St. Joseph County APC backs UFP rezoning, approves 10 of 11 variances and denies asphalt-millings exception

The St. Joseph County Area Plan Commission voted Dec. 17 to recommend that the County Council rezone multiple parcels owned or used by UFP Real Estate LLC from R single‑family and OB office buffer to I Industrial and approved most related variances, while denying a variance that would have allowed asphalt millings in lieu of a hard parking surface.

Sean Klein, Area Plan Commission staff, told commissioners the parcels at and near 50415 Herbert Street and several Alice Street addresses are used for employee parking by United Forest Products and are surrounded by long‑established industrial and commercial uses. "Staff is recommending that this be sent to the county council with a favorable recommendation," Klein said, summarizing staff’s view that the rezoning aligns with the county comprehensive plan’s economic‑development goals.

Klein read the petition (APC 3056‑24) and listed 11 requested variances, including multiple front‑ and rear‑setback reductions, a reduced drive‑aisle width, exemptions from parking‑area surfacing and striping requirements, no bicycle parking, and waivers for front‑yard landscaping and screening. Klein told the commission staff supported the rezoning and most variances but did not find justification for variance 6, the request to allow a parking lot constructed of asphalt millings rather than a hard surface.

Whitney Pazala, the project civil engineer with AR Engineering representing UFP, said the petitioner agreed with the staff report, described the millings as a "fairly good dust free material," and asked the commission to consider the existing surface and planned vegetation and privacy fencing along the southern property line. "We will reevaluate the storm calcs for the county engineer to require that calculation," Pazala said, adding that the parcels are intended to remain as employee parking and that no near‑term industrial expansion of the sites is planned.

UFP representative Adam Van Eps said there are currently no plans to develop the parcels further and that one parcel serves as a runoff retention area. Commissioners asked whether nearby houses were owner‑occupied or rentals; staff reported ownership records indicate the homes appear owner‑occupied.

Commissioner DJ Tavernier moved to send APC 3056‑24 to the County Council with a favorable recommendation; Doctor Lauck seconded. The roll call was unanimous and the motion carried. Tavernier then moved, with Robert Krasinski seconding, to approve variances 1–5 and 7–11 and to deny variance 6; the commission voted to approve that motion.

Action details: the commission forwarded the rezoning petition to the St. Joseph County Council with a favorable recommendation and approved ten of the eleven variances requested in APC 3056‑24; variance 6 (allowing asphalt millings instead of a hard surface) was denied. The commission noted that the county engineer had advised that runoff calculations for millings would not differ from asphalt and staff found no practical difficulty to justify the surfacing waiver.

The commission will send its recommendation to the St. Joseph County Council; no final rezoning decision was made by the APC itself.