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Only one petitioner out of the eight before the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission Wednesday faced remonstrators.
Jeremy Makinson, petitioning as Mastercraft Construction, asked the commission to rezone 1.336 acres from an agricultural to a residential district. The property is on the west side of Lakeview Boulevard, north and south of Cardinal Drive in Wayne Township.
Dan Richard, plan commission director, said the property is in Piper's Melody Acres.
According to the plan commission's technical review committee report, a small area in the southeast corner of the property may be suitable for development, but this appears to be the only area a house could be located. Septic systems must go in original, undisturbed soils and may not be placed in fill material.
Makinson said he wants two buildable lots on the property with two septics on the south side. The swamp area of the total approximate 9 acres he owns will be left zoned agriculture. When asked how Makinson acquired the property, he said he bought it off Judy Brown and has owned it only three months. It abuts to property owned by his parents.
Remonstrators questioned how Makinson could build on the property. One remonstrator said the property has been filled.
As the property is in a subdivision, Richard said the subdivision rules require Makinson to get 100 percent approval of the other property owners in that section of the subdivision if he wants to subdivide the property for two lots. He does not have to get their signatures for just one home, however.
As for the rezoning, Richard said, "It should have come into the county as residential." Zoning-wise, that makes sense, but, he said, he wasn't advocating a residence being built on it.
Plan commission member Kevin McSherry made a motion to deny the proposal but send it to the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals to accommodate Makinson's setback problems on the property for a home.
Kelly Easterday, plan commission member, said the property "is a mess" and she didn't think there should be even one home on the property. Not every piece of property in the county needs to be developed just because it can be, she said.
McSherry's motion failed by a vote of 3 to 3, with McSherry, Easterday and Don Arms voting for the motion and Charlie Haffner, Hal Strong and Larry Coplen voting against it.
With seven board members out of nine present, a motion needs five votes to pass.
Coplen then made a motion to approve the petition and it was approved unanimously as board members voted to approve the petition to move it on to the county commissioners.
On rezonings in the county, the plan commission is only a recommending body to the county commissioners, who have final approval. The commissioners will hear all the rezonings from Wednesday's plan commission at 9:30 a.m. April 19 in the county courthouse, Warsaw.
In other business, the plan commission:
• Approved Charles Mohler's petition to rezone property from a residential to a commercial district. The property is on the south side of Pickwick Drive in Turkey Creek Township in Syracuse.
There were no remonstrators.
On rezonings in Syracuse, the plan commission is only a recommending body to the Syracuse Town Council, which will have final approval. The town council will hear the rezoning petition April 19 at 7 p.m. in the town hall.
• Approved Bill Batalis' petition for a preliminary plat approval for a residential development on 54.74 acres. The property is on the south side of CR 225S and on the east side of Country Club Road in Wayne Township.
There will be two entrances off Country Club Road, with one lot having a drive off CR 225S.
Per approval, Kevin Michael, with Walker & Associates, representing the petitioner, must meet with Kosciusko County Highway Superintendent and Engineer Rob Ladson at the site to plan deceleration lanes.
There were no remonstrators, but a woman did question where the entrances would be located.
• Approved the final plat for Hawthorne Subdivision, phase 1, off CRs 450N and 250E subject to a bond or letter of credit totaling $220,000. Phase 1 will contain 30 lots.
There were no remonstrators.
• Approved Ben and Elise Guy's petition to rezone ground from an agricultural to a residential district. The property is on the east side of EMS W30A1 Lane and 115 feet south of EMS W30B Lane in Tippecanoe Township.
There were no remonstrators.
• Approved Carr Development's petition for a preliminary plat for a residential/commercial development on 50 acres. The property is on the southwest corner of the intersection of Ind. 13 and CR 500N in Tippecanoe Township.
The property will have 79 residential lots on North Webster sewer and three commercial lots.
There were no remonstrators.
• Approved Matt and Jane Schori's petition for a preliminary plat approval for a residential development. The property is on the east side of CR 175E, north of CR 75N, in Wayne Township.
There already is one residence on the property and the Schoris want to make it a two-lot subdivision.
There were no remonstrators.
• Heard that A&G LLP's petition to rezone ground from an district to a commercial district has been dropped. The property is on the east side of Fox Farm Road in Wayne Township.
Members of the plan commission are Vic Virgil, Charlie Haffner, Larry Coplen, Don Arms, Hal Strong, Kevin McSherry, Kelly Easterday, Norm Lovell and Dick Kemper. They meet at 1 p.m. in the Justice Building meeting room on the first Wednesday of every month.
