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September 16, 2012

Cobblestone Crossings property reverts to ‘A-1 Agricultural’

Designation change means zoning hearings will be required before development

Arthur Foulkes The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — New zoning hearings will be required before Cobblestone Crossings, a south-side property development, can continue to grow or make improvements.

A county stop-work order that took effect at 6 a.m. Thursday says Cobblestone is effectively returned to its former zoning designation of “A-1 Agricultural” until new hearings take place.

Cobblestone officials were unavailable for comment Friday.

County officials hand delivered the stop-work order to Cobblestone Crossings on Wednesday afternoon.

The stop-work order stems from a member of the Area Plan Commission, Norm Froderman, allegedly participating in zoning-related votes concerning Cobblestone at times when he had a direct, or indirect, financial stake in the development.

Under those circumstances, Indiana case law stipulates that those votes should be “suspended until such time as a new [Area Plan Commission] hearing can be held,” according to the stop-work order.

Effectively, this casts doubt on all zoning changes at Cobblestone since the property was rezoned from an “A-1, Agricultural District” to a “Mixed Use Residential Planned Unit Development,” the stop-work order indicated.

How much of the approximately 100-acre Cobblestone Crossings development can now actually be considered “A-1 Agricultural” property is likely something a judge would have to decide, said Jeremy Weir, executive director of the Area Planning Department.

All completed development at Cobblestone Crossings, including existing apartments and other buildings, would be considered “legal, non-conforming” uses under Vigo County zoning law and permitted to remain, Weir said.

The stop-work order, which was signed by Weir, only applies to about seven apartment buildings currently under construction at Cobblestone Crossings. Those apartments are at the heart of a dispute with neighboring Woodgate residents, who believe the two-story structures are in violation of zoning rules.

In addition to halting work on the apartment buildings, which are in various stages of completion, county officials will refuse to issue any new building permits for other work at Cobblestone until the zoning questions are resolved, Weir said.

“We do not feel like we will be able to issue any new permits based on the information that we have now,” Weir said.

The stop-work order came two days after the Vigo County Commissioners directed the Area Planning Department to take the action. Their directive cited Indiana law and the county’s Unified Zoning Ordinance, which prohibit Area Plan Commission members from participating in a decision in which the member has a director or indirect financial interest.

Froderman, the Area Plan Commission member who admitted to having an ownership stake in Cobblestone at a Sept. 5 commission meeting, told the Tribune-Star last week he was uncertain he owned a share of Cobblestone at the time he took critical zoning votes. Reached Friday, Froderman said he did not wish to comment further at this time.

The stop-work order is “based on information that we were advised, for the first time at that [Sept. 5] open meeting, and that we have looked into by requesting documents from Mr. Froderman … and based upon the language of the ordinance,” said Joe Etling, attorney for the Area Plan Commission. “That’s what [Weir] has relied upon” in issuing the stop-work order, he said.

If anyone disagrees with the stop-work order, he or she can challenge it in court, Etling said.

“I’m assuming that if there’s somebody out there that would take issue with the stop-work order, … they obviously have the ability to exercise their legal rights as well,” he said.

When asked what county officials would do if Cobblestone Crossings ignores the stop-work order, Etling said Friday he does not expect that to happen based on information he has received.

“We’ve tried to communicate with [Cobblestone’s] counsel about that in advance, so that we don’t have that problem,” Etling said. “That’s first and foremost what we tried to address, so that we wouldn’t have any issues such as that.”

If construction would continue, however, the stop-work order would be enforced in court, Etling said.

While the order took effect early Thursday morning, it also allowed workers to take steps to protect their existing building sites from the effects of “normal weather conditions.”

County inspectors will monitor Cobblestone Crossings, which is on the east side of U.S. 41 South north of Ivy Tech Community College, to be certain the stop-work order is being observed, Weir said.



Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@

tribstar.com.

 

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