From left Matt Goodnight, Bob Conley, Janet Castle and Kevin McSherry discuss a case at the Area Plan Commission meeting Wednesday, Feb. 1. Castle is a new board member. InkFreeNews photo by Phoebe Muthart.

By Phoebe Muthart
Staff Writer

WARSAW — Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission approved preliminary plans for a residential development in Milford at its Wednesday, Feb. 1, meeting.

Kosciusko Development petitioned for the preliminary plat approval for a residential development on a 19.58-acre tract of ground.

The property is located on the south side of CR 1250 North, north of Beer Road.

A secondary entrance has been added and sewer and water have been taken care of. The developer’s representative said at the meeting the closing on the property was conducted last week.

“We’ve addressed all the bullet points,” said Tim Saylor, president of Innovative Communities.

The preliminary plans were given to the board. Fifty-two lots are expected to be added to the new residential subdivision. A 50-foot easement was separately deeded and will be part of Dr. Doug and Helen Strycker’s property, therefore reducing setbacks.

Barrett McManus’ petition for preliminary plat was approved. His petition is for the replat of one lot in Deeds Creek Manor, Warsaw.

His property is located on the west side of Old Orchard Drive, east of Timberline Circle East in Wayne Township.

Edd Allen’s petition was continued for 30 days at attorney Steve Snyder’s request. Allen is seeking an appeal to amend self-imposed restrictive covenants associated to the rezoning request. He wants to rezone the property in question to commercial and as amended through previous cases by allowing modular home sales and display as shown on the submitted site plan.

The property is located on the west side of SR 13, south of CR 400 North in Tippecanoe Township. The case will be heard at the next APC meeting March 1.

Randall Jessop’s petition to rezone ground from an agricultural district to a residential district was also continued. His property is located on the south side of Mock Road, northeast of CR 100 East in Van Buren Township. His case will also be heard March 1.

Thomas Hardy’s petition to rezone his property from an agricultural district to an agricultural II district was given a favorable recommendation by the nine-member board.

“There are 5 acres of farmable land,” Hardy said, “but it’s not profitable.” Mike Long, a new board member, agreed and said, “It’s not economical for farming.”

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Land Evaluation and Site Assessment, a land evaluation method for cropland, was used to determine the property’s suitability for rezoning. Instead of his original request to rezone 24.5 acres, only 4.5 acres will be rezoned, or roughly two 2-acre lots.

The property is located on the west side of CR 700 East, south of CR 1150 South in Jackson Township. The case will go before the county commissioners at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28.

James and Sheila Craig’s petition to rezone 3.38 acres from an agricultural district to an agricultural II district was accepted by the board.

The property is located on the south side of Pierceton Road, west of CR 600 East in Washington Township.

A LESA score was high, meaning rezoning was inadvisable; however, the board recommended the request anyway due to various circumstances. All setbacks have been met, and Craig’s grandson wants to build a house on the property. Craig’s property will have nine residential lots ranging from 1 to 5 acres.

Two new board members were introduced: Long and Janet Castle.

The next meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 1, in the county courthouse in Warsaw.