The St. Joseph County Area Plan Commission Tuesday will consider what to do with an Osceola used car dealer that paved a new parking lot without a permit, angering neighbors.
The commission will hold a public hearing on a request from S&H Auto Group on McKinley Avenue –- that’s the former German Concepts dealership –- to rezone the back part of its lot from residential to commercial. The business, wanting more space to store vehicles, paved the lot and put up a fence in late October.
But there are 32 homes along Toledo Avenue, north of the dealership, and some of those homeowners complained to the county. The county red-tagged the fence because S&H hadn’t obtained a permit for it, telling the business they would need to retroactively seek the zoning change if they wanted to use the lot.
S&H says in county records that it didn’t realize it needed a zoning change for that part of its property abutting the neighborhood.
The area plan staff has sent it to the plan commission with an unfavorable recommendation. The commission at Tuesday’s 1:30 p.m. meeting will decide what kind of recommendation to make to the county council, which has the final say.
