Technical issues appear to be in place but the Lake County Drainage Board wants a couple legal questions answered before members consider whether or not to let Walsh & Kelly Inc. build an access road to part of its Griffith property over a regulated county drain.
A petition by the company Wednesday before the Drainage Board to allow the access road was deferred until next month. The drainage board is comprised of Lake County’s three commissioners.
The company has been planning a controversial sand mine for the parcel to which the access road is needed. Company officials had been seeking approval for a zone change from light industrial to heavy industrial, like the remainder of the company’s land, so the sand mine operation could be built.
Walsh & Kelly withdrew its request before the Board of Zoning Appeals for the zone change Tuesday to allow the sand mine and a special use permit to allow the hole to be filled once the mine is exhausted.
Commissioner Mike Repay, D-Hammond, said in asking for the deferral he is not saying yes or no to the request, just that he needs more information before making a decision.
Repay said it appears the technical review of the proposed access road is in order. He said one question concerns the zoning. He said the company is seeking to connect two parcels that are differently zoned. If the company no longer is seeking a zoning change, he questioned how the the parcel will be used.
“It is my interpretation of the law they can’t expand,” Repay said.
A heavy industrial zoning is required for any activity associated with the asphalt facility, Ned Kovachevich, planning director, said Tuesday.
Repay said he also wants to know if the drainage board even has the authority to deny the access road.
“I need to get those questions answered for myself,” he said.
Jeff Ban from DVG Inc., who is designing the project for Walsh & Kelly said Tuesday without the access road the parcel is landlocked. Ban could not immediately be reached Wednesday.
Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
