Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission tabled a decision on a rezoning request after hearing safety concerns from area residents Wednesday.
The request came from business owner Brent White to rezone an 18-acre tract of land from an agricultural district to a commercial district. The property is on the north side of CR 400N, east of Ind. 13, in Tippecanoe Township.
Attorney Steve Snyder, representing White, said White owns the property and plans to build a facility there for his business, Brenspeed. Brenspeed currently is at 7536 E. CR 200N, Pierceton, and 4954 N. CR 850E, Leesburg. Snyder said Brenspeed is a mail-order business selling modification parts for Ford Mustangs. Snyder said the company also installs and tests their products.
Several area residents spoke in opposition to the rezoning. Most of the residents said they are not opposed to White building a facility for his business, but are concerned that testing the high-performance cars in the area will pose a threat to the safety of the neighborhood.
Brian Hinderer, 8226 E. CR 400N, owns property directly east of the requested rezoning. Hinderer presented a disc recording video clips found on the Brenspeed Web site, www.thespeedfactory.com
The clips Hinderer shared included shots of Mustangs being driven on Kosciusko County roads, and shots of speedometers measuring acceleration more than 100 miles per hour. Hinderer said he knows Brenspeed uses a dynamometer to test products, but said he is concerned that the company also conducts tests on county roads.
Carl and Catherine Jarrett, 8264 E. CR 400N, said the area is not a safe place for high-speed tests.
"As you come right past the property where [White] wants to build, there's a hill," Catherine Jarrett said. "Nobody can see us pulling out of our driveways. It's not safe."
"I'm not opposed to White's building this, I am opposed to how he tests the equipment," said Carl Jarrett. "It's really a drag racer's dream, but could be a parent's nightmare."
Hinderer said, even if Brenspeed does not test equipment on area roads, it is likely the company will build a test track on the property.
"Would you want to live next to a drag strip?" Hinderer asked the plan commission. "That's what he'll want next. Although I like racing, I sure don't want to live next to gasoline alley."
Snyder said the residents' safety concerns are unfounded.
"To say that they're using state or county roads as a test track is not true," Snyder said. "What you saw are promotional videos."
Snyder said the requested rezoning is near other commercial land, and the North Webster Town Council sent a letter in support of the rezoning.
County Plan Director Dan Richard reminded the board a rezoning would open the property to all types of commercial use, not just the specific use Brenspeed has in mind. Plan commission member Anthony Etienne said he feels the safety concerns are more of a law enforcement issue than a planning issue.
Plan commission members Vic Virgil, Norm Lovell and Larry Coplen were absent from Wednesday's meeting, and member Dick Kemper said he had to abstain from a vote on the issue since his company was hired to complete some survey work on the property before it was auctioned. The five remaining members voted in an attempt to send a recommendation on the request to the county commissioners, but four members voted in favor of the rezoning and one member, Charlie Haffner, voted against.
To pass a recommendation, the plan commission must have at least five votes for or against. The plan commission took another vote to table the issue until the full board meets Nov. 7. Etienne voted against the tabling the issue, but the motion passed as Kemper joined the rest of the members present voting to table it. At the Nov. 7 meeting, the board will decide whether or not they will accept more public input on the matter.
