Lake of the Woods issue on hold

Sat, May 17 2008

— The Batesville Area Plan Commission faced two stumbling blocks at its March 6 meeting.
A plat of Lake of the Woods Phase 2 submitted years ago stated the two lots near the lake just before the entrance sign to the neighborhood were not to be developed.
Developer Doug Straber petitioned to vacate that language.
President David Raver explained to about a dozen attendees, “If that were to be approved, we would hear a petition to subdivide the property.”
“We've never gone through this process (vacating language on a plat) before that any of us can remember .... We are following Indiana Code on how to do that. It requires three factors that we have to vote on. If it fails on any of the three, the petition to vacate would be denied.”
The second challenge was commission attendance. Usually all members are present, but at this meeting four were (Raver, Chris Fairchild, Ham Struewing and Tim Macyauski) and two were not (Mayor Rick Fledderman and Bob Fitzpatrick). Member Doug Amberger was there, but had to abstain from voting because he was previously consulted by Straber.
The president reported that by law, the petition’s passage requires four positive votes (a majority of seven members) on each factor regardless of how many were in attendance. In other words, “3-2 would not be approval.”
Attorney Mark Jones, representing Straber, said, “From our prospective, with six potential voters, I'm better off with having as many here as possible ... I would be perfectly willing to put this off until next month.”
Neighbors still had a chance to sound off about the petition. Bill Wilson, 236 Lakeshore Drive, asked about the three factors.
According to Raver, at least four members must agree with each of these statements:
• Conditions in the platted area have changed to defeat the original purpose of the plat.
• It is in the public’s interest to vacate all or part of the plat.
• The value of that part of the land in the plat not owned by the petitioner (all lots in Phase 2) will not be diminished by changing that language.
Daryl Teed, 180 Lakeshore Drive, said, “Clearly, one of the biggest concerns out there right now: Nothing has been done about a road being built out to (State Road) 46 (from the western end of EGS Boulevard). Traffic is getting crazy there.”
Teed also was concerned that if houses are built on the two lots near the lake and visitors parked on the street, the sharp turn there could impede traffic. “It's a problem getting up and down that hill with anything parked (on EGS Boulevard) in that area.”
According to Raver, “That provision about cutting the road was directly tied to additional development ... in phases 6 and 8.”
A man who lived next to the two lots, but did not wish to be identified, noted, “The view of the lake is more impressive than most stone edifices. Block this view with a large house on a cramped lot and the subdivision loses its charm and becomes just another place to live.”
Originally, Phase 2 included 21 lots on Lakeshore Drive and Hickory Lane, but later Phase 3 encompassed the eight Hickory Lane lots, leaving 13 lots in Phase 2, according to Jones and engineer Ted Cooley.
James Moffitt, 86 EGS Boulevard, maintained, “Phase 1 (where he lives near the entrance) is more affected than phase 2,” being closer to the lots in question. He wondered if BAPC would consider comments from all concerned neighbors, not just those in Phase 2 notified of the public hearing.
“As a member of the public, you have a right to speak,” the president said. Yet according to the Indiana Code technicality, when removing language from a legal plat, “only the people in the phase are entitled to be considered.”
Jerry Rose, 70 EGS Boulevard, noting there was a quorum of BAPC members, pressed for the hearing and vote to take place.
Raver answered, “Our citizens deserve better than having four out of seven here.” He promised, “It will be heard at the April (3) meeting. We will make every effort to have a full board here.”
Debbie Blank can be contacted at 812-934-4343, Ext. 113; or debbie.blank@ batesvilleheraldtribune.com. To comment on stories, visit batesvilleheraldtribune.com.