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Commissioners approve vacating parts of utility easement and shortening setbacks for Legacy Point lot
Summary
After debate about precedent, the Dubois County Board of Commissioners voted to vacate portions of public utility and drainage easements and to grant two setback variances for a single lot in Legacy Point, resolving encroachments created when a homeowner sited a house and family lake on the new parcel.
The Dubois County Board of Commissioners voted March 2 to vacate portions of public utility and drainage easements along Lot 1 of Legacy Point and to approve two setback variances for the property owner.
At a hearing, Ethan Hotham of TriMark Surveying said the house and a newly constructed family lake encroached on the recorded 20‑foot public utility and drainage easement (PU/DE) and on the required setbacks. He asked the board to vacate the 20‑foot PU/DE along the north lot line (to 0 feet), remove 6 feet of the 20‑foot PU/DE on the west line (leaving 14 feet), reduce the rear‑yard setback from 20 feet to 14 feet, and reduce the north side yard setback from 10 feet to 9 feet to accommodate a porch.
Applicant Brian Mehoff apologized to the board for the mix‑up and said the parcel and adjacent land are family owned. "I apologize again for the mix up there," Mehoff said, adding the owners intend to preserve utility access on other sides of the lot.
Commissioners questioned whether approving the requests would set a precedent for other subdivisions, noting the original subdivision review approved the lot while it was vacant. "We gotta be careful though too that this doesn't set a precedent," one commissioner said. County engineer Levi Leffert and staff emphasized that, because this is a single‑lot subdivision and the petition leaves 20‑foot easements on the east and south sides, utilities and future access remain feasible.
After discussion, the board voted by voice to approve the easement reductions and then separately approved the setback variances; no remonstrators appeared at the hearing. The board directed staff to prepare signed documents and to include language that utility repairs in vacated areas would be at the landowner’s expense if future access or work disturbed improvements.
The approvals were limited to the specific lot and configuration presented; commissioners said they expected staff to enforce conditions and to require appropriate dedications if the larger parcel to the north is subdivided in the future.
What happens next: County staff will record the easement vacation and variance approvals per standard recording procedures and circulate final signed documents to the petitioner.
