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Neighbors of a proposed subdivision on the east side of CR 175E in Wayne Township told the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission Wednesday they want the subdivision to have bigger homes on bigger lots.
But as County Surveyor Dick Kemper told them, the plan commission can't dictate what kind of homes go in or what convenants on a plat say. Kemper made the motion to approve the preliminary plat and it unanimously was approved.
Innovative Land Development petitioned the APC for a preliminary plat approval for a residential development on 40.63 acres.
Dan Richard, APC director, said the property was rezoned to residential from agricultural about a year ago.
Civil engineer and surveyor Larry Long, representing the petitioner, said the proposal is for a single-family subdivision with 64 lots on 37 of the 40 acres. The remaining acres will be for drainage. The minimum house size is 1,200 square feet for a single story home and 1,600-square-feet minimum for a multi-story home. The homes will be stick-built by the developer. The subdivision will have protective convenants and a homeowners association will be established for the development, to be named Crest View Subdivision. All lots must face and access interior streets. Sanitary sewer won't be available so septic systems for each lot must be used. Warsaw doesn't have a provision to extend sanitary sewer to tracts of ground outside the city's corporate limits, Long said.
Remonstrator Brian Salyer said the proposed housing seems very small. Houses in the area run nearly 2,000 square feet. The proposed subdivision has lots about half an acre. On the west side of the property, Salyer said, it will need quite a bit of fill.
"I don't think things were worked out very well," he said.
Traffic also will be made worse. He said they don't want to be annexed by the city. Harrison Elementary School is now at capacity and adding 64 homes to the school district is a lot, Salyer said.
William Cook, remonstrator, said the houses west of the development exceed 2,000 square feet. He said he wants property values kept up with the houses in the area now. He also said he is concerned about lot size.
Another remonstrator, Dan Sands, said he was concerned about drainage, traffic and another housing addition going up when other subdivisions aren't full yet.
Other remonstrators cited drainage concerns.
Long rebutted that the county's storm drainage ordinance requires that the subdivision doesn't overly impact the area's drainage. The development is required to have water retention and will meet the requirements of the county's storm water drainage ordinance.
As for concerns about overcrowding at the local school, that is a concern for the school board, not the developer, Long said. The development, however, is not going to happen overnight.
As far as traffic, two accesses will be provided.
The 1,200 square feet is a minimum. Developments are geared toward the market and there is a market toward smaller size homes.
"It's a matter of economics and what the market dictates," Long said.
Kosciusko County Highway Superintendent and Engineer Rob Ladson said he reviewed all the plans. "It looks very good to me," he said.
"I think it looks very good to me," said Kemper.
