Two petitions before the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission Wednesday to rezone ground from agricultural to residential district resulted in different outcomes.

The reason? Location, location, location.

Vasilios Batalis petitioned to rezone 54.738 acres from agricultural to residential. The property is on the south side of CR 225S and zero feet east of Country Club Road in Wayne Township.

Dan Richard, plan commission director, said the property is south of Winona Lake and to the south of it is an industrial II district.

Attorney Steve Snyder, representing Batalis, said the property was part of 79.48 acres recently auctioned.

"This is just a logical extension of the growth we've seen in this county for several years now," said Snyder.

Vic Virgil, plan commission chairman, asked if the development would connect to Winona Lake sewer and water. Snyder said discussion on that would come at platting time; the rezoning is just whether or not the zoning is a fit for the area.

"First step first is the way I look at it," said Snyder.

There were no remonstrators and the plan commission voted unanimously to recommend to the county commissioners the property be rezoned.

The county commissioners will hear the rezoning Feb. 22 at approximately 9:30 a.m. On rezonings, the plan commission is only a recommending body to the commissioners, who have final approval.

Leslie Konkle petitioned to rezone ground from an agricultural to a residential district. The property is on the west side of CR 400E and 1,080 feet south of CR 400N in Plain Township.

Richard said the property is surrounded by agriculture and the closest residential property to it is along Chapman Lake to the west.

Snyder, also representing Konkle, said during the past few years, numerous rezoning petitions for property on the east side of Chapman Lake have been brought before the plan commission. Growth will occur on the east side and the question for the plan commission is to what extent does the county allow some of the planning to begin, Snyder said. The tract in question has adequate roads in an area slowly heading "sooner rather than later" toward residential use and near residential use.

"I think this is appropriate," Snyder said.

Remonstrator Greg Harden said he didn't want the property rezoned because it is a large agricultural area and rezoning it will alter the character of it.

Monica Fritzinger, remonstrator, asked Richard to explain the Land Evaluation and Sight Assessment score on the property, which was high. Richard said the LESA score is two parts: one looks at the land characterization, including different soil types, and the other part has to do with the compatibility of the area, including adjacent property. A high score, Richard said, means the property should not be rezoned.

Fritzinger said they moved to their residence in the area to live in the country. "I feel very strongly about not having it rezoned," she said.

Joan Harden said she and her family moved to their residence in that area to get their children into the country. They are 4-H'ers and use their property for agricultural reasons.

"My request, too, is that it not be rezoned," Joan Harden said.

Snyder rebutted that what he heard was about the character of the area. The plan commission didn't hear from farmers about saving the agricultural land, but from people using their property in the area as residential use. Rezoning Konkle's property is a logical extension of the area.

The LESA score is distorted in that it looks at an entire 1-1/2 mile area and not what is immediately in the area, he said.

"I think it's too soon," said APC member Kelly Easterday on the rezoning.

Don Arms, member, said it was spot zoning in the middle of an agricultural area. He made a motion to deny it because of its location.

The unanimous plan commission decision was to recommend the commissioners deny Konkle's petition.

The county commissioners will hear the rezoning Feb. 22 at approximately 9:30 a.m. On rezonings, the plan commission is only a recommending body to the commissioners who have final approval.

In other business, the plan commission:

• Continued until March Tim Miller's petition to rezone ground from an agricultural to a residential district. The property is on the south side of Pierceton Road and 300 feet west of CR 250E in Wayne Township. The continuation came at the request of a representative of Miller.

• Approved both petitions by Rick Rookstool on properties that are side by side. The properties are on the south side of CR 500N and zero feet west of Ind. 13 in Tippecanoe Township. The first was a petition to rezone 6.27 acres from residential to commercial; the second was to rezone 9.46 acres from commercial to residential.

The county commissioners will hear the rezonings Feb. 22 at approximately 9:30 a.m.

Members of the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission are Kevin McSherry, Don Arms, Vic Virgil, Norm Lovell, Charlie Haffner, Dick Kemper, Larry Coplen, Kelly Easterday and Hal Strong. They meet at 1 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month in the Justice Building meeting room. [[In-content Ad]]