Zoners Deny Use Variance For YMCAWarsaw Board of Zoning Appeals unanimously denied a variance of use Monday night for a new YMCA building in Warsaw.
The board found the commercial site being proposed northwest of Springhill Subdivision would have safety and traffic issues and did not fit with the residentially zoned neighborhood.The $26 million development was being proposed at 1849 Springhill Road on 30 acres northwest of Springhill Subdivision and on the south side of U.S. 30 behind Missionary Church near Kosciusko Community Hospital. The site is owned by three different groups, Dan Robinson, Dinos Inc. and Warsaw Missionary Church.
City attorney Mike Valentine said the Y will have 30 days to appeal with the circuit court the zoning board's decision to deny the variance of use.
"The Y will review the results of last night's meeting to determine if an appeal should be taken," said Steve Snyder, attorney representing YMCA, this morning.
Snyder spoke Monday night and said the Y felt the use variance request would not be injurious to public health and would be an asset to the community.
Steve Jungbauer, YMCA chief executive officer, said the Y is appreciative of the donation of the land to the Y, and said the Y has done an excellent job of being proactive in the project.
"The YMCA board has heard residents' concerns and appreciate their comments, and we realize that this is not an appropriate use for the property," Jungbauer said.
He said the Y has been researching locations for the facility for the past five years and will continue to look for locations.
One variance reviewed Monday was a special exception to allow for an outdoor recreation facility for soccer and softball, and the other was a variance of use to allow an indoor recreation facility in a residentially zoned district.
The YMCA development consists of a new indoor recreation facility, outdoor recreational fields and courts, parking and a stormwater detention pond.
The board met for two hours Monday night to determine if the use variance was acceptable for the benefit of the community.
BZA Board President Tom Allen, Vice President Bruce Woodward, and board members Mary Ellen Rudisel-Jordan, Rick Keeven and Diana Rhoades all voted unanimously against the variance of use.
The special exception request was mute because the zoners did not approve the use variance, Allen said.
Woodward said he was concerned with flooding that would come from the Y and interfere with the Springhill neighborhood.
"I am concerned if a hard surface was developed, water would be released at a faster rate and cause more flooding," Woodward said.
Rhoades said she was concerned about drainage that would go into Deeds Creek, and said she lives on Pike Lake and the lake cannot hold anymore water.
Rudisel-Jordan said she is concerned with the traffic pattern and access issue.
"My concern is access to and from the hospital for emergency vehicles, and I don't want them to be hampered by YMCA traffic that would come in and out of Provident Drive," Rudisel-Jordan said.
Keeven and Allen both said they also were concerned with traffic issues and opposed the development at the proposed location.
Keeven said he was concerned with rush hour-added traffic that would be generated with Y clients, causing safety issues for emergency vehicles and patients needing to get to KCH.
Approximately 50 Springhill residents who live adjacent to where the facility was being proposed to be built attended Monday's meeting to express their concerns with the YMCA proposal.
The residents formed a remonstrance petition that was submitted to the Warsaw building and planning department and was presented during the meeting by Springhill residents' attorney Michael Reed.
During Monday's meeting, Reed said the Springhill residents felt the proposed site was not compatible with the residential area.
"This is not a referendum about the merits of this facility. I think we all agree the Y will be a great facility and large investment in the community," Reed said.
However, Reed said the issue is that the proposed site is not appropriate for the Y.
"The answer is clear and it is 'no' that this is not a proper site for the Y because the area is zoned residential and is not compatible with the neighborhood," he said.
There are 67 inhabited homes with 122 residents in Springhill Addition. There were 91 residents that have signed remonstrance petitions (75 percent of all Springhill Addition residents).
Petitions also were signed opposing the development site by 72 Kosciusko Community Hospital employees, 11 Hodges Addition residents, 58 Meadowbrook Addition residents, 11 Warsaw Women's Center employees, 21 Grossnickle Eye Center employees, 12 Medstat employees and four McHatton-Sadler Funeral Home employees.
James Nesbitt, Betsy Court, said he supported the Y and desire for the state-of-the-art facility, but said the board should have an appropriate reason to change residential zoning. He said other locations should be considered for the Y.
Nicole Borem, Robb Road, said she was concerned with emergency vehicles' access to the proposed Y.
"With those who have to come off U.S. 30 and Dubois Drive to get to the YMCA at the proposed location concerns me with the possibility of people's lives being risked with added traffic that would come to the Y and emergency vehicles getting there," Borem said.
John Clay, Robb Road, said he had traffic safety concerns with Y visitors only being able to access from Harrison Street to Provident Drive and U.S. 30.
"There are no sidewalks in our neighborhood and we already have the maximum traffic and having runners, bikers and walkers in our neighborhood that is associated with the Y is a major safety concern, not to mention our property values decreasing," Clay said.
Randy Murphy, Springhill Road, also had traffic concerns with the access from U.S. 30 onto Springhill Road. He said currently if a vehicle is in the left turn lane going west on U.S. 30 there are a maximum of three cars that can turn onto Springhill Road before the light changes.
"If you add 7,500-plus YMCA members the traffic from that will put an additional burden on the intersection," Murphy said.
