A Brownstown-based business cleared the last hurdle to move to Seymour, and a woman received final approval to begin grooming dogs behind her home.
After receiving favorable recommendations from the Seymour Plan Commission on Aug. 12, S and S Diesel Motorsport and Trinity Wischmeier were granted approval from the Seymour Board of Zoning Appeals on Aug. 24 to move forward with their respective business plans.
Both votes were 3-0 with BZA members Jason Kleber and Jim Myers absent.
Also during that meeting, the BZA approved variances for the construction of a shed and changing the lot size, lot width and front, side and rear setbacks for a parcel.
In June, Andrew Stauffer and Luke Langellier received a 10-year tax abatement from the Seymour City Council to move S and S Diesel Motorsport from 3480 N. County Road 650W, Brownstown, to 1471 W. Tipton St., Seymour.
The owners said they planned to spend $350,000 to renovate the building, which previously housed FFO Home furniture store, on the far west side of the city.
On Aug. 12, the plan commission approved the land use variance to allow the use of the property as a light manufacturing business to do small component assembly and testing. Stauffer said going from C-3 (heavy commercial) to I-1 (light industrial) zoning would give them more space to do their work.
Stauffer and Langellier also hoped to move in faster by requesting a tax abatement before getting a variance.
Stauffer told the BZA one reason they are moving the business is because it’s difficult for semis to access their current location.
Answering questions from board member Dave Eggers, Stauffer said they would use the whole building, which they own and have no plans of leasing out.
Jim Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., submitted a letter of support to the plan commission and BZA, noting he had been working with the owners for nearly a year as they sought a new location that provided space for their growing business.
He said the requested variance is in line with other businesses in that area and would fit well with neighboring properties, some of which have previously been granted variances.
“We also feel S and S Diesel will be a great addition to Seymour’s industrial base by providing jobs and tax base,” Plump wrote.
S and S presently employs 10 and does not plan to hire anyone at this time, but that might change in the future, Plump said.
For the dog grooming business, Kyle Wischmeier said his wife plans to run it from a portable building in the backyard of their home at 1053 Louise Court on the northwest side of Seymour.
The zoning was approved to go from R-1 (single-family residential) to C-2 (general commercial).
Kyle said his wife will be grooming no more than three to four dogs at a time per day, there will be a chain-link fence around the building and there will be no boarding of dogs.
Also gaining a 3-0 vote from the BZA was Michael Schleter to vary from the required 10% side setback to be at 2 feet for the construction of a 16-by-20-foot shed at 580 Vehslage Road.
The other matter involved Kyle Medaris with Medaris Properties LLC requesting multiple variances at 410 N. Pine St. and 420 W. Fourth St. to split the parcel, which currently contains two homes, in half.
Delores Frost, who lives across the street, told the BZA she is afraid there might be more traffic, but she was assured that would not be the case and it would not be for business use.
Lois Vega, who lives nearby, said she feels there are too many people there now and the alley is too congested. She was told the BZA can’t do anything about noise or too many people visiting.
BZA member Rob Kaufman asked Building Commissioner Jeremy Gray about the legality of the request, and Gray said the ordinances do not allow for two homes on one parcel, but this had been grandfathered in. Gray said Medaris needs the variance so it can be split.
That matter also was approved on a 3-0 vote.