Drainage board approves variance for Hoosier Racing Tire building addition inside Pidco Ditch maintenance easement

The Marshall County Drainage Board voted to approve a variance that allows Hoosier Racing Tire to construct a building addition and relocate a driveway within the 75-foot maintenance easement of the Pidco Ditch.

The variance covers a proposed addition on the south side of an existing building and associated driveway work; the closest point of the addition was described in board materials as about 58 feet from the ditch’s top of bank, inside the board’s 75-foot maintenance easement. "The drainage board has a maintenance easement of 75 feet from top of bank," Craig, Marshall County staff member, told the board during the presentation. "The closest that looks like he's going to be is 58 feet," he added when describing setback distances shown on site drawings.

Why it matters: placing structures or driveways inside a maintenance easement can affect future ditch maintenance and local liability. A county staff member told the board the approval will include language clarifying the county is not liable for damage to private property if maintenance work or contractors damage a structure placed inside the easement. "The county...we just put language in the in the approval of the variance that the county won't be liable...you'd be free to pursue any anything directly with the contractor," the staff member said.

During the discussion, Scott Johnson, associate project engineer at Hoosier Racing Tire, said the company wants the addition immediately adjacent to its R&D lab to support testing operations: "Basically, what it is is we're trying to buy a, it's a band saw...we're trying to put it on the south side here because our r and d lab is right on the opposite side of the wall right there." Johnson said the company has discussed parcel-line consolidation and is coordinating permitting and engineering with a consultant.

Board members discussed options to avoid encroaching on the easement, including rotating or shifting the proposed addition. Craig noted a possible redesign could place the structure entirely outside the easement: "if you just took it and flipped it...you would be totally out of the easement if you wanted to do that." The board also reiterated an internal guideline to avoid building less than roughly 50 feet from the top of bank when possible.

A board member moved to approve the variance as presented; another member seconded. The board carried the motion by voice vote. After the vote, the chair asked the applicant to keep staff informed of any changes to the plan.

The board’s approval authorizes the variance as presented at the meeting; details on permit conditions and any required recording of easement acknowledgments will be handled by county staff following the meeting.