Board of Adjustments approves variance and conditional use for hunting camp By KAREN KENNEDY The Meade County Board of Adjustments held a special-called meeting on May 8. Present were board chairman Jess Mills, board members Louis Crawford and Joe Hobbs, and zoning administrator Barbara Campbell. Michele LePou applied for a variance for her property located at 50 Parkway Circle in Ekron. The property is 1.401 acres and is zoned R-1 residential. LePou requested a variance to allow an outbuilding to be located 50 feet past the front wall of the home. LePou is in need of the variance due to the location of the septic tank, lateral lines, and upward slope of the property in the back. The outbuilding will be located in the right side yard of the home. Joe Hobbs made a motion to grant the variance to LePou. The motion was seconded by Louis Crawford and passed unanimously. Adam Lancaster asked for a variance for his property located at 3155 Flaherty Road in Ekron. This property is zoned R-1 residential and consists of .418 acres. Lancaster runs a lawn care service and would like to store his equipment in an outbuilding; however, the existing building on the property is too small. He asked that the outbuilding be allowed to encroach on the left side yard setback, with the building located one foot from the property line to the left of the property. The neighbors next door have indicated they have no problem with what Lancaster is proposing to do. Joe Hobbs made a motion to grant the variance to Lancaster. The motion was seconded by Louis Crawford and passed unanimously. Next on the agenda was a conditional use permit application submitted by Allen Hicks. Hicks plans to operate a hunting camp on land located off Big Bend Road in Battletown (Lapland). He has leased two properties for hunting purposes. The first property is owned by Kimball International out of Jasper, Ind. This property consists of 2,600 acres. The second property, which consists of 194 acres, is the Nick Holcroft Farm. On this property Hicks plans to erect a building to serve as the hunting camp. Hicks also owns 300 acres on Owen Road, and this land will also be used for hunting. All the land in question is zoned A-2. On his application, Hicks stated the camp will be in operation approximately 12 days a year, and there will be approximately six hunters per day. There will be a main building (40’ x 60’) for the hunters to eat in, relax, and stay in overnight. Hicks was informed by the board that a building permit must be obtained for the camp building. Several area property owners were present to ask Hicks a variety of questions about his intentions. One concern was that the hunting boundaries be clearly marked, and Hicks assured everyone that they would be. He also noted that the hunting would occur at the bottom of the property whereas the property belonging to the adjacent property owner is located on much higher ground. By the end of the meeting, all neighboring property owners were satisfied with the answers Hicks provided to their questions and voiced no objections to such a camp. The Board of Adjustments lined out several conditions that Hicks must meet in order to obtain board approval. The permit will be valid for a six-month period, and all conditional use permits are reviewed annually. If any applicant is found to be in violation of the conditions set forth, the permit is subject to revocation. Louis Crawford made a motion to approve the conditional use permit. Joe Hobbs seconded the motion with all voting in favor. Click Here to Go Back
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