Planning commission backs rezoning at 8049 Rosedale Road for convenience store and gas station

The Vigo Area Planning Commission on motion recommended rezoning 8049 Rosedale Road from A-1 agricultural to C-1 neighborhood commercial to allow a proposed convenience store with a gas station and a restaurant with a drive-through, planning department staff said.

The recommendation is intended to permit commercial reuse of a site that formerly housed a community firehouse; staff offered a favorable recommendation with conditions including health-department approval and Vigo County engineering approvals. "We did based upon our findings offering favorable recommendation with the following conditions, health department approval, as well as Vigo County engineering approvals," planning department staff said during the meeting.

Why it matters: the site sits at the southeast corner of Rio Grande Avenue and Rosedale Road in a largely rural-residential area where commercial uses exist nearby. Commissioners and staff said the property will require multiple approvals before a building permit is issued, and neighbors said stormwater and traffic are the chief local concerns.

In discussion, staff told the commission that the parcel will require a commercial road-cut permit from the county highway department and that hard-surface parking, a stormwater and drainage plan, and public water will be required. Public sewer is not available, so "health department approval of the commercial septic system is needed," staff said.

A neighboring landowner, Leonard Stoltz, told the commission he did not object to commercial reuse but asked how new runoff would be kept off his field. "I'm wondering I have no no objection against them building buildings there, but I wanna know how you're gonna drain the water away from my field down there," Stoltz said. Commissioners and staff told Stoltz that county stormwater rules require retention of additional runoff from new hard surfaces and that a building permit should not be issued until those requirements are satisfied.

The commission voted to approve the rezoning recommendation. The motion passed; the meeting record did not show a detailed vote tally. Next steps for the applicant include securing health-department approval for on-site sewage, obtaining required commercial road-cut permits and any highway improvements, and receiving Vigo County engineering sign-off on stormwater and drainage plans.