Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Attempts to develop a questionable property near Ind. 13 ran into trouble Tuesday night.
An 8-acre tract west of Calvary United Methodist Church on Ind. 13 has been vacant for years in part because of questionable past uses that involved dumping.
Efforts to rezone the land Tuesday to allow for an electronics manufacturing facility were tabled so representatives of the petitioner and the town could negotiate conditions of action after soil tests are completed.
Petitioners Elizabeth DeBolt, Jeff Simmons and Roger Simmons, through their attorney, Jack Birch, made a proposal arguing the land is perfectly suited to be rezoned from residential and environmental to light industrial. The change would be consistent with surrounding uses and the land would be improved as a result. As part of the development, Birch said soils tests would be made to assess the property's status.
But council members questioned what would happen if the tests disclosed problems that would require an expensive clean-up. If the developer chose to walk away, would the town be held responsible? asked councilman Jake Bitner.
The core issue creating council's concern is whether the town could be held liable in any way for any contamination that might be found on the property because the town owned the property years ago.
Town attorney Bob Reed stressed the town never allowed dumping on the site and never operated any dumping on the site.
The town sold the property about five years ago, but town officials were unsure how long it was owned by the town.
The only opposition came from Ron Sharp, a former Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission member from Syracuse who advised caution be taken on the request. But some of Sharp's claims were refuted by Birch.
Sharp suggested the business would employ upward of 60 people. Birch said it would employ five to 10 people.
Sharp suggested the land would be developed into an industrial park, but Birch reminded council that zoning specifications would allow only one use on the property.
