By DAVE SCHULTZ
The members and professional staff of the Wells County Area Plan Commission tend to be generous as they deal with violations of county ordinances concerning junk and trash. As long as the property owners make progress on clearing up the citations, the public reviews at an APC meeting tend toward granting more time.
However, when there’s been no contact and no good-faith effort — as determined by the APC — to make progress toward cleaning up a given situation, the members of the commission tend to come down much harsher.
That was the case Thursday night when the APC held its monthly meeting with a slate of 11 violations on the agenda. Three of them are in danger of being referred to the APC’s legal counsel for a court filing while eight were given additional time to resolve the issues that led to the citations.
The 10 APC members present Thursday night agreed to send the citation of Timothy Knight, 5777 W. Oak Road, Markle, on to its legal counsel immediately. “We have never heard from the property owner,” said Mike Lautzenheiser, the APC’s executive director.
Lautzenheiser added that there were several things that must be addressed at the property. As listed in the citation letter, there are junk vehicles and a boat, building rubble, and other general debris on the property.
APC member Tim Rohr, noting the lack of communication, moved that the matter be forwarded for legal action. The decision gained unanimous support.
Two other property owners — neighbors in Liberty Center — face possible legal action as well. Properties owned by Anthony Kulb, 3038 S. Main St., and Zachary Cobb, 3024 S. Main St., have been cited for having a junkyard and an accumulation of junk on their neighboring properties, which are not allowed in an S-1 zoning classification.
Both properties were originally cited in June of 2022, 10 months ago. While some work has been done on the properties, it is not completed.
The APC members present — Harry Baumgartner Jr., Tyson Brooks, Chandler Gerber, Jarrod Hahn, Keira Lance, Jerome Markley, Rohr, John Schuhmacher, Becky Stone-Smith, and Melissa Woodworth (Bill Horan was absent) — voted to give Kulb and Cobb 30 days to address the violations. If an insufficient amount of work has been done and/or the two men do not provide updates to the APC office, the violations will be forwarded for legal action.
One-or two-month extensions were granted in the cases of Edward Berry and Jaclyn Knueven, 2706 S. Hoosier Highway; Nicole S. Shannon, 1026 S. Scott St. in Bluffton; Julie Duncan, 11520N-750E near Ossian, Matthew Heaton, 1599 SE Ind. 116 near Bluffton; Mark E. Miller, 6059 S. Ind. 1 near Bluffton; Douglas W. Ginger, 8151S-200E near Keystone; Daystar Development, 17815 S. Wayne St. in Zanesville; and Isaiah and Dalia Medina-Geels, 5822 S. Meridian Road, Poneto.
The only official item of new business, consideration of a zoning change for property at 1131 S. Morgan St. in Bluffton, was tabled at the petitioner’s request. It will be considered at the APC’s April meeting.
daves@news-banner.com
