Attorney Steve Snyder, left, is seen wearing a mask while social distancing is being practiced during this month’s Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.

By Maggie Kenworthy
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — With only five cases on the agenda, the Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals meeting held this morning, May 12, went quicker than usual.

The first case to be denied was a petition for a lot located on the north side of Fourth Street and east of East Street in Milford. The variance request would permit an undersized tract of ground to be built upon. The lot in question is 52′ wide when the ordinance requires 75′ and 6,844 square feet when the ordinance requires 10,000 square feet. The lot is owned by Terry Zimmerman.

Area Plan Director Dan Richard explained that the undersized lot was caused when a garage at the adjacent property to the west was built in violation and the previous owner sold some of the lot in question so that the garage would no longer be in violation. The undersized lot was then combined with adjacent property to the east. The current owner of the lot, Zimmerman, chose to separate the combined lot into two, one being the empty undersized lot and the other with an existing home.

Zimmerman told the board that his plan was to build a narrow home on the property that would be in compliance with setback requirements.

Two letters of remonstrance were presented to the board. A letter from the Town of Milford didn’t say that they were for or against the request, but stated that they wanted to make sure that all parties were aware that any home built would be “very small and narrow.”

Before taking a vote, Chairman Lee Harman commented that the request, “looks like you’re trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.”

The board then voted unanimously to deny the request.

The board also denied a variance request by Thomas Houlihan, 11678 N. Venetian Drive, Syracuse. The request would have allowed a shed, which was placed without a permit or hearing, to be relocated 13′ from the right-of-way and 14′ from the water’s edge.

In other news, the board approved:

• A variance request by Steve Estes, 20 EMS B57 Lane, Pierceton. The request was modified after the case was continued from March. The new request allows a residence addition 5’11” from the right-of-way, 1’3″ from the north property line, 6″ from the east property line and 1’11” from the south property line.
• Part of a variance request made by Deb Meyer, 53 EMS C29 Lane, Warsaw. The board approved allowing a shed to remain 4.2′ from the north sideline. The board continued the variance requests allowing a pool and a deck to remain as constructed.
• A variance request made by Mary Rolfsen, 8847 E. Crow Road, Syracuse. The request permits the construction of a new residence 5′ from the sidelines, 20′ from the north right-of-way and 16′ from the water’s edge. The variance also allows for two residences on one tract of land with the addition of living quarters to an existing accessory building. A condition was placed on the approval that only family members would be permitted to stay in the residences.