Commission backs rezoning recommendation for Studio 22 relocation at 4600 N. Wheeling Ave.

The Delaware Muncie Metropolitan Plan Commission voted 7–0 to forward a favorable recommendation to the City Council for a rezoning request at 4600 North Wheeling Avenue, where applicant Brad Warner said he wants to move his Studio 22 personal-training business.

Warner told the commission he has operated Studio 22 since 2002 and plans a low-volume, by-appointment operation at the church property currently listed in the application. "We typically see 25 to 40 people a day," he said, adding most sessions involve a dozen people at once and that the existing parking lot has roughly 30 spaces.

The commission heard support for the proposal, including from Mayor Dan Ridenour, who said he had been a client and called the reuse a positive outcome for the building and neighborhood. Nearby resident Kenneth Huffman expressed concern that rezoning to a business classification could, in the future, allow higher-traffic uses such as a fast-food restaurant or gas station. "I don't want a lot of traffic in the neighborhood," Huffman said, noting he has lived in the area for 48 years.

Warner responded that his intention is to run the same small-scale fitness operation and to eventually sell the business as a comparable, community-serving use when he retires. "It would be silly for someone to do anything else with it," he said, arguing renovations and business investment would make conversion to a high-traffic use unlikely.

After board discussion, a commissioner moved and the commission recorded a roll-call vote of seven yeses to forward a favorable recommendation to the City Council. The commission advised the applicant that the City Council will make the final decision; the council is scheduled to hear the case June 1 at 6 p.m. in City Hall.

The commission's recommendation does not itself rezone the property; it is a nonbinding recommendation to the City Council, which holds the final authority.