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The Warsaw City Council heard from both sides, but in the end they still wanted more information before making a final decision.
Attorney Steve Snyder, representing Bibler, told the council the 8.5 acres would be combined with the 11.5 acres currently zoned C-3 commercial for one 20-acre commercial development. The proposal, by a "major regional retailer" that neither Bibler nor Snyder identifed, would allow the city to address an intersection problem, he said.
"The general area at this intersection is commercial," Snyder said. "The desire for it to all be residential is a nice thought, but it's not feasible to have a residential development adjacent to a commercially zoned tract.
"By making this a single 20-acre tract, the city will have more control over how it is developed, and you get that commercial developer to pay for the much-needed improvements to an intersection the city has wanted to address for a long time," he added.
Snyder also tried to alleviate the concerns of surrounding homeowners that the commercial development would have a negative impact on the values of their homes. He had local real estate appraiser Paul Reith tell the council how a commercial development would effect the residential property values in the vicinity, and what was the "highest and best use" for the 8.5 acres under consideration.
"I just don't see residential uses going into that tract because of the commercial tract adjacent to and around it," Reith said. "I also personally don't see any impact on the residential property values in the area.
"If it's done properly, I don't see any reason for this development to have any impact at all on the surrounding residential properties," he added.
Reith said the existing mobile home dealerships - which would be removed if the rezoning was approved and the retail development started - have a greater negative impact on the residential property values in the area than a single retail development.
"There is room on 20 acres to address the traffic problems there," Snyder said. "It's not responsible growth and not responsible control for this tract to stay residential."
But, it is the traffic that a major retail center would generate that concerned the area homeowners and the council members.
"I'm not against the growth at all," said Tracy Furnivall, 2622 Patterson Road. "What I am against is bringing something in to an intersection that is already a nightmare."
The council tabled the rezoning petition to allow Snyder and Bibler to confer with the developer and submit more detailed plans on how they propose to deal with the traffic issue.
In other business, the council approved an amendment to the zoning ordinance prohibiting tattoo parlors and body piercing parlors in the Central Business District and within 400 feet of residential uses, churches or schools. The amendment also prohibits sexually oriented businesses from within 500 feet of the same listed uses.
