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Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals addressed multiple petitions presented by area residents during a meeting Tuesday.
Sandy Eppler requested a petition for an exception to allow a residential accessory building to remain at 104 EMS B20D Lane, Pierceton, without a principal structure in a residential district.
Plan Commission Director Matt Sandy said a mobile home on the property was removed. Eppler told the board she was looking at selling the property, noting the existing building has sewer built into it. She initially had plans to place a house on the land but said the person she bought a doublewide from filed bankruptcy and took her money.
"It's become a disaster, so we quit," said Eppler. "I just would like to be able to sell it and let the people who are buying it have the rights to keep the garage."
Eppler said the property hasn't been listed for sale as she wanted to wait on the BZA's decision before doing so.
Sandy said typically a residential accessory building isn't allowed on a tract without a residence, which resulted in a hearing for Eppler's property.
The board voted to deny Eppler's petition but deferred any enforcement on violations for at least one year.
"That gives you, your realtor or the adjacent neighbors time to see if they can take care of the violation by either selling it and a new owner putting a house on there, or by dividing it among the two adjacent residences, but in some way take care of the violation," said BZA member Dan Richard.
In other business, in a 3-2 vote, the BZA approved a petition from Kevin Bell for a variance permitting the construction of a pool house 11 feet from the west property line. The property is at 159 EMS T49 Lane, Syracuse.
Sandy said ordinance required the pool house to be 15 feet from the property line.
MaryPat Odem presented the petition on behalf of Bell, stating the pool house would be placed on an existing slab and that the house itself is far from the roadway.
Hearing Officer Randy Cox said the property owners knew what the setbacks were when they poured the concrete slab, noting "they created their own problem and now they want us to approve their creation."
Cox and Richard voted against the petition.
The BZA also approved a petition for a variance permitting the change and alteration of a granted variance for Crowls Landing. The variance would allow the park, located at 98 EMS D20 Lane, Syracuse, to issue permits for changes to units, decks and sheds, with changes being filed annually with the county's plan commission office.
Nancy Crowl presented the petition to the board, stating she would be "extremely strict" with all property owners at the park.
"What (Crowl) is asking for is the ability to issue their own permits, and we have seen this recently in a few other cases," said Sandy. "The Hoffman Lake Campground, down on Beaver Dam, out in Yogi. We have three parks that do it like that. That being said, there is a requirement that each one of those must provide us with a report each year so we can double-check that to make sure ... there's no violations. The important thing to really stress is if we do this, the violation's not on the owner's unit, the violation's on (Crowl)."
The board also:
• Voted to continue a petition to permit allowing a residential accessory building to remain 12 feet from the east property line at 9473 W. 1000S, Akron. The property is owned by Noah Miller.
• Approved a petition for an exception to construct a 10-foot by 36-foot accessory building addition, creating an oversized accessory building where the maximum allowed is 1,200 square feet in a residential district. The petition was for a structure at 12641 N. Camelot Trail, Milford, owned by Daniel Harestine.
• Voted to continue a petition for a variance to permit allowing a second residence to be constructed on a tract of ground at 8170 W. 750N, Etna Green. The property is owned by Marlin Slabaugh, who said his son is wanting to build a home on the property to care for his parents as they get older. The board voted to continue the petition in order for other options to be considered.
• Voted to deny a petition to permit allowing an air conditioning unit to remain as placed 39 inches from the north side property line at 56 EMS C27C1 Lane, Warsaw. The property is owned by Lisa Roberts.
• Voted to continue a petition for an exception to allow a home-based business in an agricultural district. The property is at 6278 N. 1050W, Etna Green, and is owned by Steve Schwartz.
The BZA's next meeting is at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 14 in the Kosciusko County Justice Building.
