Planners OK Industrial Rezoning Near Milford
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Tim [email protected]
The 225-acre plot of land on the north side of CR 1300N east of Old 15 in Van Buren Township has been the subject of controversy for the past two years, beginning with a failed attempt to build an ethanol plant on the site in 2006. Late last year, Harlan Beer, the owner of the property, petitioned the county to rezone the land for heavy industrial use from its current agricultural zoning.[[In-content Ad]]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 vote, the plan commission approved Beer's second request, which included I-II zoning around several residences adjacent to the proposed industrial site.
The Kosciusko County 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.
Wednesday, Beer's attorney, Steve Snyder, presented a letter to the plan commission 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.
Plan commission member Bob Conley, who is also a county commissioner, said he had a different understanding of the agreement concerning when mounds would be constructed.
"I think the agreement was that mounding be constructed right away," Conley said. "The people I have talked to are under the impression that was the agreement. They gave up their Industrial-II because they were under the impression they were going to get mounding."
Snyder said he specified at the Feb. 18 meeting that mounding would be constructed only as the site is developed.
"We don't anticipate anything besides corn and beans until such time as there's a buyer," he said.
Snyder said building mounds now would mean the top soil on the site would be depleted and the land could not be farmed while Beer waits for a buyer to develop it.
At each of the previous hearings before the plan commission and county commissioners on the request, a large group of area residents have shown up to oppose the request. Only three remonstrators attended Wednesday's meeting.
Tina Fraley owns property near the proposed site. Fraley asked the board to consider the cost to area residents before approving the request.
"You're talking about possibly taking so much from us," Fraley said. "It's obvious that the revenue this will bring the county is a priority above everything else. Please use your power to do everything you can to lessen the impact on the people who live out there."
Joel and Teresa Brito live on a tract adjacent to the proposed industrial site. The Britos submitted a letter to the plan commission with more than 20 questions they said came from residents all over the county concerning zoning and land practices.
The Britos have been involved in opposing Beer's request since it was first presented. Wednesday, they said they felt like they weren't heard.
"We just wasted our breath and wasted our time away from work," said Teresa Brito.
"It's very discouraging," Joel Brito said.
The plan commission voted 5-2 to approve Beer's request. Board members Charles Haffner and Victor Virgil voted against the request. Board members Norm Lovell and Anthony Etienne did not attend the meeting.
With the plan commission approval, the request will go back to the county commissioners March 18 at 9:30 a.m. in the Old Courtroom. The plan commission members voted to include a note to the commissioners to clarify the timing of mound construction before taking a final vote on the request.
The 225-acre plot of land on the north side of CR 1300N east of Old 15 in Van Buren Township has been the subject of controversy for the past two years, beginning with a failed attempt to build an ethanol plant on the site in 2006. Late last year, Harlan Beer, the owner of the property, petitioned the county to rezone the land for heavy industrial use from its current agricultural zoning.[[In-content Ad]]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 vote, the plan commission approved Beer's second request, which included I-II zoning around several residences adjacent to the proposed industrial site.
The Kosciusko County 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.
Wednesday, Beer's attorney, Steve Snyder, presented a letter to the plan commission 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.
Plan commission member Bob Conley, who is also a county commissioner, said he had a different understanding of the agreement concerning when mounds would be constructed.
"I think the agreement was that mounding be constructed right away," Conley said. "The people I have talked to are under the impression that was the agreement. They gave up their Industrial-II because they were under the impression they were going to get mounding."
Snyder said he specified at the Feb. 18 meeting that mounding would be constructed only as the site is developed.
"We don't anticipate anything besides corn and beans until such time as there's a buyer," he said.
Snyder said building mounds now would mean the top soil on the site would be depleted and the land could not be farmed while Beer waits for a buyer to develop it.
At each of the previous hearings before the plan commission and county commissioners on the request, a large group of area residents have shown up to oppose the request. Only three remonstrators attended Wednesday's meeting.
Tina Fraley owns property near the proposed site. Fraley asked the board to consider the cost to area residents before approving the request.
"You're talking about possibly taking so much from us," Fraley said. "It's obvious that the revenue this will bring the county is a priority above everything else. Please use your power to do everything you can to lessen the impact on the people who live out there."
Joel and Teresa Brito live on a tract adjacent to the proposed industrial site. The Britos submitted a letter to the plan commission with more than 20 questions they said came from residents all over the county concerning zoning and land practices.
The Britos have been involved in opposing Beer's request since it was first presented. Wednesday, they said they felt like they weren't heard.
"We just wasted our breath and wasted our time away from work," said Teresa Brito.
"It's very discouraging," Joel Brito said.
The plan commission voted 5-2 to approve Beer's request. Board members Charles Haffner and Victor Virgil voted against the request. Board members Norm Lovell and Anthony Etienne did not attend the meeting.
With the plan commission approval, the request will go back to the county commissioners March 18 at 9:30 a.m. in the Old Courtroom. The plan commission members voted to include a note to the commissioners to clarify the timing of mound construction before taking a final vote on the request.
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