Jerry Nix of MKM Architecture + Design in Fort Wayne presented plans for the property at 3090 Frontage Road to the Warsaw Metropolitan Board of Appeals on Monday. Photo by David Slone, Times Union.
Written by David Sloan
times union
WARSAW — Bowen Health plans to develop approximately 4 acres of land along Frontage Road into multifamily housing and office space.
On the evening of Monday, October 28, Bowen Health petitioned the Warsaw City District Appeal Board for the difference between the two uses of the building project.
The property is located between Valley Forge Apartments and More Farm Store.
The initial petition from Bowen Health was for a change of use to allow group housing in the Housing-2 zoning district, said Jackson Longenborg, Warsaw’s assistant city planner.
“This will be Bowen Health’s transitional housing facility. It will include three group homes with 12 residents and full-time staff. Nursing care will be provided as needed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be two residential complexes, each with five separate apartments…The whole purpose of this property and development is focused on specialized transitional living,” Longenborg said. .
He said the planning department’s opinion was that a change to allow multifamily housing on the parcel could be approved.
Jerry Nix of MKM Architecture + Design in Fort Wayne said the property under consideration is 4.14 acres at 3090 Frontage Road. The planned development will have three homes, each housing 12 transitional residents and staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Each household will be in a one-story residential building. Each building will be approximately 4,100 square feet. There are two apartment complexes with five one-bedroom units, each approximately 650 square feet in area.
“Bowen Health will provide assistance to the apartments from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and each home will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said. “The site development, which includes all six buildings in total, which we are proposing in a phased approach, will be dedicated to enabling residents to transition through the process.
The goal for all patients is to return to independent living. ”
He said the development by Bowen would increase the value of surrounding real estate. The site is 4.14 acres, but a significant portion of it is wetland, making it impractical to utilize the entire site. He said the development would not affect the city’s comprehensive plan.
Marcy Wicks, director of transitional living for Bowen Health, said there are already two group homes in Warsaw and one in Plymouth.
“Basically what we do is help people who are suffering,” she says. “…Our goal is to help them return to their communities. We serve many people from all walks of life. And at the end of the day, our main The goal is: How do we help them? What do they need? We’re a very individualized program because everyone has different needs.”
Wicks said the construction of the new group home will create a campus and allow people to transition through the continuum of care from group homes to apartments and into the community.
A current resident of Harbors Group Home in Warsaw spoke about himself and how Bowen Health has helped him.
With no opposition, the proposed change to allow group housing was approved unanimously.
A second petition from Bowen Health asked for a change of use to allow office space in a residential two-zone district at the same location. No office space is permitted in R-2. Longenbaugh said it is “kind of a one-stop-shop building” that can be used for a variety of purposes, including counseling, general staff and basic meeting space. Business hours will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and staff will likely vary from one to two people.
He said it was the planning department’s opinion that the change could be approved to allow office space, and the board approved it unanimously.
There were no protesters.
In other business, BZA approved:
• Bomy Singh’s petition for a change of use to allow residential use in the Commercial-2 zoning district at 1403 E. Winona Ave.;
Longenbaugh said the goal is to create living space above the restaurant in the existing building. It is planned to be used as a space for employees. The maximum number of residents is 4. It may also be possible to rent it in the future.
Singh said the existing space above the restaurant will have a separate entrance from the back of the restaurant. It is approximately 25 feet by 25 feet and is not in use.
“Very often we run into problems with workers. Because it’s a specialty food, we have to hire special people, and sometimes they come from out of state,” he said. .
Workers will ask about living space, at least when they first start working there. The living space above the restaurant will be where they live, at least temporarily.
Singh said the residence will have its own toilet facilities.
There were no protesters.
• A deviation from development standards to allow a 5-foot by 7-foot sign in the residential single-lot district at 3015 Hemlock Lane, as requested by Park Ridge South LLC.
Longenborg said new housing developments are allowed to have one monument sign at the entrance to the addition. The variance is required because the sign cannot exceed 16 square feet in area and 4 feet in height. The proposed sign is 5 feet by 7 feet and is nonconforming. Mr Longenbaugh said the petitioner had planned a proposal for external lighting, which was allowed.
“It is the opinion of the Planning Department that this variance for the 5-foot by 7-foot sign at 3015 Hemlock Lane should be approved,” he said.
Patrick Martin, vice president of construction for Granite Ridge Builders in Fort Wayne, said there was a discrepancy in the paperwork when the sign was ordered. When we received the sign, it was bigger than what we thought they had ordered.
• Ernie and Patricia Morrison request a special exception to allow a single-family home at 701 S. Buffalo St. in the Commercial-2 zoning district.
Longenbaugh said the property is considered a nonconforming use, but it has been there for a long time. “The variance is to preserve the use of the property no matter what happens to it,” he said. Owners receive the variance from lenders to sell the property to preserve its future use. They say they are being asked to pursue the matter.
Based on its findings of fact, it is the Planning Department’s opinion that this variance permits approval of a single-family home at 701 S. Buffalo St., he said.
Patricia Morrison said, “I sold my house a few months ago, but about a week before I was scheduled to close, the appraiser notified me that the property was zoned Commercial 2, which is not considered residential. It was sent to me,” he explained. In the end, the sale failed.
There were no protesters.
• Eric and Bobby Causins petition for a variance from development standards to allow a 6-foot, 4-inch side yard setback in the Residential-1 zoning district at 1015 Country Club Lane. Petitioner seeks to convert an existing deck into an addition to a home. Zoning ordinances require side yard setbacks to be maintained at 7 feet.
“They’re just barely eroding that setback,” Longenborg said.
In October 2018, this property was approved for a 5-foot setback in the side yard of the deck that is currently there.
