Syracuse Board Of Zoning denies new home variance, board now fully staffed

dont want obstructions. You can move the air conditioner in front; some are putting it on the roof.” a permit from the county for $125. will have the opportunity to review and submit their input on the draft park plan, know the major outcomes and what strategies were proposed; and then just to be able to interact with you all, the board members, as well as the steering committee,” Ritsema said. nient locations for all of Kosciusko County.”

Abbs agreed with Cox.

It took four Kosciusko Leadership Academy white paper projects over 26 years before an ice skating rink in Kosciusko County was realized.

A new, big project was presented Thursday to the Kosciusko County Parks and Recreation Board.

The public comment period is being kept open through the month of March. Ritsema said any events they have will be promoted through social media, flyers at public locations and press releases through local media.

He also said there will be a couple ways that residents and visitors will be able to access the draft plan and submit their comments. It eventually will be on the board’s webpage under kcgov. com, and there will be printed copies at city halls, town halls and public libraries. Along with the printed copies, there will be a comment form and drop box.

There will be an online version of the comment form with a link to the draft plan, which will automatically get submitted back to MACOG.

The board and Ritsema then discussed how many public events to have and where. The open houses, it was decided, will be at the North Webster Community Center or Library; the Warsaw Community Public Library; and the Bell Memorial Public Library in Mentone. The dates and times will depend on space availability, but board Vice President Troy Turley and President Rob Bishop will work with Ritsema on those and then information will be disseminated out to the public.

“I think the plan is shaping up very nicely. So I commend you and MACOG and everyone else here for the work that’s been done on it,” board member Mike Cusick told Ritsema.

Even as a college administrator, McGregor said, facilities are “lacking. I’m sure we feel it within our communities, too, as it says, from that late fall to the early spring months of where can we go, what can we do and how can we continually be active and healthy without those resources within our county.”

For the first time in about four years, the Syracuse Board of Zoning Appeals is fully staffed. Two new members, Brandon Wolferman and Scott Abbs, joined the board Thursday, Feb. 16, at its monthly meeting.

The board now consists of five members: Wolferman, Abbs, Matt Goodnight, Randy Cox and Cory Mast. Mast was not present at the recent meeting.

The board reviewed three variance requests and one exception request. Only the variance request by Marvin Schwartz was denied. This is the second permit issued for the Hawaiian Village development. There are five undeveloped lots in that area.

Schwartz filed a petition for variance to construct a residence and place an air conditioning unit 7 feet from the side property line. The property is located on the east side of Koko Drive and 360 feet south of Pickwick Drive, in an area where new lots are being developed. Schwartz did not provide drawings of the residence on the lot.

Setbacks apply to the structure, generators or AC units. The minimum setback requirements for this lot were 25 feet from the right of way, 35 feet from the water and 10 feet from both side lines.

Schwartz was requesting a variance to place the AC unit within 7 feet of the side property line. However, several board members suggested Schwartz consider other options for placing the air conditioner, such as making an indentation in the garage or house or placing it on the roof.

“You know the (lot) size. The house is to fit the lot, not the lot to the house,” stated Cox. “If we grant it for you, there are four others who can come in and want the same thing.” Cox stated the fire department requests 10 feet around the homes to maneuver equipment if there is a fire. “We

“That’s a good amount of land. I mean, do you worry about your AC being 3 feet closer? I mean, designwise, that’s a good chunk of land,” said Wolferman.

“That gives you 55 feet,” added Cox.

Given the circumstances, the board uanimously denied Schwartz’s request, until he could meet the setback requirements.

Approvals for variances were given to John Oglesbee and Brock Manning, despite decks having already been constructed without permits being issued.

Oglesbee’s variance request was to allow a newly constructed deck to remain zero feet to the southwest property line and zero feet from the right of way of Carroll Street. The property is located at 601 N. Harrison St., at the corner of Carroll Street.

Matt Sandy, plan commission director, stated town officials contacted the planning office, reporting the deck’s construction without a permit.

“We did talk to the town to let them know that if it was a platform, they do not need a permit. Under the definition in the ordinance, a platform is decking that is no more than 12 inches above finished grade at any given point,” said Sandy.

“We built that deck with a town permit,” said Oglesbee.

Confusion arose when Oglesbee consulted with his contractor about getting a permit. One from the town was acquired, but both parties were unaware they needed to receive a permit from both the town and the county.

“I’d say there’s definitely been miscommunication somewhere in the mix,” said Sandy. He spoke directly with the contractor, saying, “I guess the best advice I can give you is it’s in your best interest to make sure a permit is acquired

Manning, whose property is at 1502 S. Huntington St., also built a deck without proper permits. He had previously been denied a permit due to setbacks and flood development requirements. His request was for a variance to leave the deck as is but 11 feet closer than the minimum setback of 35 feet.

Manning stated he didn’t realize he needed a permit for the deck as it was replacing a deteriorating deck. Sandy reiterated several times because the property is in a flood zone anything done to the property has to have a permit. “It is more complicated.”

Ken Manning spoke along with Brock Manning, stating they believed constructing the new deck and repairing it was the same thing. It was noted on the previous request the front deck was only included to show how it would tie in with the new deck.

While the board approved the variance, there were stipulations made that he never enclose the deck, and proper permits br obtained, including a flood permit.

Jeffery Toumey was granted his exception to construct an oversized residential accessory structure at 1101 N. Long Drive.

“Anytime you get over 1,200 square feet in a residential district, it takes an exception for that size building,” said Sandy.

“So right now we have a 24by-40 -foot pole building. That’s pretty much what it is. We’re looking at expanding it to 55-by40, keeping two of the walls of the existing structure. My intention would be to obviously stay within the 10 feet. I got three kids and I got one starting to drive so we have another car to put in the garage,” said Toumey.

Toumey additionally noted it will be finished to match the home and garage on the property and a shed currently on the property will be removed.

Seeing no issue with Toumey’s request, the board unanimously approved the motion.

Grace College Assistant Athletic Director and Sport Management Program Director Carol McGregor presented the “Fieldhouse of Dreams,” a community fieldhouse that is the topic of the white paper project her KLA team is working on. Her team members for the fieldhouse are Chad Hummel, Silveus Insurance; Denny Harlan, city of Warsaw; and Angie Summers, K21 Health Foundation.

McGregor read to the board a description given at a KLA meeting about the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program and the call for community centers for wellness programming.

“It says the smaller communities lack indoor exercise options from late fall to early spring months. This initiative was to support the planning, implementation, building or renovation of indoor facilities in our local towns,” she said.

The indoor facilities may be part of a renovation or construction of new facilities that “would allow local communities access to exercise options that provide a safe space for both activity and social engagement around exercise. These structures would be used as convenient socialization opportunities centered around movement while providing a variety of health programming for the smaller communities. This would provide year-round access to health center programming and affordable options in conve-

An organization called AGAITAS provides free soccer, baseball and basketball camps for kids. McGregor asked, “What could they do and what kind of impact could they have amongst the community members if they had access to a facility all year?”

McGregor works in Kosciusko County but lives in Fort Wayne and she has access there to turf facilities and gyms that are “outstanding.” However, she said, her KLA team members live in Kosciusko and don’t have the same access without driving 45 minutes away to give their children the opportunity to play indoor soccer during the winter months.

“We wanted to just look at how can we build something or bridge the gap that we’re lacking here,” she said.

The first of three questions she had when she previously met with Parks Board member Matt Metzger was: What does the community want? That’s a question she understood the board also was investigating.

“So that’s one of the areas we want to come along side you,” she said, and maybe propose an idea.

She said they know fitness and activity is huge in the connectivity within the county. “Ideally, this facility would end up being located in the Warsaw/ Winona Lake area. We do have other communities reaching out, doing some KEDCO, getting the HELP grants.” The community fieldhouse would serve as a home

Tippecanoe Township to

Continued from page 1 also noted that Francis will soon be seeking bids for the paving of paths inside the township-managed cemeteries. base for students from all over the county, McGregor continued.

The next meeting of the advisory board will take place Tuesday, March 14, at NWCC following the town council and fire territory meetings. The meeting is open to the public.

The second question she presented was on the cost of the fieldhouse.

She presented a quote from The Farley Group for a 100,000-square-foot dome for about $3.6 million in construction costs. There would be an additional cost for turf or whatever flooring was desired. She said it was a “much cheaper” option in regards to upfront costs, but ongoing costs were more than a brick-and-mortar building.

The final question she presented was, who would the partners be on the facility? McGregor said not only would Grace College be interested in it because of its students, but also hospital systems, the parks and foundations.

“So, in summary, the biggest question that we still kind of have, that we have to look upon, is the location. Where would we want it? Where would we have the best access? Where could people capitalize on it? Where are they willing to get their fitness on?” McGregor said.

Metzger said the county park board has to think about being countywide, so when it comes to location of the fieldhouse he wondered where would it sit. He said he knows there’s potentially a place on the east side of Grace’s campus. McGregor said that location would provide connectivity to the trails.

Parks Board member Mike Cusick asked if the county parks department and board would be a partner in the development and funding of the fieldhouse. McGregor said yes to all of the above.

Metzger said the project is in its infancy stage, but it’s one that makes sense for the county parks board to come along side as such projects are what the community said they wanted to see in recent surveys.