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Efforts to build an asphalt plant near Warsaw were dealt another setback Tuesday.
Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission voted 6-1 to recommend against a rezoning that would accommodate plans for an asphalt plant proposed by Ranger Materials.
The request ran into a horde of opposition in a debate that lasted an hour in the meeting room of the Justice Building.
Board members heard an array of complaints from property owners who said the facility would hurt property values, the environment and their lifelong dreams of peaceful living in a clean, rural environment.
In addition to hearing complaints from about 10 of the estimated 40 people who attended the meeting and opposed the plan, the board was confronted with concerns about the impact on a nearby home of blue herons and a 36-acre forest that one man claimed is classified with the national government.
Remonstrators said they plan to attend the commissioners meeting Sept. 14 to reiterate their opposition and one said he hopes to have the support of the Audubon Society and Ducks Unlimited.
The commissioners have final authority on the proposal.
An attorney for Ranger argued that the location and the size of the 20-acre tract on County Road 200W north of CR 300N makes it appropriate. The land is located near a gravel pit and a site temporarily used for asphalt production.
"This has all of the ideal attributes for zoning purposes," said attorney Rick Helm.
Many of the nearby residents complained about the potential loss in property values, increased truck traffic and the possible odors from the plant. Others said they moved into the rural area for the sheer purpose of clean, quiet living.
"Leave us as farmers the way we want to be," said Dan Conley.
LuAnne Woodward said she knows of 13 nearby homes built in the last seven years. When the Industrial Corridor was rezoned nine years ago, she said she didn't oppose it because she expected industry to be located within the corridor. The proposed site would be less than a mile away from the Industrial Corridor, which has been slow to develop.
Helm said the asking price for land within the Industrial Corridor is far too expensive for his client.
Another homeowner, Bob Hendrixson, who lives south of the site in a heavily wooded area, said he moved from southern California to live in a rural area and raise Siberian huskies. Living in a woods, he said, doesn't mean the trees would block the smells. Instead, the odors would enter the woods and linger.
"Everybody has to smell it, but we would have to live in it," Hendrixson said.
Ranger Materials one year ago attempted to rezone property south of the proposed site for the same purpose, but was denied.
