The possible rezoning of an unused portion of land on State Road 15 in Bristol, Ind., brought nearly 20 residents out to Thursday night’s town council meeting and right from the start, tensions were high.
Town council president Ron Norman began the conversation by asking the council to table the vote, and council member Cathy Burke asked to deny the appeal immediately following.
This story by Dani Messick originally appeared in The Elkhart Truth.
Innovator RV had expressed interest in the land near Bristol Canoe and Kayak for a new factory it is hoping to construct for its line of RVs. The property is currently dubbed R1 residential property, but lies on a floodplain and has been for sale for years. A low-price point is part of what encouraged the owners of Innovator RV to request the rezoning of the land to commercial so they could purchase the land to build their factory. They brought their appeal to the Elkhart County Planning and Development Commission meeting on Monday, Nov. 13, where it was recommended that the request be denied, but was still brought to the Bristol Town Council for final review.
Five community members spoke against the rezoning during the town council meeting, but there were others on the sidelines in support of their neighbor’s comments. Reasons included potential pollution, truck traffic, lighting and sounds from the factory.
Another concern expressed by the entire crowd was risk of property values decreasing.
Co-owners of the company, Phillip Biscan and Randy Carr, attempted to convince visitors to the Bristol Town Council meeting that their factory would not create the problems neighbors feared. The building in question would be 5,600 square feet with a wooded buffer area of 350 feet between the factory and the residential housing next door, but residents expressed concerns that, should the company leave and another move in to the factory, the buffer could be removed.
He went on to explain that the 4,000 pound vehicles will require no steel, aluminum or welding and manufacturing of the RVs will produce no off-gas, Biscan said. Due to the layout of the facility, there would also be no outside storage or forklifts. He added that there are two patents awarded for the travel system and five pending.
Ultimately, it was decided that the land will not be rezoned and Innovator RV will have to look for another location to build its factory.