Council approves rezoning for UFP parking and retention areas in Granger

The St. Joseph County Council on Feb. 14 unanimously passed bill 128-24 to rezone four parcels in Granger, bringing zoning into alignment with current use as parking and retention areas for Universal Forest Products (UFP).

Area planning director Abby Wiles told the council the rezoning would change parcels at 50415 Herbert Street and three Alice Street addresses from single-family residence and office buffer districts to industrial. Wiles said the change “brings the current zoning in compliance with the current use, which is parking and retention for UFP,” and that the area plan commission recommended approval with no remonstrators.

During the public hearing, resident Robert Bennett asked whether the rezoning’s likely use for “heavy parking lots” would include protections against vehicle-related toxic runoff. The petitioner’s representative, Tom Carpenter of AR Engineering, said the site must still go through the site-plan process and that stormwater management and pretreatment are addressed at that stage: “That site plan process will include stormwater management… runoff is collected in appropriate detention areas. It is pretreated before released from the site.”

The council voted to pass the ordinance 9-0. Council members raised no amendments; the rezoning now moves to any remaining administrative steps required for site-plan approval and permitting.

The rezoned parcels and any development will be subject to site-plan review requirements, including stormwater detention and pretreatment measures described by the petitioner’s engineer.