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Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission heard about a revision to the Syracuse tax increment finance (TIF) district during a meeting Wednesday.
Syracuse Town Manager David Wilkinson brought to the commission a revision of the Syracuse TIF district to make sure it is compatible with the comprehensive plan.
“We would like to add the … area that actually extends into Elkhart County where the new RV park was constructed in the last 18 months,” said Wilkinson. “Our thought is to grab that area and add it to the (existing) Syracuse TIF.”
The RV park received its initial approval through Elkhart County, which happened before the annexation, “but now it’s our baby,” said Matt Sandy, Area Plan director.
Wilkinson explained TIFs are “basically an allocation area … when a TIF is created, the baseline evaluation of that area remains, and all the taxing entities … all continue to receive their tax dollars from that baseline. Any incremental improvements above the baseline during the development phase are captured and remain in the TIF.”
The commission approved the TIF declaratory resolution. It will go to the Syracuse Town Council, and end back at the Syracuse Redevelopment Commission.
In other business, Janet Black petitioned to rezone 3.61 acres of her property from an Agricultural District to an Agricultural II District in order for her grandson to build a home. The property is on the south side of CR 950S and west of Ind. 19 in Akron, a mile to a mile and a half south of Tippecanoe Valley High School.
Sandy stated, “The property has exhausted all available divisions,” which is why it was before the commission.
Matt Goodnight, commission member, asked if the land surrounding Black’s home was usable farmland, to which she affirmed it was and that she rented it out to a farmer to maintain. Goodnight also asked if the land would be maintained as farmland, which she said it would not.
“I’ve heard these words come out of this committee before,” said Tom Moore, commission member, “changing something from Ag to Ag II does not always end well five to six years down the road. I would be a little hesitant to approve the rezoning.”
Upon looking at the land evaluation and site assessment for the property, the score was high. Sandy stated the property “is in a very isolated Ag area,” as it is not near any other developments. He also noted the “higher the score, the more of a concern it is for rezoning.”
The petition was denied.
Sandy also reminded the commission about the upcoming housing meeting at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 6, which is required by House Bill 1001.
The commission also:
• Noted the withdrawal of a rezoning petition for Bryce Sensibaugh.
• Gave the final plat approval for Glennel Webb for the residential development on 4.5 acres off of Pickwick Drive, Syracuse.
• Approved a preliminary plat petition for Anthony and Tonya Blanchard for an Agricultural-2 subdivision at their property located on the east side of CR 450E and north of CR 1100N in Syracuse. The 8.68 acres will be divided into two properties, where the Blanchards will retain the second lot of 3.68 acres, and sell the remaining.
In June, they petitioned to rezone 5.57 acres from an Agricultural District to an Agricultural II District, which was also approved.
• Approved a vacation for Rosa Rodriguez for the area north of the former Thomas Drive. The vacation was off of CR 800S and Packerton Road in Warsaw.
• Approved a vacation for Eric Hollo of Hovey Street in Atwood.
• Received paperwork about the upcoming Airport Overlay District with the Warsaw Municipal Airport.
• Heard from Moore and Sandy about the first small towns meeting of “how to address blight and overall problems.”
Sandy stated there were a lot of great conversations, and Moore noted it was very productive and “something very positive will come out of this.”
The second meeting has not yet been set.
The next meeting of the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission will be at 1 p.m. Dec. 2.
