Martinsville Plan Commission formally accepts comprehensive plan
MARTINSVILLE — The Martinsville Plan Commission approved a motion to send the city's comprehensive plan to the city council with a favorable recommendation.
Cory Whitesell, a project manager at HWC Engineering, attended Tuesday's meeting to answer any remaining questions the commission had about the draft plan. Whitesell provided the commission with an overview of the comprehensive plan and its priorities when the commission met last month. Whitesell is leading the project team that is responsible for putting the plan together.
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The city is in the process of applying an administrative update to its comprehensive plan to reflect the final-built conditions of I-69 as the interstate corridor nears completion in Morgan, Johnson and Marion counties. The plan was last revised in 2017.
Now that the plan commission has approved the plan, the city council will hold a vote on whether or not to adopt it on Monday, Oct. 10.
Other business
The commission approved a motion to vacate two properties, the south half of lot six at Valley View Subdivision and lot two of Burton Place, and replat them to create two new lots. The properties will be turned into a new two-lot subdivision titled ESL Minor Plat. Ross Drapalik of Drapalik Surveying & Engineering presented the request to the commission.
The commission also approved a request to vacate lot four and a portion of lot five at block nine of Cunningham's First Addition and alleys located between the lots. These areas are to be replat into lot one of Harmon's First Minor Plat. This request was made to build a single-family residence in its place. The two lots must be replat into one lot to meet setback requirements. Mike Ksenak, an attorney at the Ksenak law firm, presented the request.
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Lastly, the commission took steps to finalize its 2023 meeting calendar. Members agreed to continue meeting on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m.
The next meeting of the Martinsville Plan Commission is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in council chambers at Martinsville City Hall, 59 S. Jefferson st.
BZA meeting
The Board of Zoning and Appeals approved a Development Standards Variance request submitted by the Morgan County Board of Commissioners.
The request centers on a home located at 290 West Columbus St.
Susan Oliver, the property owner, has agreed to sell the parcel to the county.
Before Tuesday's meeting, the final sale was contingent on the variance request's approval.
Morgan County Commissioner Bryan Collier explained the reasons behind the request.
"Through negotiations, we bought six of the seven homes in a square block. The last home held out and we did not want to do eminent domain," Collier said. "Through negotiations, she was willing to allow us to move her home one block to the location that we're requesting and it was at that time that we found out that we need some variances due to the size of the lot."
The board passed three separate motions, permitting the front lot setback of the property to be reduced from 30 to 16 feet, the side lot setback from six to five feet and the rear lot setback from 30 to 22 feet.
Collier thanked the board for its backing, saying the move is integral to the ongoing development of the new parking lot that is being constructed west of the county's administration building in Martinsville.
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"It is critical that we get this through to complete the parking lot as we are getting ready this next spring to break ground on a brand new judicial center to update our court system here in Morgan County," Collier said. "The neat thing about the lot that we're asking you to go to is that it is actually bigger than the existing lot that this home sits on now."
The Board of Zoning and Appeals decided to continue meeting on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m. as it discussed the 2023 calendar.
The next meeting of the Martinsville Board of Zoning Appeals is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25, in council chambers at Martinsville City Hall.
This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Martinsville Plan Commission formally accepts comprehensive plan
