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Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission approved several vacations and heard a petition for rezoning during a meeting Wednesday.
Mark Bergman went before the commission petitioning to rezone 13.55 acres of property at the corner of Ind. 13 and Ind. 14 in Claypool from an Agricultural District to a Commercial District. He told the commission he would like to buy the property as his business is currently outgrowing the current location.
“I don’t want to purchase something if I can’t put my business there,” stated Bergman. “Ultimately, the goal is to get the business away from the house … to have less traffic to our house.”
Doug Hanes, whose family originally owned the property and who still lives around the property, voiced his concerns about changing the entire 13 acres into a commercial property, instead of leaving it as an agricultural zoning. He did not understand changing the entire property into a commercial zoning as Bergman would only need two to three acres, and noted that if it was changed, “what’s to stop a Dollar General from coming in and putting a store on the corner, like they so often do.”
Bergman did tell the commission he was not sure how much property he would need, and if only a portion of the property could be rezoned to a Commercial District.
Matt Sandy, Area Plan director, told Bergman the property would have to be zoned commercial for him to run his business on the property. Sandy asked if Bergman had looked into how much room he would need, and if he had looked into sewage or drainage, which Bergman had not.
James Moyer, county surveyor, stated Bergman would also need to get a hold of the Kosciusko County Highway Department and Indiana Department of Transportation when it comes to setbacks and where the drive would need to be.
Sandy noted that the type of drive Bergman would need would be classified differently.
Bob Conley, commission member, told Bergman, “It’s better to have and not need it, than to not have and need it” when it came to Bergman owning the entire property instead of a small portion.
The commission continued the petition to its October meeting, so many of the questions Bergman and the commission had could hopefully be answered.
Steve Snyder, local attorney, represented Steven and Cynthia Silveus, who asked for a vacation of a promenade near Winona Beach. The promenade is off Lakewood Avenue, Winona Lake. Snyder told the commission that nothing north of the property can be accessed and removing that promenade would not affect any of the properties around it.
“I know that there is some concern with the neighbors to the south about setting a precedent for further vacations, but there is no precedent set until something goes to court,” said Snyder. “This will not cut off access to anyone's property.”
Jennifer Hollar stated she opposed the vacation of the promenade because of the “uniqueness” of the promenade in that area. She also brought a letter from Orsa and Kelly Britton, who stated their opposition to the vacation.
Tom Harvey and Shelley Johnson empathized with the Silveus’ wanting to remove the promenade, but both feared the “Pandora’s Box” that would open if the vacation happened.
Kevin McSherry, commission vice president, noted it would cause more damage to the lakeshore to remove the deck if the petition was not approved. Ultimately, the commission approved the vacation.
The commission also:
• Approved Jason and Gloria Bontrager’s petition to rezone 8 acres of property off CR 850E, Syracuse, from an Agricultural District to an Agricultural 2 District.
• Approved Ramon David Ortiz Hernandez’s petition to rezone 1.76 acres of property, off Pequignot Drive, Pierceton, from an Industrial 2 District to a Commercial District, so Hernandez can move his car store. This approval will be presented to the Pierceton Town Council on Tuesday, Sept. 8.
• Approved the vacation of what used to be Old Ind. 13, off Waco Drive in Syracuse. It was a request given to the owners from the county because of a violation that had occurred.
• Approved the vacation of North Kitson Lane, Syracuse; however, it currently has a utility pole on it. Snyder gave the commission the work order for NIPSCO to remove the pole and place the wires underground. The approval is contingent on the pole being removed.
The vacation of South Kitson Lane, Syracuse, was continued as Snyder noted there was currently a disagreement with a neighbor to the south of the property.
• Approved re-establishing an expiring TIF area in Milford.
Milford Clerk-Treasurer and Milford Redevelopment Commission member Trisha Gall stated, “Instead of re-TIFing the entire area, we are just proposing to TIF a small area where we know there are improvements being made.”
The TIF area will include the Chore-Time property and will have to go to Milford Town Council for further approval.
• Approved sending a favorable recommendation to the County Commissioners about the ordinance amendment for removing the start time for permits.
Sandy noted the permits currently state that a project must be started within six months and be finished within two years. Upon further research, it was found that many surrounding counties do not have the start timeline but have a finished timeline.
• Will be looking into amendments for the animal feeding operation ordinance, as some of the wording needs to be clarified.
• Heard about what route to take when it comes to open violations.
Sandy noted that when an owner is dead, absent or off the grid, it is hard to get those violations taken care of and he asked if the commission would be comfortable sending those violations to the County Commissioners, asking for those properties to be foreclosed on.
Lee Harman, commission president, asked if this was something that Sandy could share with the commission “before going to that next step,” which Sandy agreed could happen.
The next meeting of the Area Plan Commission will be at 1 p.m. Oct. 7.
