Warsaw BZA Denies Use Variance For Apartment Complex
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
The developer for an apartment complex will have to find another location if they want to build more housing in Warsaw after the Board of Zoning Appeals Tuesday night denied their petitioner.
Real America Development petitioned for a use variance for a multi-family residence in an Industrial-2 zoning district. The property is on the south side of CR 200N within the Airport Industrial Park.
Warsaw Senior Planner Justin Taylor told the BZA that the proposed development would have two phases consisting of affordable apartments in Phase 1 and market-rate apartments in Phase 2. The petitioner selected this site because of its proximity to shopping centers, schools and the YMCA, Taylor said.
The proposed site is flanked by Robinson Construction to the west, vacant industrial land to the east, wetlands to the south and to the north is Lakeland Technology
Taylor said it is the recommendation of the planning department that the board deny this request. The airport industrial park was annexed with the intention of providing space for light industrial and medical device manufacturing. Although there is a high demand for housing in the city, the Planning Department believes that the northern or southern residential TIF districts are much more conducive environments for residential development. The Planning Department can work with the developer to find a more appropriate location that does not conflict with the comprehensive plan, he said.
Taylor said they received one email on the petition from Robinson Construction, who was not in favor of it.
Jeff Ryan, vice president of development for Real America, said the company understood the housing need in Warsaw. He said Real America has had the Heron Apartments in Warsaw for 15 years now with high occupancy. The company sees the need for affordable and market-rate housing. Ryan said they’ve been looking to expand for a while now, but have had a hard time finding a site that meets its needs.
He said what Real America loves about this site is once Mariners Drive is extended, it will be a good walk for residents with easy access to variety of services.
With affordable housing, the state has strict criteria, Ryan said. The state has a scoring program to determine who they allocate tax credits to. To get points, he said Real America has to put housing within 1 mile of five retailers, including at least one grocery store. It needs to be within a mile of higher education, a fitness track and other criteria.
He said they looked at the city’s north and south TIF districts, but nowhere meets the state’s criteria. They aren’t close enough to a grocery store. “There’s not much on the market in those areas,” he said.
“We very much want to expand. We think we’ve been good neighbors of the Warsaw community,” Ryan said.
BZA President Tom Allen asked how many apartments would be built. Ryan said 120, evenly split between affordable and market rate. He said they were looking at a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments to hit a mix of the population.
Allen said there was a great deal of expense for the city in annexing that area. Taylor said within the Airport Industrial Park, the apartments were not within the vision of that area. Allen said the land was for industrial growth.
There were no other remonstrators.
City attorney Scott Reust said for the petitioner to be approved for a use variance, they would have to prove it would not be injurious to community, use of the area of the property would not be affected in an adverse area, the need for the variance arises from something peculiar, that strict adherence to code would cause unnecessary hardship and it would fit the comprehensive plan. He said the petitioner would have to show all five points or the board may not approve the variance. Various board members pointed out how the petition would not fit at least one of the five points.
Board Vice President Rick Keeven said he was disappointed Robinson didn’t explain why they were against it, and secondly he has a bad feeling about residences and airports in the same area. “I’m just not comfortable with it,” he said.
Dan Smith said it doesn’t fit with an industrial profile in the whole thing.
Jeff Johnson made a motion to decline it. “I just don’t see that this is going to work in any way,” he said. His motion to deny was approved unanimously.
Allen told Ryan he hoped he could find a good piece of property that wasn’t in an industrial area.
Another petition before the board was from the city of Warsaw, which petitioned for a variance from development standards to allow a zero-foot front and side yard setback instead of the permitted 20-foot setback within a Residential-3 zoning district at 123 E. Fort Wayne St.
The Parks Department is hoping to construct a new maintenance garage on the northwest corner of Fort Wayne and Indiana Streets. Taylor said the American Legion and several other structures along this stretch of Fort Wayne street have zero-foot front setbacks “so this deviation in development standards will not have a negative impact on the character of the neighborhood. The proposed maintenance garage does not encroach on any easements, or create any visibility issues for the intersection,” Taylor said.
He said it was the opinion of the planning department that the approval this variance would not have a detrimental impact on the adjacent properties or the public right-of-way. Nor would approval drastically change the character of this neighborhood. “We recommend that the board approve this variance request,” Taylor said.
“That’s going to be a nice facility,” board member Dan Smith said of the planned Parks building.
Taylor said it will be a really nice building. Modern, but it won’t contrast with the area and will have a “neighborhood” feel, Taylor said. He said it will be an upgrade to what the Parks has now for a maintenance building.
There were no remonstrators, and the board approved the petition unanimously.
