Zoning Exception Paves Way For REMC Project
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Jerry and Della Helvey's petition for an exception to allow public utility buildings and accessory structures in a residential district was approved Tuesday by the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals.
Members Robert Beer, Vic Virgil and Chuck Haffner voted for the exception. John Conley and Walt Church abstained.
The decision advances Kosciusko County REMC's plans to purchase the 26.75-acre tract and construct offices, warehouse and a work yard there. The property is on the east side of CR 250E, 100 feet north of Corridor Drive in Wayne Township.
Attorney Steve Snyder represented the Helveys' interests, calling the plan the best conceived buffer between industrial, commercial and residential zoning he has seen in 25 years.
Snyder submitted a site plan and drainage plan. He said lighting will be "state of the art" down lighting, illuminating just the area beneath the pole. He said cut-out switches will be installed on each truck's speaker system so voice traffic won't boom over the yard. A buffer zone of 100 6-foot-tall Easter White Pine trees planted on a 5-foot-high mound will be installed along the 500-foot Hunter Ridge housing subdivision border.
The plans call for a 20,000- square-foot office building, a 40,000-square-foot warehouse and a 40,000-square-foot fenced-in "pole yard."
About 20 residents of the Hunter Ridge subdivision attended the meeting to remonstrate against the utility's development.
Jeff Morley said he and his wife moved to the area two months ago and they have met many wonderful neighbors. "But there is a potential neighbor we aren't looking forward to."
He presented pictures of his back yard, which looks out on the Helvey property, and pictures of the REMC Prairie Street work yard, calling the latter unappealing with its spools of wire, trucks, dumpsters and fuel tanks.
He said the proposed 11-foot buffer would be placed in a low spot between two rises, offering no visual buffer zone at all.
He said old transformers stored on the site might contain PCBs, posing a danger to the neighborhood and kids who would inevitably be drawn to the area.
Morley cited the county's comprehensive plan, calling the proposed development "scattered."
Property to the south is zoned industrial; to the east, commercial; and to the north is a church.
Adjacent property owners Barry Self, Corwin Fitch and Carol Freeman also spoke against the proposal.
Freeman said she and her husband developed Hunter's Ridge and live there.
"I understood the exception to be for a public building, like a substation, not a public utility's facility. We thought it would remain residential," she said.
In his rebuttal, Snyder reiterated that a public utility was an appropriate use in a residential zone.
He said there was one solution to the Hunter's Ridge residents' problem, and that was to buy the property themselves.
"The Freemans (developers of Hunter's Ridge) didn't buy it because they didn't feel it was a good property for a subdivision," Snyder said, according to the Helveys.
BZA member Charles Haffner said no matter what would be in the area, "there will be arguments against it. Many of you came here to get out of the city. We have to look at development in relationship to the future.
"The majority of problems we have are from residential housing subdivisions. The traffic from these subdivisions far outweighs traffic from other developments.
"That traffic dumps pollution into the ground, into the air. There is far more pollution where there is no sewer available. Usually very little thought is given to maintaining a natural area. The only concern is how the developers can get the most units out of the area.
"The last thing I'd want if I lived there is there is another housing development. The traffic, all leaving at the same time, all converging at the same time, is a tiny fraction of what (the utility) will have there."
REMC's ownership "ensures there will be no other use, no more traffic and no development screwing up the property.
"This one entity is going to stay and has set a plan that is very reasonable," he said. [[In-content Ad]]
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Jerry and Della Helvey's petition for an exception to allow public utility buildings and accessory structures in a residential district was approved Tuesday by the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals.
Members Robert Beer, Vic Virgil and Chuck Haffner voted for the exception. John Conley and Walt Church abstained.
The decision advances Kosciusko County REMC's plans to purchase the 26.75-acre tract and construct offices, warehouse and a work yard there. The property is on the east side of CR 250E, 100 feet north of Corridor Drive in Wayne Township.
Attorney Steve Snyder represented the Helveys' interests, calling the plan the best conceived buffer between industrial, commercial and residential zoning he has seen in 25 years.
Snyder submitted a site plan and drainage plan. He said lighting will be "state of the art" down lighting, illuminating just the area beneath the pole. He said cut-out switches will be installed on each truck's speaker system so voice traffic won't boom over the yard. A buffer zone of 100 6-foot-tall Easter White Pine trees planted on a 5-foot-high mound will be installed along the 500-foot Hunter Ridge housing subdivision border.
The plans call for a 20,000- square-foot office building, a 40,000-square-foot warehouse and a 40,000-square-foot fenced-in "pole yard."
About 20 residents of the Hunter Ridge subdivision attended the meeting to remonstrate against the utility's development.
Jeff Morley said he and his wife moved to the area two months ago and they have met many wonderful neighbors. "But there is a potential neighbor we aren't looking forward to."
He presented pictures of his back yard, which looks out on the Helvey property, and pictures of the REMC Prairie Street work yard, calling the latter unappealing with its spools of wire, trucks, dumpsters and fuel tanks.
He said the proposed 11-foot buffer would be placed in a low spot between two rises, offering no visual buffer zone at all.
He said old transformers stored on the site might contain PCBs, posing a danger to the neighborhood and kids who would inevitably be drawn to the area.
Morley cited the county's comprehensive plan, calling the proposed development "scattered."
Property to the south is zoned industrial; to the east, commercial; and to the north is a church.
Adjacent property owners Barry Self, Corwin Fitch and Carol Freeman also spoke against the proposal.
Freeman said she and her husband developed Hunter's Ridge and live there.
"I understood the exception to be for a public building, like a substation, not a public utility's facility. We thought it would remain residential," she said.
In his rebuttal, Snyder reiterated that a public utility was an appropriate use in a residential zone.
He said there was one solution to the Hunter's Ridge residents' problem, and that was to buy the property themselves.
"The Freemans (developers of Hunter's Ridge) didn't buy it because they didn't feel it was a good property for a subdivision," Snyder said, according to the Helveys.
BZA member Charles Haffner said no matter what would be in the area, "there will be arguments against it. Many of you came here to get out of the city. We have to look at development in relationship to the future.
"The majority of problems we have are from residential housing subdivisions. The traffic from these subdivisions far outweighs traffic from other developments.
"That traffic dumps pollution into the ground, into the air. There is far more pollution where there is no sewer available. Usually very little thought is given to maintaining a natural area. The only concern is how the developers can get the most units out of the area.
"The last thing I'd want if I lived there is there is another housing development. The traffic, all leaving at the same time, all converging at the same time, is a tiny fraction of what (the utility) will have there."
REMC's ownership "ensures there will be no other use, no more traffic and no development screwing up the property.
"This one entity is going to stay and has set a plan that is very reasonable," he said. [[In-content Ad]]