St. Joseph County planning panel unanimously backs rezoning of 78-acre Early Road parcel

The St. Joseph County Area Plan Commission voted 7-0 on March 17 to recommend that the county council rezone roughly 78 acres on the south side of Early Road (APC-3082-26) from an agricultural district to a single-family residential district.

Sean Klein, director of the Area Plan Commission, told commissioners the parcel is “predominantly farmed” with some wooded areas and a 0.56-acre wetland and is shown as transitional on the county’s future land-use map. Klein said staff applied the five state-law rezoning criteria and concluded the requested change is consistent with the comprehensive plan; he recommended the petition be forwarded to the county council with a favorable recommendation.

The petition is owned by Allen Lake (parcel owner name read in the petition) and is currently farmed under lease. Attorney Matt Schram, representing the petitioner, said the owner’s primary objective is to market the property for residential sale rather than commercial use. “Our ask is just to rezone this from agricultural to single-family residential,” Schram said, adding that the request is not tied to any specific developer or site plan.

Commissioners asked several technical and planning questions before the vote. A commissioner who said they represent the school districts asked for an estimate of how many homes the parcel might yield so the district could plan for enrollment impacts. Klein and others said lot yield depends on whether new development ties into municipal sewer and water or relies on septic systems; under current septic/well conditions, half-acre lots are typical, whereas connection to sewer could allow smaller lots and higher density. Klein noted that the subdivision review process would be the point for detailed platting and for the school corporation to comment.

The commission heard no public testimony in favor of or against the petition at the public-comment period. After discussion, a motion to send APC-3082-26 to the St. Joseph County Council with a favorable recommendation carried on a roll-call vote of 7-0. The clerk recorded votes of Mister England — yes; Mister Tavenir — yes; Doctor Lauck — yes; Miss Hannan — yes; Mister Mattsett — yes; Mister Winchell — yes; mister Devine — yes.

The next step for the petition is consideration by the St. Joseph County Council. Staff also noted that sewer and water are not currently available at the site (closest service is about a half-mile north in New Carlisle and roughly a quarter-mile east in the IEC Core Development Area), and any future subdivision will require engineering review of lot sizes, stormwater, and individual soil borings for septic systems where those are used.