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The Warsaw Plan Commission drew a larger crowd than normal Monday.
Approximately 30 property owners on Union and Kincaide streets were present to oppose a development plan request by David Van Vactor, organizing member for Lakeland Properties LLC.
Van Vactor and Lakeland Properties LLC is looking to start construction on apartment buildings as soon as possible.
"We don't want a lot of apartments on the market at once," Van Vactor said.
To avoid this, he has split up the construction into three phases. Each phase consists of construction of 48 apartments, a total of 144 apartments when finished. Van Vactor approached the board requesting preliminary and final approval of this development plan.
But area residents had plenty to say opposing Van Vactor's plan.
Residents were concerned about where drainage from the nearby pond would go and many were fearful of their lawns being flooded. Other concerns by residents included the screening buffer outside Lakeland Properties running track, increased traffic due to the construction and parking.
Van Vactor addressed each of these issues, reminding the board that he has adequately met the requirements on each of these issues.
Concerning the flooding issue, Van Vactor said, based on engineering studies there should be no way the pond could flood. The pond, approximately 133,000 cubic feet in size, was designed for a "worst-case scenario," Van Vactor said.
He also said the screening buffer outside the track meets the height requirements. Residents and some board members discussed a possible implementation of a 6-foot fence, although it is not required for the project to receive approval from the board.
The parking issue also was addressed by Van Vactor. He said they need approximately 290 parking spaces. The available parking already exceeds this need.
"We've researched this property, the city of Warsaw. We want to be here," Van Vactor said.
"There's a great demand for apartments in Warsaw," he said, "or we wouldn't be here."
Board members preliminarily approved of the plan but tabled the final approval until next month.
"I have some incredible concerns with the way it stands right now," board member Alan Clingan said.
Board members agreed that Van Vactor did meet the preliminary criteria, but they wanted to look more into the concerns of the residents affected by this proposed construction.
In other business:
• Board members discussed possible names for CR 150W, the location of Sofamor Danek's construction site.
"I think we want to stay away from an orthopedic name because we don't know what else may come up there," Jeff Noffsinger, city planner, said.
Noffsinger said there's a list of possible road names that can be made available for the board to help in naming CR 150W. This list has occasionally been used in the past, Noffsinger said.
The Warsaw Plan Commission members are: Joe Thallemer, Dewey Lawshe, Jeff Grose, Bill Baldwin, Lacy Francis, Richard Keeven and Alan Clingan.
