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Jim LeMasters, 202 Esplanade St., received approval from the Winona Lake Town Council today on his petition to vacate a public way on portions of West K Street and the canal lying east of his lot.
The board voted 4-to-1 on approval for vacation of the aforementioned lot, which is where the Winona Lake Lion's Club building currently stands, citing that the emptying of the lot will help resolve parking problems currently faced by the surrounding community. The board also said that the vacation will benefit the beautification factor of Winona Lake and will allow for the town to maintain access to the canal running through the lot.
The building to be demolished was originally built for the Winona Lake Boy Scouts but has since been housed by the Lion's Club, which used the facilities for meetings while still allowing the Boy Scouts access to the premises. The Boy Scouts have since been moved to the Winona Lake Senior Center.
A petition to reclassify tracts of real estate in Winona Lake from single-family residential to institutional zoning was approved by the board, allowing Grace College the ability to begin construction of a new Event Center and parking lot for their campus.
"The lot for the Event Center will be a very highlighted area for the campus, and (Grace College) wants to make a good showing for potential students and their parents," council member Rolly Ortega said.
Grace College plans to locate their Event Center along Wooster Road, and plans for their parking lot to be located where the abandoned Gatke Dump currently stands. Grace has accepted the responsibilities of the demolition and clean up of the dump before the parking lot can be made.
The Winona Board approved an ordinance to adopt a revised town code book. This approval found an unanimous decision among committee members.
"The reason why we're doing this is to periodically update the codebook, so you'll be seeing this ordinance again next year around this time," town coordinator Craig Allebach said.
Winona Lake Town Council members are Allebach, David Delp, Rolly Ortega, Joy Lohse, Jerry Clevenger and Jeff Carroll.
