Plans to make the former Pleasant View Rest Home easier to sell are in the works following Monday night’s Pulaski County Commissioners meeting.
The property ceased operations about one year ago for several reasons, with the property put up for sale for possible future development or renovation. In an effort to make the property easier to sell, Pulaski County is hoping to rezone the site to a residential building.
Pulaski County CDC Executive Director Nathan Origer says the site does not currently meet proper zoning requirements.
“The smaller of the two properties, with the react building, the barn, and the garden is neither large enough to meet the zoning requirements for industrial zoning,” says Origer. “It’s too small. And the barn is too close to the neighbors property line so a variance would be needed.”
Conversations with the Town of Winamac’s Planning and Zoning body has led Pulaski County to believe that the County Home could most easily be converted to apartments.
The idea is to remove any roadblocks for prospective buyers of the County Home. As a first step, Pulaski County is readying the forms to hold a public hearing with the Town of Winamac’s Planning and Zoning Board. The building could either be rezoned, or granted a variance through the Town of Winamac with its current designation.
Origer says Winamac’s Zoning Ordinance is a bit dated.
“Apartments cannot exist in the commercial district so even though its even weirder to put a residential zoning district out there near the industrial park, that is probably the best route to go,” says Origer.
The Commissioners opted to pursue rezoning the property to residential.
A process is in place to ensure proper rezoning at the site that Origer says he hopes will be completed as quickly as possible.
