Four Rezonings Approved By Commissioners
April 27, 2022 at 2:51 a.m.
Four Rezonings Approved By Commissioners
By David [email protected]
With no remonstrators, the Commissioners unanimously approved all of them.
Area Plan Assistant Director Matt Sandy presented the two rezoning requests from South Shore Ventures together as they are “essentially” on the same property - the former South Shore Golf Course in Syracuse. The property has historically been zoned public use, he said. About a year ago, the Commissioners approved the rezoning of a portion of the property to commercial.
The first request Tuesday was to rezone the south 20 acres in the southwest corner from residential and public use to agricultural. The other request was to rezone 54.12 acres from public use to residential.
“This is part of an overall larger plan that’s going to be coming forward through the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals in multiple different hearings, but this is the first step to get to the zoning districts that they feel will best accommodate their use,” Sandy said.
Attorney Steve Snyder, on behalf of South Shore Ventures, said, “Two phases of rezoning to give you an idea of what the plan use is. In the northern portion, which I’ve marked in the survey as residential, that will be a subdivision. Currently, there’s a letter of intent from Schrock Builders out of Goshen to come in, subdivide that into single-family residential lot. That plan, of course, will end up in front of the Plan Commission for final approval of the plat, but that ties in nicely with South Shore Green, the existing residential, and will front on (Ind.) 13.”
Access point on Ind. 13 will be determined as the plat comes to fruition, he said.
The southwest 20-acre tract is requested to be rezoned to agricultural.
“And the reason for that rezoning is, there’s a letter of intent with Lakeland Youth Center to acquire that 20-acre tract, move their facility there, along with some outdoor sports fields, to be developed as a part of that project,” Snyder said.
If it is rezoned to agricultural, there is then an exception that can be approved for commercial recreation.
“We felt that was much more palpable to you and to the community then asking for it to be rezoned commercial, which exposes it to way too many potential uses that weren’t compatible with what the developer wants to do or the adjacent properties,” Snyder said.
He told the Commissioners he would be back to rezone the remainder of the property to commercial, “which will be the commercial leg of this development.”
Overall, in his opinion, he said it’s a “very ambitious but very necessary addition to the community. Syracuse has no space left, and whether it’s commercial development or residential development, there’s too much swamp around Syracuse and the other side is lake. So you’ve got to find some area that can be utilized for these purposes.”
He said Turkey Creek Regional Sewer District said they could provide sewer to the entire complex.
No one else spoke in favor or against the two petitions, both of which were approved 3-0.
In the other requests approved by the Commissioners:
• Greg Stump requested to rezone 1.94 acres from agricultural to residential. The property is on CR 650E, south of Barbee Road, in Tippecanoe Township. Stump said he wants to subdivide the property into two lots and put a duplex on each lot.
• Fab Lab requested to rezone the former Gilsinger Equipment location south of Leesburg from agricultural to industrial II. Sandy said the property is within the county’s industrial corridor. Even though the property is not within the town of Leesburg, the Plan Commission reached out to the town to see if they had any comments but they didn’t have any problems with it. No one to speak for or against the petition attended Tuesday’s hearing.
With no remonstrators, the Commissioners unanimously approved all of them.
Area Plan Assistant Director Matt Sandy presented the two rezoning requests from South Shore Ventures together as they are “essentially” on the same property - the former South Shore Golf Course in Syracuse. The property has historically been zoned public use, he said. About a year ago, the Commissioners approved the rezoning of a portion of the property to commercial.
The first request Tuesday was to rezone the south 20 acres in the southwest corner from residential and public use to agricultural. The other request was to rezone 54.12 acres from public use to residential.
“This is part of an overall larger plan that’s going to be coming forward through the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals in multiple different hearings, but this is the first step to get to the zoning districts that they feel will best accommodate their use,” Sandy said.
Attorney Steve Snyder, on behalf of South Shore Ventures, said, “Two phases of rezoning to give you an idea of what the plan use is. In the northern portion, which I’ve marked in the survey as residential, that will be a subdivision. Currently, there’s a letter of intent from Schrock Builders out of Goshen to come in, subdivide that into single-family residential lot. That plan, of course, will end up in front of the Plan Commission for final approval of the plat, but that ties in nicely with South Shore Green, the existing residential, and will front on (Ind.) 13.”
Access point on Ind. 13 will be determined as the plat comes to fruition, he said.
The southwest 20-acre tract is requested to be rezoned to agricultural.
“And the reason for that rezoning is, there’s a letter of intent with Lakeland Youth Center to acquire that 20-acre tract, move their facility there, along with some outdoor sports fields, to be developed as a part of that project,” Snyder said.
If it is rezoned to agricultural, there is then an exception that can be approved for commercial recreation.
“We felt that was much more palpable to you and to the community then asking for it to be rezoned commercial, which exposes it to way too many potential uses that weren’t compatible with what the developer wants to do or the adjacent properties,” Snyder said.
He told the Commissioners he would be back to rezone the remainder of the property to commercial, “which will be the commercial leg of this development.”
Overall, in his opinion, he said it’s a “very ambitious but very necessary addition to the community. Syracuse has no space left, and whether it’s commercial development or residential development, there’s too much swamp around Syracuse and the other side is lake. So you’ve got to find some area that can be utilized for these purposes.”
He said Turkey Creek Regional Sewer District said they could provide sewer to the entire complex.
No one else spoke in favor or against the two petitions, both of which were approved 3-0.
In the other requests approved by the Commissioners:
• Greg Stump requested to rezone 1.94 acres from agricultural to residential. The property is on CR 650E, south of Barbee Road, in Tippecanoe Township. Stump said he wants to subdivide the property into two lots and put a duplex on each lot.
• Fab Lab requested to rezone the former Gilsinger Equipment location south of Leesburg from agricultural to industrial II. Sandy said the property is within the county’s industrial corridor. Even though the property is not within the town of Leesburg, the Plan Commission reached out to the town to see if they had any comments but they didn’t have any problems with it. No one to speak for or against the petition attended Tuesday’s hearing.
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