The Vigo County Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance allowing conversion of two vacant lots at 1214 and 1220 Lafayette Avenue into an off-street parking lot that will serve renovated storefronts.

Property owner Mark Baker told the board the project aims to return three blighted parcels to productive use and create five small commercial units facing the new parking area. "We're renovating the adjacent property to make five smaller commercial spaces... and this will be the parking lot to service that property," Baker said.

Staff explained the parcels are in a downtown C-8 district with 0 lot lines, so the applicant requested removal of a landscaping buffer normally required for off-street parking. The Department of Engineering and staff engineers reviewed alternatives to routing traffic through a residential alley and worked with the applicant to ensure the plan would not create a public-safety issue. The proposal also includes new accessible parking stalls to address a lack of ADA-accessible parking in that area.

Board members discussed curb cuts and pedestrian access; Baker said the design will have two curb cuts (entrance and exit) and that they coordinated with city engineers to avoid safety problems. The board approved the variance and noted that the site plan must still be approved by the Department of Engineering before construction and striping proceed.

The approval allows Baker to proceed with detailed engineering, and the Department of Engineering will confirm required buffering, curb cuts, accessible stalls and site-surface requirements during the site-plan review.