County OKs lagoon at Tabor Mennonite
Tabor Mennonite Church was granted a conditional use permit for building a wastewater lagoon, at Thursday night's meeting of the Marion County Planning Commission/Board of Zoning Appeals.
Three variance requests were put on hold, continued until the board's 7:30 p.m. Aug. 28 meeting at the courthouse in Marion.
Rod Abrahams, speaking for the church, said the group wants to buy two acres on which to place the lagoon, adjacent to its property.
The church now is served by a septic tank, but an upgrade is needed. The tank is inadequate, Abrahams said. The church seeks a long-term solution to the problem, he added. "What we have now is pretty high-maintenance," he said.
The area is surrounded by farmland. The owner has agreed to sell the church the two acres, Abrahams said. They may want to put up a shed-type building, too, on the tract at some future time.
The commission approved the conditional-use permit for "up to seven acres." The church anticipates its total property in the vicinity will be about six acres after the purchase.
Commission Chairman Eileen Sieger said, "We like to encourage wastewater compliance, don't we?"
County planning/zoning Director David Brazil said the Marion County Commission will receive the planning board's recommendation on the church matter on Aug. 11, and on Aug. 18 is expected to pass a resolution approving it.
The application by Gordon and Judy Pendergraft for a variance on a front and a side setback for a structure was continued, as the couple was absent.
The application by Willis Peterson for a variance for front, side, and rear setbacks for an addition to a structure was continued to allow more time for study of the matter.
An application by Edith Graber for a variance for rear and side setbacks for a structure was continued. The legal/public notice about the request must be republished.
Brazil said the need to republish, he felt, was certainly not all the fault of the applicant. His office may bear part of the blame, he said, if blame is to be assigned.
There was some confusion between terms of "setback" and "variance," he said. Rewording and republishing should solve the problem.
All three variance requests are for residential properties at Marion County Lake. All are in Centre South Township.
Peterson is asking for a variance from a required front setback of 30 feet to one of 20 feet, side setbacks of three feet rather than 10 feet on the north and south sides, and a rear setback of five feet instead of 20 feet. Brazil recommends only going to 10 feet, not five, on the latter part of the request.
Peterson hopes to build a two-car garage on the back side of his property. He also plans to add on to the home, by building "over the top" of the house and garage.
He will likely need wheelchair access, too, in the future, he said.
Sieger noted that lot sizes are small at the lake. Peterson said, "We want it to be an asset to the community."
They hope to close in a porch after a slight expansion.
Dan Crumrine, chairman of the Marion County Improvement District, said that group certainly didn't want anything built over the grinder pump and the water meter. They are parts of the septic system, and each lakeside home has such a pump and meter, he said.
Peterson said he had no intention of building over those devices.
