Area Plan Commission forwards three rezoning recommendations to county commissioners

The Area Plan Commission of Evansville and Vanderburgh County on Thursday recommended that county commissioners approve three rezoning petitions affecting properties on Birch Park Drive and North Saint Joseph Avenue.

The commission approved a staff recommendation to downzone 7925 Birch Park Drive from M-2 (general industrial) to M-1 so the existing building can be used as a professional office; the chair announced the vote as 10 yes, 0 no, sending a recommendation for approval to the county commissioners.

Staff described the Birch Park Drive parcel’s zoning history and said the 2035 future land use map recommends commercial use for the site. Petitioner John Colbert identified himself for the record and had no substantive additions to the staff report.

The commission also considered two related petitions on North Saint Joseph Avenue filed by McCullough Capital LLC and represented by Layman and Son Consulting. For 4220 North Saint Joseph Avenue (REZ-2024-032), the applicant seeks rezoning from AG and C-4 to C-4 with a use-and-development commitment limiting permitted uses to a contractor shop, offices and indoor/outdoor commercial storage. Planning staff noted prior complaints about unpermitted outdoor storage at the site and warned that if the site were used solely for outdoor storage it could require industrial (M-2) zoning rather than C-4. The petition passed the commission’s roll call 9 yes, 0 no, 1 abstention and will be forwarded with a recommendation for approval.

Matt Layman, representing the applicant, said the owner bought the property in January 2024 and intends primarily to lease outdoor storage spaces to tenants such as excavation contractors and firms that refurbish dumpsters. "So, primarily... areas outdoors where different tenants can lease space for them to store things outdoors," Layman said, explaining the proposed use and noting an updated site plan had been submitted for site review.

Commissioners and staff pressed the applicant on buffers and tree removal. Layman said the owner does not intend to clear the wooded buffer and described a plan that would use a two-foot berm topped by a six- to eight-foot opaque fence along the residential property line; he said final details would be worked out during site review. The commission also discussed the presence of a floodway and floodplain on the rear parcel in REZ-2024-033 and noted potential constraints from resource agencies.

For 4400 North Saint Joseph Avenue (REZ-2024-033), staff said the rear area contains a floodway and is heavily wooded — the primary difference from the previous petition — and the commission again voted 9 yes, 0 no, 1 abstention to forward a recommendation for county approval. In each case the commission’s action was to recommend approval; final determinations rest with the county commissioners.

The commission approved the September memorandum earlier in the meeting and set its next regular meeting for Nov. 7, 2024, at 3 p.m. in Room 301 of the Civic Center Complex. The county hearings for the rezonings were noted as scheduled for Oct. 29, 2024, at 9:30 a.m.

The meeting adjourned following routine business.