By David Slone
Times-Union

KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — A rezoning request before the Kosciusko County Commissioners on Tuesday, Sept. 24, had a neighbor concerned about the environmental impact animals on the property could have to the nearby wetlands.

The rezoning was for 7.77 acres on EMS C24 Lane in the Chapman Lake area from an Ag district to an Ag II district. What the neighbor didn’t know was that in an Ag district, anywhere in the county, the property owner could have any livestock they wanted. An Ag II district allows for livestock and for homes to be built.

Area Plan Director Matt Sandy presented the rezoning request for the Wittkampers. He said the Area Plan Commission, which is the recommending body to the county commissioners, had some pretty good discussion on the petition.

“The petitioner ultimately offered self-imposed conditions. As you know, we, as a plan commission, can not conditionally rezone. However, if the petitioner themselves offer that, they can accept that and work that into the recommendation,” Sandy said.

The first self-imposed condition was that the parcel, if rezoned to Ag II, when they came back to the platting, would have two residential lots, Sandy said. Right now, he said they could have one single-family home. If it’s rezoned Ag II, the most they would have would be two.

Much of the remonstration against the rezoning at the Area Plan Commission meeting had to do with livestock, Sandy said. Ag II does allow for agricultural uses, such as livestock. The area in question is surrounded by wetlands owned by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Sandy said the petitioners’ second condition offered was that the only livestock they would have would be chickens.

The Area Plan Commission recommended 9-0 in favor of the rezoning with the self-imposed conditions.

Attorney Steve Snyder, on behalf of the Wittkampers, made a slight correction to Sandy’s comments, saying that the first voluntary condition was that there would only be two residences on the parcel, rather than two lots. There may be a third parcel that would be common area available to each of the two residences, but it would not be available for placing a residence on.

Stacey Wittkamper, who owns the property, said it was her two sons who want to build on the property. They just want a house.
Karen Hathaway, who lives on the adjacent channel to the property in question, said the homeowners in the area were not concerned with the building of the homes but the animals and the impact they would have on the marshlands there. She said The Watershed Foundation told them they weren’t sure if the amount of farm animals would impact the marshlands.

Besides the animals, she said they also were concerned if it was just two different lots or if they could subdivide further.
Commissioner Brad Jackson said they could only have two.

Commissioner Bob Conley said the way the property is zoned now, as Ag, “they could go out there and fence it off and put 1,000 head of cattle out there because it’s agricultural.”

Commissioner Cary Groninger asked if they would have to hook up to the sewer. Sandy and Snyder had two different answers to that question, with Snyder said they had no plans to connect to sewer and they were told they didn’t have to by the sewer district. Sandy had the opposite response, saying they would have to connect. The property currently isn’t within the sewer district.

Noting the commissioners weren’t deciding on that but what’s the highest and best use of the property, Jackson made a motion to accept the Area Plan’s recommendation to allow the rezoning. His motion passed 3-0.

In other planning matters, the commissioners:

• Approved the petition from the Waltons for a vacation of a dedicated right-of-way for EMS B61 I Lane, which had been continued by the commissioners at their Aug. 27 meeting. The unanimous recommendation from the Area Plan Commission was to allow the vacation.

Snyder, on behalf of the petitioner, said they’re vacating a portion of the right-of-way and rededicating it where the road is.
“Obviously, the road has migrated since it was platted, and with this location vacation and relocation, we maintain the same width of the right-of-way, we just keep the road in the middle of the right-of-way rather than outside of the right-of-way,” he said.

• Denied an encroachment agreement for Three D Properties at 11579 N. Ogden Point Road, Syracuse.

The petition was continued from the Aug. 27 commissioners meeting to wait for surveying to be completed.

Snyder said a tree had fallen on the garage on the property, the garage encroached into the right-of-way and the petitioners wanted to rebuild the garage right where it was, which is 3.9 feet at one corner and 4.3 feet at the other corner into the right-of-way.

Commissioner Cary Groninger said he’d prefer to see the garage out of the right-of-way, and Commissioner Bob Conley agreed.
With the denial of the encroachment, the garage will have to be rebuilt without protruding into the right-of-way at all.

• Approved a road vacation at 73 EMS B27 Lane, as petitioned by John Riportella. The public right-of-way is in the Geasaman subdivision. The Area Plan Commission unanimously recommended the vacation be approved.

Snyder, on behalf of the petitioner, said they were just trying to straighten out what they thought was there all along.

• Approved Forest Hill Investments’ petition to rezone 47.61 acres, east of Warsaw, from residential to agricultural. Sandy said the property used to belong to Rex Hogan, who at one time was looking at making the property into a residential subdivision, but that never happened. The area plan commission recommended 9-0 in favor of the rezoning.