Plan commission recommends against vacating Dewart Lake access; residents say deeded lake rights at stake

The Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission on July (meeting) voted unanimously to recommend that the Kosciusko County commissioners deny a petition to vacate a 36‑foot platted right of way between Lots 6 and 7 in Metzler Subdivision on Dewart Lake.

The commission’s negative recommendation followed extended public comment by residents who said the platted way provides long‑standing lake access for off‑lake owners and the broader community. The commission’s packet and testimony show Lot 7 is held in joint ownership by eight owners with undivided interests for lake access; petitioners proposed dividing the vacated strip between Lots 6 and 7.

Plan director Matt Sandy introduced the case (vacation 2025‑5 for Ronald Twomney) and showed aerial and video of the shoreline and the unimproved platted road that runs to the water’s edge. Attorney Steve Snyder, representing the petitioners, told commissioners the platted way had never been opened and had been maintained by adjacent owners; he said the subdivision’s other lots already have private piers and that the vacation would put the area back on the tax rolls and allow owners to repair erosion. “The question becomes … whose rights are we eliminating? Well, we’re not eliminating anybody’s because everybody has a pier space or the right to a pier space who owns a lot in Metzler Subdivision,” Snyder said.

Many residents opposed the vacation during the public comment period. Fred Young, who said he owns three lots at the lake and has used the area for 48 years, said he and other property owners hold deeded access and would be harmed if the platted way were vacated. “To ask me and 48 other property owners down there to give up their deeded access to the lake … I believe is wrong,” Young said. Other nearby residents gave similar testimony about family use, children learning to swim, and the area’s value as the community’s unimproved lake access.

County staff and commissioners questioned potential drainage and emergency‑water drafting uses. The highway superintendent’s comments — included in the technical packet — noted platted lakeway areas can provide drainage outlets; commissioners discussed that if a vacation removed the right of way and later drainage were needed, the county would have to acquire an easement. Commissioners also discussed whether erosion and shore conditions would allow a fire truck to draft water safely; discussion noted many departments use floating pumps and that state law allows emergency apparatus on private property to fight fires.

After public comment closed, a commissioner moved to deny the vacation petition. The motion passed unanimously. The plan commission will forward an 8–0 negative recommendation to the Kosciusko County commissioners for their July 29 meeting at 9 a.m. The county commissioners will take final action.