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More than 20 Waubee Lake waterfront property owners were on hand Wednesday to remonstrate against Jesse Beer's petition at the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission.
Beer petitioned to rezone 41.56 acres from an agricultural district to a residential district. The property is on the south side of CR 1150N and east of Old Ind. 15 in Van Buren Township.
Beer told the plan commission he has people interested in building homes on the property. He said he has no specific plans for the development of the property.
Attorney Steve Snyder, representing the remonstrators, mostly Waubee Lake property owners, said the plan commission should not approve Beer's petition because the soil type is sandy and rezoning the property may lead to increased traffic around Waubee Lake. He said it is becoming common for waterfront property values to go down because of an increased number of boats on lakes.
"The lakes simply can't handle it. The Department of Natural Resources recognizes it as a problem and doesn't know how to handle it yet," Snyder said.
Several remonstrators said they are concerned about more traffic in the area that would be brought about by additional houses, especially with increased and stalled traffic on the railroad tracks.
In rebuttal, Beer said he didn't have any specific plans for the property yet but would follow all regulations and conditions put upon him. He also said he loves his neighbors and he didn't want to offend anyone.
"If it's going to cause offense to my neighbors, we'd better just let it go," Beer said.
The plan commission approved it by a vote of five to one. Three board members abstained.
The approval is only a recommendation to the Kosciusko County Commissioners. The commissioners will hear the petition July 20 at 10 a.m.
In other cases, the plan commission:
• Continued John E. Lehman's petition for a preliminary plat approval for a residential development on 27.37 acres. The property is on the south side of CR 250N and east of Shaffer Street in Van Buren Township. Lehman failed to turn in his preliminary plat in time for the technical committee to review it.
• Approved part of Larry and Joyce Reed's petition to rezone 5.95 acres from an agricultural district to a commercial district. The property is on the north side of CR 200N and east of Ind. 13 in Tippecanoe Township. Reed's Castle of Values currently exists on the site. The plan commission approved only the rezoning of property west of a 50-foot easement on the property. To the east of the easement is a wetlands area remonstrators said they wanted to protect.
• Approved a petition to rezone 40 acres from an agricultural district to a residential district. The property is on the north side of CR 200S, east and west of County Farm Road in Wayne Township.
Ninety-nine single-family residences will be built on the land. Each lot will be no less than 10,000 square feet. The 40 acres are part of a total of 160 acres that are being annexed by the city of Warsaw in January.
Ken Jones, with White & Petri, Elkhart, representing the petitioners, Heritage Group, Elkhart, said, "Heritage Group tends to spend a lot of time to see how they fit into every community."
Warsaw city planner Jeff Noffsinger said the city and the petitioners had several discussions about the property over several months and then went through the annexation process. Remonstration period for the annexation ends Aug. 30, he said, and he has not heard any remonstration.
"The city has intentions with working with the petitioners and this board to come up with a plan," Noffsinger said.
Jones said the petitioners will meet all guidelines and restrictions.
"Keep in mind, between 70 and 90 homes is going to be a substantial impact," said plan commission member Kevin McSherry.
• Continued Four Seas Resources' petition to rezone an agricultural district to a residential district. The property is off the south side of CR 500N and east of Ind. 13 in Tippecanoe Township.
The plan commission said they want the property to have access to Ind. 13 in addition to the current access available.
• Approved unanimously Devon Hochstetler's petition for preliminary plat approval for an Agricultural II development on 16.47 acres. The property is on the north side of CR 1300N and west of CR 700W in Jefferson Township.
