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By a vote of 3 to 1, a petition tabled from October’s Warsaw Board of Zoning Appeals meeting was approved Monday.
Jack Owens petitioned the board on behalf of Harvey Hayes, owner of H&L Motors and Decorative Beginnings, for a variance from development standards to allow a gravel lot in a Commercial-2 zoning district at 985 N. Lake St.
The petition went before the board during its October meeting, but member Duane Huffer motioned to table the petition until Monday, saying he didn’t think “we’re going to get the votes tonight,” as there were only three of the five board members at the meeting and a vote would have to be unanimous.
Owens said Monday Hayes wanted to use Duraberm, a process gravel, for the parking lot, which will be used for storage and not for customers. There will be a 20-foot concrete approach to the lot so the gravel doesn’t get out into the road.
Huffer asked if there was any physical characteristic of the land that would not hold concrete or cement. Owens said they could always put blacktop or concrete, noting if H&L Motors and Decorative Beginnings ended up building in the future, they would possibly put in a surface like that.
As for cost, Owens said he thought he has H&L Motors and Decorative Beginnings at $10,000 for putting in Duraberm, as compared to possibly over $100,000 for asphalt or concrete. He said Duraberm is a good material.
Huffer said the city wants to have hard surfaces for its parking lots and asked where the board drew the line in granting similar petitions.
Assistant Planner Leah Parker said the city recommended the petition be granted because petitions to have gravel and Duraberm lots have been granted in the past. To be consistent, it was recommended the board approve the petition. However, Parker said the decision was up to the board’s discretion.
Board member Rick Keeven said the board has also denied similar petitions and asked where the lines were in where the board should or should not approve the petition. Parker said with the business being nonresidential and being more of a business/auto lot, there isn’t as much weight on the aesthetics of the lot. Reust said by case law, nothing that occurs at a Board of Zoning Appeals meeting sets a precedent for anything as every petition the board hears is independent of every other petition they hear.
He said the most fair way to draw the line was for board members to debate each other and the petitioner of where the line should be drawn and he didn’t think a line would ever be drawn. Instead, he thought the board would decide if the petition would meet the statutory requirements and “it’s got to be more than the economic hardships.”
At October’s meeting, Hayes said the cost of putting concrete or asphalt down was one of the reasons of he wanted to put Duraberm down instead.
Monday, Keeven said another consideration is the board likes to see the properties brought before the board get better. In this case, from his understanding, it was either to use Duraberm or nothing because of the cost.
Board President Tammy Dalton said she thought using Duraberm would be better for the property in this particular instance.
Board member Zach Tucker asked if it was just aesthetics the board is talking about at the end of the day because the Duraberm sounds like a better option at this point.
Huffer said the board should follow statutes set in place and the statute requires asphalt and concrete.
The board voted 3-1 for the petition. Huffer voted against it with Dalton, Keeven and Tucker voting for the petition.
In other business, the board approved:
• A petition from Nathan Underneath to allow a tattoo parlor in a C-4 zoning district as Underneath plans to relocate his business from 112 E. Center St. to 119 W. Center St., suite B.
• A petition from Laurie Johnson to allow a gravel driveway in a Residential-2 zoning district as long as there’s a 5-foot concrete apron for the driveway.
• A petition from Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc. to allow a utility substation in an Industrial-2 zoning district.
There were no remonstrators to any of the petitions.
• The board’s 2026 meeting schedule. The board will meet on the fourth Monday of every month, with the exception of May, where they will meet May 26.
