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Board denies immediate expansion for excavation/recycling site, cites airport and drainage concerns
Summary
The board denied key expansion requests by a SiteWorks excavation/recycling proposal after staff and an airport official raised unresolved sewage, INDOT access, dust control, drainage and FAA-protective-airspace issues; the board allowed a related petition to proceed with conditions while requiring fixes before further expansion.
Kosciusko County commissioners and planning board members refused to permit immediate expansion for a proposed excavation and recycling operation, citing outstanding technical permits, airport and FAA overlay concerns, and unresolved drainage and sewer issues.
Staff presented three related petitions from Site Works covering an expansion into adjacent property, a variance to allow two uses on one property and a petition to expand outside storage to roughly 153,430 square feet. The board reviewed prior continuances and an extensive packet of exhibits including state and INDOT correspondence.
The petitioner described steps under way: proposals to tie sewer service into Leesburg’s force main, removing a northern entrance per INDOT direction, preparing a traffic-warrant analysis, material cleanup and relocation, using water trucks or converted detention to control dust, and working with the county surveyor on drainage regrading. The airport operator (identified in the record as Nick King) submitted a letter urging the board to avoid permanent pools (to prevent waterfowl hazards), to control dust that could affect aircraft operations and to limit stockpile heights within FAA airspace protections.
Board members said the combination of unresolved sewer access, INDOT access approvals, the airport overlay/FAA concerns and outstanding drainage engineering made immediate approval inappropriate. The board moved to deny the primary expansion petitions (Exception 2026-44 and Variance 2026-77) but allowed one related petition (Variance 2026-78 addressing outside storage) to proceed with conditions and with clear requirements that the petitioner obtain INDOT approvals, establish sewer connections and demonstrate drainage plans acceptable to the county surveyor and FAA concerns before any further enlargement.
The board emphasized that any approval would require the petitioner to return with final permits and engineering and that the airport/FAA conditions (stormwater design to avoid persistent standing water and limits on stockpile heights) must be addressed in the final design. The transcript records motion, second and votes; it does not supply a roll-call tally within the hearing text.
