The former Lakeland Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, at 505 W. Fourth St., Milford, was recommended for rezoning. This property has been vacant since 2019 when Trilogy Health Services opened a new facility, Paddock Springs, in Warsaw.

By Maggie Kenworthy
InkFreeNews

KOSCIUSKO — The property that formerly housed Lakeland Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center was recommended for rezoning during the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission meeting held Wednesday, March 3.

The request was made by Daniel Killinger to rezone 505 W. Fourth St., Milford, from an Agricultural District to a Residential District.

Kosciusko County Area Plan Director Dan Richard explained to the board that the rehab facility was allowed as an exception in an Agricultural District. Killinger hopes to rezone the building and seek further approval to use the property as multi-family residential units.

This meeting purely dealt with the rezoning aspect, so no details of the future plan were shared. But, in a February meeting with the Town of Milford, Killinger stated that the plan is to renovate the building into approximately 20 units. During the former meeting, he also stated that the former patient rooms would be converted into the living units and a common laundry, dog park and recreation facilities would be added.

The Town of Milford submitted a letter of support to the APC. One neighbor submitted a letter with concerns and questions regarding the specifics of the multi-family development while another neighbor showed up in person to mirror those concerns.

The board approved recommending the rezoning to the Milford Town Board on March 8. If approved by the town board, Killinger would need Kosciusko County Board of Zoning Appeals approval to develop the multi-family units. This future meeting is when the details of the units will be decided and neighbors can express their concerns.

The board also approved a rezoning request made by Robert and Phyllis Swanson to rezone a parcel of land from an Agricultural to an Agricultural II District. This will allow the property, located at 6008 W. Old Road 30, Warsaw, to be subdivided.

At the end of the meeting, Assistant Planning Director Matt Sandy presented two ordinance amendments.

The first set of changes involved adding the towns of Leesburg and Syracuse to the zoning ordinance, overlay district ordinance, subdivision control ordinance and stormwater control ordinance. This was just a matter of clarification after the town of Leesburg joined the APC last month.

The second set of changes involves adding fees to improvement location permits. This change has been discussed for several months. The fees will cover the costs involved with the new system for obtaining permits, which can now be done online in addition to in-person.

The fees range from $10 to $25, as pictured below, and the current plan is for the fees to take effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

The board approved both ordinance amendments. These recommendations of approval will go before the Kosciusko County Commissioners of March 16.