Published: October 16, 2009 10:02 am      

Concord East Side improvements approved

Members of the Elkhart County Board of Zoning Appeals Thursday granted approval to a request by Concord Community Schools to conduct renovations at Concord East Side Elementary School.

According to Andy Bearman, civil engineer with ForeSight Consulting in Fort Wayne, renovations to the school, located at 57156 C.R. 13, Elkhart, will consist primarily of an extension to the school’s existing visitor parking area and improvements to the school’s bus drop-off area.

With the parking area extension, Bearman noted, approximately five additional parking spaces will be added to the school’s existing 16 spaces.

As for the bus drop-off area, Bearman said that improvements will include a widening of the sidewalk area to accommodate more students and a change from a two-way to a one-way bus drop-off route with the goal of reducing traffic congestion.

“This is just an improvement of their existing situation,” said board member Robert Homan. “It looks like a nice improvement for traffic flow and safety.”

Also approved Thursday was a request by David Muir of Bristol to establish a winery and wine tasting home business at 55535 Ind. 15 in Jefferson Township.

Located in the fruit hills of Bristol, the business will use the apples, peaches, grapes and other fruits grown on the family orchard for the majority of the wines produced on the property.

An accessory structure will also be constructed on the property where the wine production, retail and tasting will be conducted.

Due to the fact that the county does not have any zoning rules dealing specifically with wineries, board members Thursday agreed to approve the petition for a two-year period, following which Muir will be required to come back before the board for further review and possible renewal.

According to Elkhart County Plan Director Bob Watkins, a rewriting of the county’s zoning ordinance is now under way and will include specific language on the regulation of wineries in the county.

Watkins indicated that such language should be in place by the time Muir is called before the board again in two years.

As for when he feels the new winery will be operational, Muir indicated that plans call for the winery to officially open sometime around June of next year.