Planning staff forwards 6-acre Van Buren Township rezone to Feb. 26 county meeting after unanimous planning commission recommendation

Planner/presenter Mister Myers described a request to rezone a 6-acre parcel at 7353 West Ellroy Road in Van Buren Township from Limited Business to Agricultural Residential 2.5. The request seeks to align zoning with an adjacent 14-acre parcel that the petitioner also owns.

Myers said the Planning Commission heard the petition in December and voted 8–0 to forward it with a positive recommendation and no conditions. He told commissioners the parcel is designated in the comprehensive plan as part of the county urbanizing area rural transition and that there are no known steep slopes, floodplain or karst features on the site. The commercial use formerly on the property, Sam Reece Trucking Inc., has dissolved, Myers said, and the petitioner seeks agricultural and eventual residential uses consistent with the surrounding land.

Highway and stormwater staff had no comments on the rezone petition, though Myers noted future permits may be required depending on development. Commissioners agreed to hear the request at the Feb. 26 business meeting for formal consideration.

"This is a rezone request going from limited business to agricultural residential," Myers said during the presentation. Planning staff emphasized the change would allow conversion of existing commercial structures to agricultural-use buildings and would require any new dwelling to meet the county development ordinance if pursued as a detached accessory dwelling unit or via a subdivision process.