APC Gives Favorable Recommendation To Graber Petition
WARSAW — Timothy Graber had been using an old Catholic church building at the intersection of Main and Fourth streets in Milford for storage for his family business. But a roof caving in caused him to rethink how he wanted to use the property so he decided to petition the Kosciusko County Area Planning Commission to have the property rezoned from public use to residential.
His petition was among those on the agenda of the regular monthly meeting of the APC Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 6, in Warsaw.
Graber owns a business where defunct grain equipment is bought and then rebuilt. It is located directly across Main Street, east of the former church building and where a grain elevator was once located.
But Graber lives in Wakarusa and decided he would like to live in Milford instead, so now he is hoping to build a house and garage on the lot at Main and Fourth streets. He noted he and his staff sometimes work long hours and even sleep once in a while at their business.
Upon hearing this, Dan Richard, area planning director, advised Graber it would be wise to petition the county board of zoning appeals for an exception to have “living quarters” on property zoned industrial. Graber noted there is a kitchen and shower and a futon is used for sleeping, which Richard said technically meets the requirements for living quarters.
The APC gave a favorable recommendation to Graber’s petition and it will be considered by the Milford Town Council at its Monday, Jan. 11, meeting.
In other business, the APC also gave a favorable recommendation to Ben and Danelle Barkey’s petition to rezone 40.38 acres from agricultural to agricultural II on CR 350E, north and south of Wilcox Road in Wayne Township. Steve Snyder, an attorney representing the Barkeys, said they purchased the property, have a house there and want to develop the excess acreage into a small housing subdivision.
Snyder said there is a potential total of eight lots, though the final plan is yet to be developed. He noted the property does not support high density development, so there is no desire for small lots. “It (property) is heavily wooded, not very well drained particularly on the east side and not good for agricultural uses,” Snyder said.
Richard noted the technical committee which reviews petitions prior to the APC meeting expressed concerns the soil needs to be analyzed before the property is rezoned and may not be suitable for development in some areas. Also, there is a concern about the number of driveways which would connect to 350 East.
County commissioners will consider the petition at their Tuesday, Jan. 26, meeting.
Also on the agenda, the APC approved a preliminary plat petition of developer Terry Shepherd, who is developing ground on CR 400S, east of Packerton Road in Wayne Township. This petition was continued from the December meeting and an agreement was reached that will allow access to the north and emergency access to the south of the subdivision. Approval was given contingent upon the drainage plan being acceptable.
The APC recommended approval for the vacation of alleys between four lots owned by Robert Cunningham in Oswego. Also, half of a 66-foot strip of right of way running from Raber Road to the south would be vacated. Cunningham wants to consolidate the four lots.
County commissioners will consider the petition at their Jan. 26 meeting.
APC officers were elected and will remain the same as in 2015: chairman, Lee Harman; vice-chairman, Chuck Haffner; and secretary, Mike Kissinger.