Three lawsuits filed in connection with complaints in the Rolling Hills subdivision were consolidated, and the special judge appointed to hear the matters recently issued his ruling, a split decision among the parties.

The Rolling Hills Property Owners Association, Center Island Development Inc., G. Baxter Lee Jr., Sally Bair, Krin Devore, Judy Enyeart and Thomas Cain are the plaintiffs against the city of Warsaw and its board of zoning appeals, as well as LRC Products and Philip W. Barkey.

The Hon. James R. Heuer of Whitley County served as special judge in the matters filed in Kosciusko Circuit Court.

At issue were the Warsaw BZA's decision to grant a variance to LRC Products, a Warsaw Plan Commission decision to vacate a portion of the plat of Rolling Hills Subdivision 4 and enforcement of the subdivision's restrictive covenants.

LRC operates a commercial business on North Detroit Street and it constructs laminated rafters and engineered wood products.

In the variance matter, the court affirmed the BZA's Jan 24, 2000, decision to allow outside storage of building materials on Lots 1, 2 and 3 of Rolling Hills Subdivision 4 and on an adjacent tract.

An April 10, 2000, decision by the plan commission that vacated a part of the plat of Rolling Hills Subdivision 4 was remanded to the plan commission for the preparation of proper findings of fact in accordance with Indiana Code and without consideration of additional evidence.

Heuer's ruling noted that the decision of the plan commission is incomplete by the failure of the plan commission to prepare and submit written findings of fact, but also indicated there is no evidence that the partial vacation would hinder the growth or orderly development of the neighborhood.

The plaintiffs' request for an injunction against LRC in an attempt to enforce the restrictive covenants in Rolling Hills Subdivision 4 was denied because the covenants are not enforceable by the residents of Rolling Hills Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3.

Heuer wrote: "The 'corridor effect' of commercial and industrial properties lining each side of North Detroit Street forms a nearly regular boundary into which Lots 1, 2 and 3 in Rolling Hills intrude as an unusual residential use."

The findings of fact in the case indicate the commercial uses along the west side of Ind. 15 have not negatively affected the value of properties in Rolling Hills Subdivisions 1, 2 and 3 and it is unlikely the lots in Rolling Hills Subdivision 4 will develop in the same residential manner as lots in the other Rolling Hills subdivisions. Also it was noted that the first three subdivisions were laid out by the same three developers - Wayne and Florence Clark and Robert Gilliam - while the fourth subdivision there was laid out only by Gilliam. [[In-content Ad]]