KOSCIUSKO — The Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission continued the only item on the agenda Wednesday, Jan. 8, after nearly an hour of discussion.

John Ward petitioned to rezone 6.81 acres from an Industrial 2 District to an Industrial 3 District. The property is located on the east side of SR 15, north of CR 1350N in Milford.

Area Planning Director Dan Richard explained that the building on the property was previously a hog building. The intention behind the rezoning request is to allow a concrete plant operation, which is not permitted within an Industrial 2 District. According to Richard, concrete plant operations had already begun on the property and a filing in court was made to get the operation to pause until proper zoning was acquired. Richard also noted that the concrete barriers on the property had been placed without a permit.

Attorney Steve Snyder, representing Ward, told the board that all operations on the property have ceased until proper approval is received.

“What we’re looking at now, is to make this a permitted use in an I-3 District,” said Snyder. I think we need to look at what’s compatible at this point — what’s the highest and best use for this property.”

Richard brought up a concern regarding traffic entering and exiting the concentre plant.

“Was much concern or consideration given to that exit point for really slow cement trucks pulling in and out on the state road right there, on a curve and coming down a hill?” asked Richard.

Snyder said that the entrance point is at least 1,100 feet from the overpass.

“It’s a concave corner, which means the visibility for trucks pulling out is the best it could be,” said Snyder. “In this case, I think the visibility is actually the best that I’ve seen for an industrial area pulling onto a state road.”

Richard then noted that there were concerns about the visual appearance of the concentre plant as it’s located on a busy state road right as you come into Kosciusko County from Elkhart County.

“This is the first thing you see coming out of Elkhart County,” said Richard. “Welcome to Kosciusko County, here’s our concrete mixing plant and all our allowed outside storage that goes with it.”

Snyder remarked that the last thing that a driver would see when exiting Elkhart County would be around 40 acres of “rusting tractors.”

Chairman Lee Harman noted that the board may want to look at the request from the standpoint of economic vs. aesthetic issues. The concrete plant would be adding a few more jobs to the county while also providing more competition within the local concrete industry, which could potentially lower prices.

Harman made a motion to approve the request, which received a 4-3 vote. According to Richard, five votes would be needed to pass on a recommendation. As a result, the matter was continued until the next meeting in the hopes of receiving a majority vote.

Once a recommendation is agreed upon, the recommendation will be sent to the County Board of Commissioners. Since the area lies within the Northern Industrial Corridor, approval by a technical committee will also be required.

The board voted to keep the election of officers the same as previous years. For the 2020 year, Lee Harman will serve as chairman with Kevin McSherry as vice-chairman and Mike Kissinger as secretary.

The next APC meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5.