It became apparent Saturday afternoon at the Wabash & Erie Canal Interpretive Center that Carroll County Commissioners Pat Clawson, Bill Brown and Ron Slavens are not on the same page about what their scope of concern is in the proposed zoning ordinance. The county leaders are scheduled to vote on the ordinance in February.

Commissioners held the second public input session Saturday to allow residents to express concerns and pose questions about the proposed zoning ordinance prior to the legal public hearing and adoption vote. More than 60 people attended the meeting and at least 18 of them spoke to their county leaders. Many voiced concerns about setbacks for hog operation buildings. Several speakers suggested commissioners hire an outside company as a consultant to finalize the proposed document.

Pat Clawson said the commissioners would not address anything in the proposed ordinance that was not changed from the current ordinance, after hearing from most community members who spoke that the current 800 foot setback for hog buildings is inadequate for those who live near the hog operations. The setbacks fall into that category. He said the setbacks were changed in 2006 and would only be discussed after a new ordinance is adopted.

“I disagree with Pat about this,” Brown told the audience as he held the document in the air. “Anything in this (proposed) ordinance can be changed.”

“I agree with Bill,” Slavens said. “If it’s in this document, it can be changed.”

Camden resident Everett Snoeberger suggested commissioners hire a consultant to review the proposed new law. He said the document is very complex and most who read it do not understand what it says. Snoeberger urged commissioners to refrain from moving to adopt the document quickly. Snoeberger said it was important for them “to hold off and do it right.”

Brown said the idea to hire an outside group at this point is not out of line, however he would want to ensure that the money was well spent.

Slavens said he recommends commissioners take the step to hire a consultant to craft a document which can be read and understood by most county residents.

“We need a document that people can understand without using an attorney,” Slavens said.

Several audience members encouraged the commissioners to delay adoption until all concerns were adequately addressed and sufficient changes have been made to allow most county residents to agree with its restrictions. One audience member suggested that members from the community be placed on the zoning ordinance steering committee to help add clarity and understandability. It was also suggested that committee meetings be held when most people could attend, which is after normal working hours.

Other audience members expressed concerns and had questions about sections that address restrictions for businesses, signage, airport overlays and recreational vehicle use on personal property. More than one person in the audience urged commissioners to remember that they represent all county residents, not just one segment of the population.

Slavens suggested county leaders review a publication developed by Purdue University before the document is adopted. The publication offers different models about how to develop setbacks after consideration of all components of the issue. The publication can be found at https://engineering.purdue.edu/ ~odor/setback.htm.

Clawson advised the crowd that commissioners will hold a public hearing as dictated by the Indiana Code Feb. 6 at 9 a.m. in the commissioners meeting room on the second floor of the county courthouse. He said the county leaders’ options at that time will be to adopt the proposed ordinance as is, reject it and send it back to the Carroll County Area Plan Commission for amendments or do nothing. Clawson said the result of not taking action on the proposed ordinance is that it would become effective.

Contact information for County Commissioners follows: • Bill Brown: (765) 268-2744, angieandbillbrown@hughes.net • Pat Clawson: (765) 564-4915, cocomclawson@hotmail.com • Ron Slavens: (765) 532-3395, rcjnrnch@remconline.net