina Fraley, who lives near the site, told commissioners. “We haven’t at any point told Trupointe to go away, but we’re asking you to work with us and Trupointe, to sit around a table and find a way they can still generate revenue and we can maintain our quality of life and some property value.”
“Your yes answer today and walk away is the end for all of us,” she added.
Dan Richards, area plan director, and commissioner Ron Truex responded that there are other steps with further oversight before the facility is built, such as county review of a site plan that Trupointe will submit.
“Our approval is not the end of the story,” Truex said. “The county will have some say-so in site development.”
Richards noted that there are certain criteria the site plan must meet, such as buffer zones around the facility. Trupointe requested I-3, or heavy industrial, zoning because it allows them outside storage, he said.
He said the company requested I-3 zoning rather than working within agricultural “so they wouldn't have to go back again and again for exceptions. With a facility this size, changes are made to it pretty often. Under I-3 districting, they are allowed to expand without hearings as long as they comply with the rules that are set out from the beginning.”
Earlier in the meeting, Milford Council President Doug Ruch and others spoke in favor of rezoning. Ruch noted that Trupointe addressed residents' questions at his council meeting Monday, while Dan Brown, chair of the Milford Redevelopment Commission, said the facility will add diversity to the economic base of the area.
George Robertson, president of the Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation, remarked on how the Milford area needs good-paying jobs.
“Having worked with Trupointe for a year, I think they're the best possible company,” he said, noting the company tries to use local contractors and to hire locally for jobs that pay above-average wages.
Also during the meeting, commissioners approved a $369,000 contract with UI Consultants to survey CRs 100E and 1300N and design improvements to the roads. Extension of 1300N is a county priority once funding is available, Truex said, and County Administrator Ron Robinson said he expects construction to go to bid in the spring.
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Commissioners approved the rezoning of 270 acres at CRs 100E and 1300N at the request of Trupointe Cooperative Inc., which plans to build a grain and fertilizer facility. The change from agricultural to heavy industrial was recommended by the county Area Plan Commission last week and approved during a special meeting Tuesday morning.
Three Milford residents, neighbors of the rezoned land, came forward Tuesday with concerns over how the facility and traffic changes expected to come with it might affect their property values and safety.
“Perception determines property values,” Tina Fraley, who lives near the site, told commissioners. “We haven’t at any point told Trupointe to go away, but we’re asking you to work with us and Trupointe, to sit around a table and find a way they can still generate revenue and we can maintain our quality of life and some property value.”
“Your yes answer today and walk away is the end for all of us,” she added.
Dan Richards, area plan director, and commissioner Ron Truex responded that there are other steps with further oversight before the facility is built, such as county review of a site plan that Trupointe will submit.
“Our approval is not the end of the story,” Truex said. “The county will have some say-so in site development.”
Richards noted that there are certain criteria the site plan must meet, such as buffer zones around the facility. Trupointe requested I-3, or heavy industrial, zoning because it allows them outside storage, he said.
He said the company requested I-3 zoning rather than working within agricultural “so they wouldn't have to go back again and again for exceptions. With a facility this size, changes are made to it pretty often. Under I-3 districting, they are allowed to expand without hearings as long as they comply with the rules that are set out from the beginning.”
Earlier in the meeting, Milford Council President Doug Ruch and others spoke in favor of rezoning. Ruch noted that Trupointe addressed residents' questions at his council meeting Monday, while Dan Brown, chair of the Milford Redevelopment Commission, said the facility will add diversity to the economic base of the area.
George Robertson, president of the Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation, remarked on how the Milford area needs good-paying jobs.
“Having worked with Trupointe for a year, I think they're the best possible company,” he said, noting the company tries to use local contractors and to hire locally for jobs that pay above-average wages.
Also during the meeting, commissioners approved a $369,000 contract with UI Consultants to survey CRs 100E and 1300N and design improvements to the roads. Extension of 1300N is a county priority once funding is available, Truex said, and County Administrator Ron Robinson said he expects construction to go to bid in the spring.
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