27 May 2025 Dearborn County Plan Commission Meeting Notes
This meeting went from 6PM-10:15 PM- 4.25 hrs
Present: Dennis Kraus, Jr., Chairman, Russell Beiersdorfer, Jeff Hermesch, Mark Lehman, Joe Vogel, Jake Hoog, Dan Lansing, Jim Thatcher, and Eric Lang
Also Present: Nicole Daily, Planning and Zoning Director, and Andy Baudendistel, Attorney.
Baudendistel read the Title VI statement as legally required.
ACTION ON MINUTES- April 28th minutes- Approved
OLD BUSINESS:
Britton Zone Map Amendment (Carr Road) is being tabled to the JULY 2025 meeting
Still waiting for the applicant to get required materials. TABLED until July meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
- Request: Zone Map Amendment from Low Density Residential (R-1) to Local Business (B-1) Applicant/Owner: MDG Stateline LLC and Bright Barn LLC Site Location: 23833 Stateline Road Parcel: #15-06-02-200-001.001-020 & #15-06-02-200-001.003-020 Township: Miller Size: +/-11 acres
Nicole Daily presented and Large pole barn is on the property. said it is 2 properties extending a B-1 district. She showed the existing zones around the proposed zone change. Topo map shown. Permits issued before- were a pole barn and concrete and asphalt for a parking. They had a full site permit due to the MS4 regulations. Property owner wants to move offices to the front portion and the back will be Ag uses as it currently is being used for. Building does not have a final CO (certificate of occupancy.)Building inspector said they have met the requirements. Tough. Letters from utilities are enclosed and already being served by electric and fiber. 77 letters mailed out to adjoiners. 66 were picked up.
Joey Madden-owner- 2022-3 they acquired this property and this has been a long time dream of our families. Large barns - one for farm animals and one for farm equipment and storage. He family idea was to put it on Stateline to show what they do. They were able to get a lot of our neighbors utilities and sewer at no cost to them. Their business is in Harrison. He decided he wanted their offices to be close to home for them and their employees. We have 320 acres and have no desire to do anything but live there. Nothing would change with the existing operation of the barn except for 4-5 cars a day for the business. In the front. He thinks the zone request matches the future ,and use map. They have Zero desire to develop the farmland behind it.
Thatcher asked some questions - Madden Answers: No nighttime activity for the business. No weekend or evenings.It is unbelievable difficult to buy farmland in Bright.Ag for the most part and might have a couple more ones for his family there.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION:
Pam ???- What encompasses B-1- Essentially anything- like grocery stores. He has 8 lights behind the barn that shine in her windows at night. Will this increase our taxes with Business there. Can he run Ag business out if there without the B-1. Farm animals and Ag is fine- but doesn’t want to have B-1. She’s watched the thing go up and the comments on Facebook.
Will Reynolds- neighbor across street and next to vegetable stand. He washed the construction and it’s gone well. He likes it. We still have noise a The Possum- but this won’t be loud, he does not think. He has no skin in the game. He’s trying to buy property around my house to to keep it quiet and comfortable for his family.
Neighbor across the street- Not sure where they are on the Crossroads Sewer Coverage. They don’t have tap fee covered yet. No issues with the process and respectful with the neighbors. Would like to meet with him after this.
Joe Bonomini - Is there a limitation with what B-1 will do to the area? Answer: He would have to have another zone request if he took it further to B-2 or expands further in the area. Daily added that more permits and processes would be there too.
END PUBLIC DISCUSSION
Kraus explained what the board does- Favorable, Unfavorable, or No Recommendation. They can put conditions on the recommendation of the board so desires.
Hoog asked Madden about his lighting. He said he has walks and he will adjust them DOWN to not shine out. He said they built the land up there to have the barn high enough. The access point was also moved per Listerman’s recommendation to have safer access.
Kraus asked about offices- Madden - 5 offices and a meeting room.
Lehman -said he cannot figure out the timeline. If this was intended to be an Ag Barn in an R-1 District and goes the process and decides he wants to make it Business in front of the barn near the business district.
Lang- If you are in the land development side of this- that’s a big gamble.
Daily- answered- everything he has done- he has called the office and asked first. He has called for house splits, road frontage issues, etc.
Madden- If you go back on Justis Dr - there is a bigger barn than this too. Stressing their Ag use.
Kraus - asked the board twice for thoughts. Said it’s not a spot zone.
Lang- Noted The PossumBar in the are.
Hoog- Businesses west and east.
Daily - storage facilities, landscaping and the possum and farm stand and some parcels on Jeb Drive are B-1a and one B2.
Lang- 300 ft to the west up Stateline there is more. This is a continuation of that.
Beiersdorfer moved for Favorable Recommendation as it fits in with our future land use maps. Lang seconded. All ayes and Thatcher Abstained. Passed.
7 PM
2.Request: Zone Map Amendment from Agriculture Homestead (AH) to Light Industrial (I-1) Applicant/Owner: Kevin Somers Site Location: US 50 Parcel: #15-11-07-400-011.005-004 Township: Clay Size: 4 acres
Lang said there would be an appearance of impropriety and left the room for this one. He had discussions with the owner.
Nicole Daily- said this was changed to Ag Homestead. Currently vacant land. It was either Ag or R before that happened. There are self storage units there- built from 2002-2016. Topo show it as pretty flat. Laughery Valley Ag Coop is there as Light Industrial . End goal is 6 buildings for self storage, He went thru an INDOT access process. Research was difficult to see how these other storage units in them area came to be. Some permitted between 1965 and 1980 and some later before digital access. Duke energy Dillsboro Water and Dillsboro Fire. 10 letters sent out. He also created renderings of the landscaping he plans. This isn’t necessary until site plan review. He does plan a wider buffer area Level 4 tree area for the residential areas north and west.
Kevin Sommers- Applicant- has 4 boys under 13- he wants this to be self storage and there is one 100 ft to the east. It’s about 95% full. Have mostly small units and no gate. He wants to serve a complementary service. 10x25 units- larger than the neighbors ones. The clientele he’s looking for is having boats and RVs too. He will be using 2.8 acres to do buffering and stormwater management. Fence will be black vinyl and not regular chainlink. Here will be a gate for security, cameras and lighting.
Answering questions from Lansing and Lehman- Height of buildings will be 25 ft. Trees will be 40 ft at maturity though starting at 6 ft. He will build them on a mound to get the screening earlier. Goal is to have indoor storage of boats and RVs. Not outdoor.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION
Randy Jackson- spoke for at least 15 min- In the back corner (of the Somer property) there is 25 acres with a big pond behind this site. He married in 1998 and was with Fire dept and EMT in Dillsboro. They bought their dream property and they have wildlife and the pond. He has pictures of the view from his land to this. They have trees up and down the driveway and 2 orchards.They worked their tail off to manage their property. He mows his property. They had a house they built. They keep their pond nice. This storage site was two -2- acre lots. The drainage will come to his lot. There will be more neighbors, more litter, more people and theft- like the existing storage unit company has had. Recalled issues with potential accidents. Bischoff Realty sold this land to Kevin Somers. He found out now he did not have any easement for access. I don’t think Bischoff has told Somers that he has to give access as he cannot be land locked. He has nothing in writing regarding his access that was given from the previous owners. He reiterated wanting to keep his dream home and watch his eagle at the pond. He talked about where all these other storage units are in the area and that they are not full. Don’t need any more units. I was President of Dillsboro’s EMS and went thru embezzlement and got Gladys Ender’s estate and used 1/4 million of that to pay off the balloon loan. He said that the family that sold whatever was the same man who stole Dillsboro EMS from them. [NOTE: What was this about????]
Donald Reuter - He owns the storage facility by the Ag COOP. They bought it in 2009. Didn’t see another one going in 100 ft away. Thinks there are issue with safety that Randy was saying. Problem with ingress and egress. Saw no traffic study. There is a median in the road there. Can’t see how large trucks can make the bend. Other concern is over saturation in the area. There are 2 residential lots there. Within a half mile of their site there are several sites. There is no severe unmet need for storage. He says he is not competing with us. But he is. I am obviously not for it. We got our zoning at least 45 years ago.
Steve Coffaro- Counsel for the existing storage. Comment on access points. He showed the various points on the map
Tracy Abbott- more issues on that access and the easements or lack thereof. He discussed the drainage and the piping under the driveway that he has maintained for 30 years and is his. Noise pollution from echoing off large buildings. Light pollution that he already has from the current storage facility. No sewage there. Worried people will use outdoors for that. No more bike rides down the driveway. Worried about robbing the units. Just look at the bottom- One building in the next 10 years. Cameras reduce privacy of neighbors. Totally against it.
Bambi Fox- bought 180 acres, a city girl and she loves it. Put a lot into it. Outdoor storage concerns her. Those turnarounds are not safe for large vehicles. Safety is a big concern. Signage- what will that look like. Lighting will make stars less bright. I don’t mean to sound superficial - but we care about what it will look like.
END PUBLIC DISCUSSION
Kevin Somers- Answering the public questions: He noted Lang’s integrity leaving the room- and he considers that he himself is a man of integrity. He is more than happy to sign an easement there. Like the others who were able to get a zone change in the area- he thinks he should be able to also. He thinks that people will not use him unless it is safe. Any crime would be detrimental to him and his business. Cameras will not be visible from your homes. NW corner is where the drainage will go. Code has all the rules for this. The retention pond will be impermeable so water stays there. 4 homes would have 38 trips a day. The storage unit will have 85% fewer trips than 4 homes. Low traffic and low noise. Gate makes it closed after midnight. Less noise. Mechanical work is not allowed on their vehicles. He showed the 3 sound levels between the homes versus the storage. There will be no fence or gate blocking the existing road there. Boat and RV storage is not like household storage. Most traffic will be westbound. Versailles etc. Access points- he has a 22 ft truck and a trailer - he has made that turn with it. INDOT- he has spoken with them and he will make those changes with INDOT specs. No expectation that a neighbor maintains the driveway- He will do that.
Safety and fences- cameras and lighting. No neon lights- maybe a small light shining right not it. Elegant- not tacky. He spoke with the existing facility next door. He addressed the answers they had given him before.They had customers for years and were pretty full and no RVs and boats. Hours will be ending at 11PM. No outside storage. Neighboring storage company wants to know about the easement open and will it hurt his access. Somers noted that he has more requirements than the current storage had. He said that with the easement he has no blockage for Jackson.
Board discussion: Hoog was asking about INDOT and the access. Kraus- They could require an acceleration and or deceleration lane. We don’t know.
There is a 20 ft easement for Abbott on his deed. Jackson ???But the access to those 2 owners is on Somers land.
Lehman- motioned for Favorable Recommendation to Commissioners citing the findings of fact with the condition that an easement will be written on the existing property allowing easement with a maintenance agreement across the front to the neighbor to the east (Jackson Property). Beiersdorfer 2nded. 5 ayes, Thatcher abstains, and Lansing Nay. Passed.
5 minute break til 9:10 PM
Lang returned to the Board.
3.Request: Appeal of Technical Review Committee’s approval for an 8-lot Minor Subdivision Applicant/Owner: Seig Surveying / Plano Trail LLC (Jacob Wolfer) Site Location: North Hogan Road Parcel: #15-04-35-100-009.003-019 Township: Manchester Size: 23.74 acres
Nicole Daily explained how the tech review approves one of these Minor subdivisions. This is an APPEAL of that decision. That means it has to come to the PC as if it is an application. The 8th lot is used for a private street. There are 7 lots. Road width and ditch lines have to follow county specs. Tech review approved it on April 21st. This was on Ag Homestead zoned land. All 4 tails received from neighbors are in the packet. Health Dept septic letters and utilities are in the packet too. There is an additional letter from the school district.
Rob Seig Surveyor is there for the owner Jacob Wolfer who had business out of town. He said they put a lot of detail into it- and the issues were addressed - no waivers or variances. Everything is compliant with the zoning code. He sees the 4 property owners concerns. Mr Welch concerns- answers-Drainage and erosion- they have the improvement plan and talked to MS4 and we meet the requirement. Farmland is being converted to these homes. Public hydraulic report is ready for review. There are 11 homes similar in size to the west. This land was Ag Homestead next to that. No traffic study was completed. They did check the site distance and the location of the drive with Listerman.
There is a letter that explains that the schools can handle this. Rural character- well there are 11 other homes. Property owner to the west- site drainage is controlled with ditches at the road and detention pond.Trespassing- there will be a fence. Property tax. More noise and vehicles. Yes- same as any neighborhood. Rural nature. This is not a big change, Everything meets code.
Baudendistel- when you have an ordinance and it completely complies with the ordinance and no waivers or variances. That is the law in Indiana. If they follow the rules you set, there is no discretion.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION
Tom Souders-opposed as they moved down there to Ag area and with development this changes, We like fields, skies at night etc.
William Montgomery- lived on County Farm-they tried to make. Reservoir there years ago- it didn’t happen. Quiet out there- more houses is not a great idea.
Matt Meyer- North Hogan Rd abutting back corner of the property - It’s very wet there. I believe the retention are this on the wrong corner of the property. Wants to know sizes of homes. Thinks it doesn’t belong there.
Matt Welch- Property to the east of this- has about 50 acres. He asked Daily to google Dearborn county zoning map. And click on this. He showed how difficult it was for regular citizens to figure out their zoning. He also called to the board’s attention that people out there did not know they had been rezoned - they had not been notified. He was worried about the creek that ran back and forth to his property from the proposed subdivision. The topography map shows that the drainage goes right to his property. Traffic - which will be considerably different. This is heavily agricultural and farm equipment etc.
Joy Souders- sad to Tom and I - moved 3 years ago from Utah to be with family- just sad.
Matt Welch- asked about the fence the owner is putting up- is it a partition fence that requires shared cost?
Mr Young- worried about his pond. Zoning- how did you change zoning without notification. Also worried about people and animals getting hit. Goes in one ear and out the other…..
Kraus said the legal notification was done. If the county initiates a zoning map update it’s different than individual rezone.
END PUBLIC DISCUSSION
Lang- confused about the appeal - it meets the ordinance.
Daily- It is you checking our work.
Kraus- asked Seig about restrictive covenants.
Sieg- yes- there are 20 of those in the secondary plat - homes will be built on site- minimum of 2000 sq ft. west line fence along the Young property because of the pond, It will be at the developers expense- not Youngs.
Kraus- this fall under the new MS4 ordinance- looks at silt etc. Also post construction they check for pollution afterwards as well. It’s not perfected yet- we are trying to protect the public.
Lang- Thinks the runoff issues are likely to improve.
Lang motioned to affirm the tech review committee that it meets the ordinance. Lehman seconded. All ayes. Passed.
10 PM
Ken Gunkel- came for the Carr Road subdivision. He’s glad he stayed and learned things. It’s on July 28th. Asked them to talk to Matt re MS4 in their office. They attended OKI- they just went thru a comp plan. And Dearborn County is a member of Green Umbrella. They are going to do Comp plan training at the library. Might be good for people to attend.
ADMINISTRATIVE
Daily was asking about panhandles and sizes. Board clarified.
The rest of this agenda below was NOT done
Discuss Update to the Comprehensive Plan through 2025, workshops for public involvement, surveys, completed studies or plans to be included, separate Bright Overlay Zoning Districts, etc.
Discuss the First Comprehensive Plan Update Workshop outcome
Next Comprehensive Plan Update Workshop to be tentatively scheduled for July 24th, 2025 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Meeting adjourned at 10:15 PM
Christine Brauer Mueller
Lawrenceburg Township
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