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The same petitions that caused headaches for the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission June 2 also caused some headaches for the Kosciusko County Commissioners Tuesday.
Those petitions were to rezone ground from agricultural districts to agricultural two.
First up was Bryan and Brad Thomas's petition to rezone 12.89 acres of ground from Ag to Ag II. Their petition was recommended for denial by the plan commission, and Tuesday the commissioners denied the petition.
The property is on the north side of Hepton Road and west of CR 900W in Scott Township.
Attorney Loren Sloat, Nappanee, represented the Thomas brothers at all hearings.
Tuesday, Sloat said, "I think we have a factual situation here that fits your ordinance like a glove."
He said the Thomas family owns and operates 800 acres of farmland and farms another 500 acres. He said they are continously being asked for land for housing by the Amish community that populates the area.
There are 27 parcels in the area that are six acres or less. Sloat said 60 percent of the residents in the area are Amish.
The 12.89 acres the Thomas family wants to rezone is part of a larger 44 acres. Sloat said the land is marginal farmland and yields half of what the rest of the property yields.
Bryan and Brad Thomas were also willing to sign a committment that they will not further subdivide in the future. An Amish man was ready to buy one of the two lots that would have come out of the acreage.
Sloat said if the petition were denied, it would send a message to the county that officials don't want to help control growth.
"Should this petition be denied, we are prepared to sell off 20-acre lots," Sloat said.
He said that would create a greater loss of farmland than rezoning a small portion of the property.
Commissioner Avis Gunter said the commissioners should go with the plan commission's recommendation.
Commissioner Eddie Creighton said, "Nappanee and the Amish area is unique. There is an uniqueness there that deserves addressing."
Brad Jackson said he would allow the rezoning if the commissioners could compel the Thomas brothers to agree that there would be no further subdividing.
Plan director Dan Richard said, "Really, to me, are you serious or not (about the county's comprehensive plan)? Do you want to preserve agriculture or not?"
Creighton moved to approve the petition but it died for a lack of a second. Jackson moved to accept the plan commission's recommendation to deny and his motion passed.
The other "headache" for the county commissioners was Devon Hochstetler's petition to rezone 40 acres from an Ag district to an Ag II district. The property is on the south side of CR 1350N and west of CR 700W in Jefferson Township.
Hochstetler wants to sell 16.3 acres of the ground to his daughter, who is getting married in September. Hochstetler said they wanted to have her house built by then. All necessary permits for the property have already been approved.
There were no remonstrators to the petition.
APC denied the petition six to two at the June 2 meeting. Hochstetler presented a letter to the commissioners from the city of Nappanee supporting Hochstetler.
Commissioners approved rezoning the southern portion of the property. Gunter abstained from voting.
Cory Ream's petition to rezone one acre from Ag to Ag II was denied by the commissioners. The property is on the north side of Wooster Road and east of CR 325E in Wayne Township.
Ream's brother-in-law proposed giving one of 10.5 acres to Ream to build a house.
Commissioners said the entire 10.5 acres should be rezoned residential, not just a portion rezoned Ag II. They said if future development were to happen in the area, the Ag II rezoning would create some difficulties.
