By David Slone
Times-Union

WARSAW – Most of the items on the Warsaw Common Council’s agenda Monday night were continuations from the Council’s last meeting, with one exception being the Harvest Ridge planned unit development (PUD).

The Council unanimously approved the ordinance for the Harvest Ridge PUD on first reading with the secondary approval going back to the Plan Commission. The Plan Commission on Feb. 14 approved a favorable recommendation on Menards’ PUD request to the Council. 

City Planner Justin Taylor presented the ordinance Monday for the zoning amendment request. It creates a new PUD just to the east of Menards, 1000 Husky Trail, Warsaw. 

“The intent of creating a (PUD) is to offer more flexibility for developers to construct a variety of housing types and housing densities while fostering good environmental design practices,” Taylor said. “The petitioner wishes to subdivide 30.5 acres into 91 lots containing a mix of detached single-family residential units and attached zero lot line residential units.” 

Taylor said there is a shortage of housing in the county. The ability to create PUDs is one tool that the city has to adapt to the changing markets and needs of developers.

He told the Council they had three options available to them: Approve the ordinance in general terms and retain secondary review in detail to the Council; approve the ordinance in general terms and delegate secondary detailed review to the Plan Commission; or deny or table the request for more information.

Councilwoman Diane Quance, who also sits on the Plan Commission, said the Plan Commission did not give unconditional approval to the PUD. They approved it if the developer would establish a green buffer between the development and Menards. Menards has agreed to put trees in the boundary area as requested. 

Quance also said the Plan Commission would prefer the Council approve it with secondary review be sent back to the Plan Commission. 

During public comments, Nick Brenner, real estate representative for Menards, by telephone from Wisconsin, spoke in favor of the petition. He said the PUD “opens a lot of flexibility for housing types,” which has proven to be fantastic across the midwest. 

Nearby resident Bill Hartman had questions about the approximately 9-acre wetlands on the far-eastern side of the property, which also comes into his property as well. He said he was OK with the development, but he wanted to be “crystal clear” that it be developed in a “responsible fashion.” He was fully supportive of the wetlands being preserved and not being environmentally impacted.

Brenner said, “We did a wetland delineation this fall” and Menards was not touching the wetlands. “We’re staying out of that, we’re saving a bunch of trees on the eastern edge around the wetlands. So that wetland integrity will remain as it is today.”

Hartman asked if there would be monitoring of the development, and Taylor said the city and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management will be doing that. 

After the hearing was closed to the public, Quance made a motion to approve the PUD with secondary review going to the Plan Commission. Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins provided the second and it was approved 6-0. 

In other business, the Council:

• Approved on second reading an ordinance for the voluntary annexation of Granite Ridge subdivision, which is about 40 vacant acres along the south side of the existing Park Ridge subdivision. A public hearing and the approval of the ordinance on first reading were provided at the Feb. 22 Council meeting. 

Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner said with the Council’s approval, the annexation will be advertised in the newspaper and recorded and take effect after that.

“Obviously, it’s one of the housing developments we’ve been working on for the last six months,” he said, adding that they hope engineering will be done in the next 1-1/2 months and the sanitary sewer system construction will go out to bid this year to support the residential development. 

• Had a second reading and public hearing on the ordinance re-establishing the cumulative capital development fund rate. The ordinance was approved on first reading Feb. 22 and approved on second reading Monday night with no remonstrators.

Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said, “This is something we have to procedurally do, seems like every three or four years, to keep the rate at the maximum that they’ll allow by state (statute). This is re-establishing that rate back to 5 cents per $100 (of assessed valuation).” 

The CCD fund is primarly used for stormwater projects, with some components for repair of roads in tandem with those projects, Thallemer explained.

• Had a second reading and public hearing on the ordinance re-establishing the fire equipment replace fund rate. The ordinance was approved on first reading Feb. 22, and approved on second reading Monday with no remonstrators. 

The maximum rate for the fund may not exceed 3.33 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. The fund is used for capital improvements and fire equipment (large purchases). 

• Approved on first and second reading the 2022 city employee handbook, as requested by Human Resource Director Jennifer Whitaker. She said the book was last fully updated in 2015, but there were four amendments since then. 

• Heard an update on the Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation’s initiatives from CEO Alan Tio.

• Approved a conflict of interest statement for Street Superintendent Dustin Dillon.