Remonstrators Retain Lake Access After Kosciusko Area Plan Commission
By Maggie Kenworthy
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — A group of remonstrators showed up at the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission meeting held Wednesday, May 6, to object to a vacation request that would limit their lake access.
The vacation request was made by Griffith’s Wawasee Marina, 9171 E. Ross Drive, Syracuse. The request included vacating three interior roadways and half of Ross Drive. The three interior roadways are located within the business’s property and are solely used by the business and their customers. Ross Drive is used as the main entrance for the marina as well as to provide access to pier space owned by neighboring residents. The vacation would allow for the business to add additional buildings on the property while maintaining proper set-back requirements.
Attorney Steve Snyder, representing Griffith’s Wawasee Marina, explained that Ross Drive runs north to south. The request was to vacate 12 1/2 feet of the eastern portion of the roadway, allowing the western 12 1/2 feet to remain as public access.
“The question is, will the west-side of Ross Drive provide adequate access to these people’s piers?” explained Snyder. “We have no plan to interfere with their ability to come down and access their piers and boats.”
The commission received a petition of objection with five signatures and four individual objection letters related to the Ross Drive vacation. One letter was from a representative of Turkey Creek Fire Territory citing significant concerns regarding safety issues that could be caused by the vacation.
Six residents who use Ross Drive to access their pier space were present at the meeting. They all expressed concern regarding the Ross Drive vacation, questioning how they would retain access to drive vehicles to their piers and launch small watercraft into the lake. All the neighbors were in agreement that they did not object to the interior roadway vacations.
After hearing the remonstrators, Snyder informed the board that his client, Griffth’s Wawasee Marina, was willing to remove the Ross Drive vacation from the request and only petition to vacate the interior roadways.
The plan commission unanimously approved this updated request. The recommendation will now go before the Kosciusko County Commissioners for approval at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, May 26.
In other news, the plan commission:
- Gave final plat approval to David Caswell for his property located near CR 200S and CR 600W, Warsaw. This was a subdivision of land after the plat was previously rezoned from an Agriculture District to an Agriculture 2 District.
- Approved a request made by Splendor Boats, 9526 S. SR 15, Silver Lake. This petition is to rezone the land from an Agriculture District to an Industrial 2 District. This rezoning would allow for the addition of cold storage buildings on the property. The recommendation will now go before the Kosciusko County Commissioners for approval.
- Approved a request made by Silver Lake Agri Center, 205 CR 250W, Silver Lake. This request is to rezone the land from an Agriculture/Residential District to an Industrial 2 District, which is what the rest of the business’ property is currently zoned as. This rezoning would allow for the addition of solar panels on newly purchased land. The recommendation will now go before the Kosciusko County Commissioners for approval.
- Approved a request made by Like Minear, 7166 N. Syracuse Webster Road, North Webster. The request is to rezone 5.32 acres of land from a Commercial District to an Agriculture District. The recommendation will now go before the Kosciusko County Commissioners for approval.
- Gave preliminary plat approval to Round Table Consortium for a property located near the intersection of Huntington and Branch streets in Syracuse. The request is to divide a 0.97-acre tract of land into two lots. The recommendation will now go before the Kosciusko County Commissioners for approval.