A local resident points to a map of future potential development as she speaks with county planner Shawn Klein at the open house for the St. Joseph County comprehensive plan on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024, at the German Township Community Center in South Bend. Staff photo by Joseph Dits
Public feedback led to some tweaks and corrections to St. Joseph County’s comprehensive plan for growth and preservation over the next 20 years as it gained its first approval on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
But none of the changes that the public sought were “substantive,” a consultant told the county’s Area Plan Commission as its members voted unanimously to pass the document. The plan now goes to the St. Joseph County Council for a public hearing and approval at its meeting at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 at the County-City Building.
One notable change was extending an “environmentally sensitive overlay” — in other words, an area on a map to take caution when planning development — to include land along rivers and streams, particularly the cold-water trout stream Juday Creek.
The plan encompasses growth, development, preservation of green spaces, housing, utilities and transportation.
It has been in the works for three years, involving input and meetings with a wide range of local residents and stakeholders. Delays in finishing this plan had been cited often in public meetings over the past year while the county officials relied on a plan from 2002 to approve changes like the rezoning of 640 acres of farmland, which enabled Amazon to move ahead with building a data center.
Based on public feedback, the top issues that staff need to address are protecting environmentally sensitive areas, dealing with failing septic systems (which is particularly an issue in Granger) and revitalizing critical corridors, consultant Cynthia Bowen from the Indianapolis firm Rundell Ernstberger Associates told the Area Plan Commission.
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