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BZA approves multiple variances for Cass County EMS remodel at 517 High Street with condition that living space be limited to employees
Summary
The board approved a package of variances allowing Cass County EMS to remodel its downtown station at 517 High Street — including limited first-floor living quarters, reduced fenestration and landscaping variances, and a slightly oversized monument sign — adding a recorded commitment that any living space be used only by EMS employees.
The Logansport Board of Zoning Appeals approved design and multiple variances Wednesday for a planned remodel of the Cass County EMS facility at 517 High Street, granting exceptions for first-floor living, fenestration (window) standards, parking and landscaping buffers, curb-cut dimensions and a monument sign size. The board recorded a commitment that any first-floor living space be restricted to EMS employees.
Planning staff explained that the county-owned building — formerly the senior center — will be remodeled to include bedrooms, offices, recreation areas and equipment bays for ambulances. Because the property sits in the downtown overlay, staff said the project asks multiple variances: to allow residential uses on the first floor where the downtown rules normally require deeper nonresidential frontage, to accept fewer street-facing transparent windows than the 30% minimum in some facades, to allow parking and curb conditions that don’t fully meet the downtown perimeter landscaping and setback standards, and to permit an internally lit monument sign measuring 28 square feet (staff recorded that the downtown maximum is 25 sq ft).
On the fenestration requirement, the planning official described the downtown standard as a pedestrian-oriented rule and said, "Because it's downtown and so it's pedestrian friendly... It's a sense of safety and visual as you're walking." Board members and staff discussed that the EMS building is not a typical storefront and that some compromises are expected for the emergency-service function. Staff also noted parking calculations: with six employees on the largest shift, the building needs 12 spaces under the code; the property currently provides 36 spaces and staff said a landscape buffer variance will be necessary in places.
A member of the public, Susette Burkstead, asked whether signs would face Sixth Street; staff confirmed an on-site monument sign of 28 sq ft and said there would not be an additional sign on Sixth Street. The board also discussed screening of mechanical equipment and the materials for the dumpster enclosure.
Because several numeric items (notably exact window square footage) required verification, staff and the applicant agreed the board would approve the design as presented and staff would calculate the specific fenestration percentage for the official minutes; the board recorded that approval and the commitment restricting living space to EMS employees. The zoning administrator will send a written letter with the results; any appeal must be filed to the circuit court within 30 days.
