Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Contested rezoning for single duplex approved after resident objections and petition
Loading...
Summary
Commissioners approved rezoning of a Wences Denny Street lot from R-1 to DPUD R-2 to allow a duplex after a public hearing that drew resident objections citing a 20-year settlement agreement and a petition; planning staff said the request is residential only and the city raised no objection.
The Elkhart County Board of Commissioners voted Jan. 20 to approve a rezoning request to change one lot on Wences Denny Street from R-1 to DPUD R-2 to allow construction of a duplex.
Danielle Richards of the Elkhart County Planning Department said the change is to permit a duplex (owner-occupy one unit, rent the other) and that setbacks would be maintained; the only requested variance involves lot size. "They will be held to the duplex in the site plan that was submitted," Richards said during staff presentation.
During the public hearing, Terry Lang of The Weideman Company, representing the petitioner, said the existing home was effectively a tear-down and described plans for two modest two-bedroom units and health-department approval for wells and septic systems. Lang told commissioners the traffic impact would be minimal — "maybe 3 vehicles twice a day coming and going."
Resident Darlene Underwood objected, saying a prior 20-year settlement agreement had restricted nonresidential uses in the neighborhood and provided a petition she said was signed by nearby property owners opposing the change. "If you put another business into the settlement agreement ... you're changing the settlement agreement," Underwood said, arguing renaming the lot or subdivision could conflict with the earlier deal.
Planning staff and the county plan director, May Hope, responded that the request is strictly residential and that during review the City of Elkhart did not contact county staff to raise settlement-agreement concerns. Hope said she had "no reason to believe that there is an issue with the settlement agreement." After closing the hearing, commissioners noted the owner will live in one unit and approved the rezoning and primary subdivision approval; the motion carried unanimously.
The board recorded no changes to the settlement agreement at the meeting; staff recommended affected parties confirm any external agreements separately with municipal authorities.
