Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals has required cleanup of a property with a shed and no house in Atwood.
At its meeting on Tuesday, the BZA heard from Rachael Ormsby.
She has property on the north side of Gault Street, west of Green Street, in the town. It belonged to her parents, who installed a shed there. They planned to build a house there as well, but both of them died before that happened.
Ormsby requested an exception to keep the shed.
While giving a description of the property to the board, Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission Director Matt Sandy noted there has been debris left by the shed.
Ormsby said the debris “might be” a relative’s.
“I don’t go up there,” she said. “We’re just kind of in limbo of what we want to do with (the property).”
Ormsby said she “did try to get rid of the shed.”
“Apparently, it’s too big to move,” she said. “I tried to give it to my cousin, and she couldn’t find anyone to move it.”
Ormsby said the family’s “plans are probably to sell the property.”
“As far as cleaning it up, it’s hard to get in and out of that property because it’s sunk down in and it’s really wet, so to clean it up, I … would want to wait until it’s a little drier, maybe April or May if that’s alright,” she said.
Board Vice Chairman Ron Robinson said he’s “had numerous phone calls at my house on this property over the years.”
The board agreed to give Ormsby until June 1 to clean the property up. If she complies, they might allow her to keep the shed on the land.
At the meeting, the board also:
• Dropped a case brought by Phillip Harshman. He wanted a variance to allow a residence to be as placed 5 feet from the westerly line, 7 feet from the easterly line and 33.83 feet from the right-of-way of the road at 7735 Camabraw Park Lane, Akron. Harshman wasn’t present at the meeting and still needed to get a correct survey done. Regarding the case, he will need to repetition it.
• Approved a variance for Norma Miller permitting her 7.25-foot by 7.25-foot shed that the previous owner put in at 213 Heide Lane, Milford, to stay 1 foot from the side property line. The board agreed to it as long as the shed is removed from the property if the house sells.
• Continued a case brought by Scott Beam to its next meeting starting at 9 a.m. Feb. 11. He’s seeking a variance to reconstruct a deck and lower enclosure 12 inches from the west property line and 15 feet from the water’s edge at 60 EMS W29B Lane, North Webster. Beam didn’t bring to the board requested engineering information regarding a wall and is also trying to work things out with his neighbor, who’s opposed to the project.
• Asked that Constance Heimann cut down the front part of her trellis in a street yard at 9207 N. Koher Road East, Syracuse, to be compliant with county laws that the trellis or fence be 3 feet tall. She was seeking a variance to have the whole trellis stay 8 feet tall.
• Continued a case brought by Michael and Pamela Coe to its next meeting. They were seeking a variance to permit building a residential accessory building 3.2 feet from the side property line at 29 EMS T31 Lane, Leesburg. The couple weren’t present at the meeting.
• Denied a request for Juan Ricco to keep a home construction business at 344 E. Burkhart Drive, Warsaw, in a residential district. He’s got six months to remove equipment from the property and one month to take away fuel storage equipment from the property.
• Continued a case brought by Irene Ponce to Feb. 11 as she didn’t provide the proper notification. She’s seeking to build a two-story home 2 feet from the south right-of-way, 11 feet from the west right of way and 4.1 feet from the east property line at 34 EMS B59 Lane, Warsaw.
• Approved a request brought by Lyle Hochstetler for a variance allowing a shed to stay 7.8 feet from the west property line and the home to stay 9.6 feet from the east line, to the newly created property line at 9390 W. CR 1200N, Nappanee.
• Approved a request brought by Jill and Michael Morrolf for a variance permitting a porch roof being 3.72 feet from a side property line at 363 EMS T26 Lane, Leesburg.
• Continued a case brought by Robert Olson to its meeting starting at 9 a.m. March 11 as a survey is needed. He wants to build a 864-square-foot detached garage 20 feet from the road right of way and 25 feet from the water’s edge at 11 EMS W32 Lane, North Webster.
• Approved a variance request brought by Danielle Line to construct a home 25 feet from the water’s edge at 17 EMS T13B Lane, Leesburg.
• Approved a variance request from Nicholas Koon allowing the construction of a residence addition a little more than 2.5 feet from the west sideline of 285 EMS B1 Lane, Leesburg.
• Approved a request brought by Superkind LLC for a variance putting a new home 15 feet from the road right-of-way on the northeast side of EMS T17A Lane and 597 feet east of EMS T18 Lane in Tippecanoe Township.
• Denied a request brought by Chris and Darlene Hill. The couple wanted a variance to put an air conditioning unit and generator 2 feet from the west side property line at 7 EMS T51C Lane, North Webster. The board asked that the equipment be moved to another part of the property.
• Agreed to keep its officers the same for 2025, with Dr. Lee Harman serving as board chairman; Robinson, vice chairman; and Randy Cox, the hearing officer.