APC Recommends Denial Of Road Vacation Request
May 3, 2018 at 6:08 p.m.
On Wednesday afternoon, Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission unanimously voted to deny a petition to vacate a road on a peninsula into Webster Lake in Epworth Forest.
A joint petition was filed by Rich and Marsha Presser and Randall Plew to vacate a roadway between their properties on North Second Trail. The owners proposed maintaining a five-foot walkway they would leave open to the public to walk to the shore, and offered to build steps down to the water.
Marsha Presser spoke of her daughter slipping and falling on a portion of her seawall that has deteriorated due to the lack of a wall where the road ends.
Plew said the easement doesn’t lead anywhere but the edge of the lake. He said the two owners would install a proper Department of Natural Resources-approved seawall and pay property taxes on the vacated land.
A total of 36 letters were filed regarding the proposal, with 35 against the vacation. Nine area residents also spoke against the proposal. The consensus of the opposition was people wanted access to the water, and were against setting a precedent that other waterfront property owners could use to ask for vacation of other roads in the area.
George Arnold, president of the Epworth Forest Property Owners Association, said his group opposes any vacation of roads in the area. He did say the association was willing to work with Plew and the Pressers to come to a resolution.
After the vote against the proposal, Plan Commission Chairman Lee Harman told both parties they needed to work together toward a resolution before the matter goes before the county commissioners at their May 29 meeting.
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Other matters before the Plan Commission included a petition by Andy Hostetler, of Ideal Construction, to rezone property on Ind. 15 north of CR 350N from industrial II to commercial. Hostetler said he wants to allow an Edward Jones office and a warehouse for ServPro on the property.
The matter was continued pending Hostetler appearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals to see if the matter can be resolved through exceptions rather than rezoning.
The Plan Commission also recommended approval for an amendment to the county’s flood control ordinance. It would allow homeowners in flood zones to make cumulative repairs to their homes up to 50 percent of the market value of the home. As the current ordinance reads, only one repair is allowed, then homeowners have to raise their structures out of the flood plain before more repairs or improvements are made.
The county council is expected to vote on the amended ordinance May 29.
On Wednesday afternoon, Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission unanimously voted to deny a petition to vacate a road on a peninsula into Webster Lake in Epworth Forest.
A joint petition was filed by Rich and Marsha Presser and Randall Plew to vacate a roadway between their properties on North Second Trail. The owners proposed maintaining a five-foot walkway they would leave open to the public to walk to the shore, and offered to build steps down to the water.
Marsha Presser spoke of her daughter slipping and falling on a portion of her seawall that has deteriorated due to the lack of a wall where the road ends.
Plew said the easement doesn’t lead anywhere but the edge of the lake. He said the two owners would install a proper Department of Natural Resources-approved seawall and pay property taxes on the vacated land.
A total of 36 letters were filed regarding the proposal, with 35 against the vacation. Nine area residents also spoke against the proposal. The consensus of the opposition was people wanted access to the water, and were against setting a precedent that other waterfront property owners could use to ask for vacation of other roads in the area.
George Arnold, president of the Epworth Forest Property Owners Association, said his group opposes any vacation of roads in the area. He did say the association was willing to work with Plew and the Pressers to come to a resolution.
After the vote against the proposal, Plan Commission Chairman Lee Harman told both parties they needed to work together toward a resolution before the matter goes before the county commissioners at their May 29 meeting.
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Other matters before the Plan Commission included a petition by Andy Hostetler, of Ideal Construction, to rezone property on Ind. 15 north of CR 350N from industrial II to commercial. Hostetler said he wants to allow an Edward Jones office and a warehouse for ServPro on the property.
The matter was continued pending Hostetler appearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals to see if the matter can be resolved through exceptions rather than rezoning.
The Plan Commission also recommended approval for an amendment to the county’s flood control ordinance. It would allow homeowners in flood zones to make cumulative repairs to their homes up to 50 percent of the market value of the home. As the current ordinance reads, only one repair is allowed, then homeowners have to raise their structures out of the flood plain before more repairs or improvements are made.
The county council is expected to vote on the amended ordinance May 29.