Standing, from left, board members Tom Allen and Tammy Dalton take their oaths of office.

WARSAW — During the Warsaw Board of Zoning Appeals meeting held last night, Jan. 28, oaths of office were given to two board members and the annual election of officers took place.

Warsaw Mayor Joseph Thallemer administered oaths of office to Tom Allen and Tammy Dalton. Allen also had an oath of office given for his service on the Warsaw Plan Commission. The board voted to keep officers the same for 2019, with Tom Allen serving as president and Rick Keeven serving as vice president.

The board heard one variance request for 50 Little Eagle Drive, Warsaw. Doug Harvey of Coplen Construction requested a variance from development standards to allow a pool and pergola to be located closer than 25 feet to a waterway. A layout was presented to the board that showed a pool 12 feet from the property line and a pergola 20 feet from the property line. Both the pool and the pergola would sit on the canal side of the property.

Assistant City Planner Justin Taylor stated that the 25-foot requirement is to protect the character and aesthetic quality of waterfronts and lakefronts. Since a pool is flush with the ground a the proposed pergola is an open structure, these would have little to no visual impacts on the waterway. Based on these findings, Taylor told the board that it was his recommendation to grant approval for the requested variance from development standards.

Jen Wilfong, owner of 49 Little Eagle Drive, Warsaw, submitted a letter in opposition to the variance request. The letter stated that “construction of the proposed improvements would, among other things, diminish the marketable value of the Wilfong property, unnecessarily impair its view of the lake and jeopardize the public health, safety and general welfare by creating an attractive nuisance.

She was also present during the meeting to express her concern. “I love pools, I would just ask for an alternative drawing,” said Wilfong. She explained that any pool or pergola built beyond the setback would affect her view of the lake. She went on to explain that, to her knowledge, there are six pools on Winona Lake and all of them sit on the lakeside of the home, not the canal side.

Pete Lieffring, the homeowner of 50 Little Eagle Drive, was present at the meeting and explained that the canal side was the only location the pool would fit. He did agree to move the pergola back, out of the setback, so that part of the variance wouldn’t be necessary.

The board decided that since the pool is flush with the ground and the pergola was no longer an issue, they saw no problem with the variance. The board approved the variance request contiguous upon the pergola being within the setback, the pool is to have a hardcover with no fencing and that the grade change made to the slope of the land be limited to 2 feet and 2 inches at the channel side corner of the pool.

The next meeting will be held on Monday, Feb. 25.