Trailer at Center of Grovertown Zoning Controversy Removed

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

A commercial office trailer at the center of a zoning controversy is no longer in the state. It’s owned by Walter Ford and Julia Ford and until last week was located in Grovertown. The Starke County Board of Zoning Appeals in 2011 issued a mobile home permit for the structure. Neighbors George and Betty Dotlich filed a BZA appeal in October of that year, challenging the structure’s classification as a mobile home.

The BZA revoked that permit and issued one for a site-built home. The Dotlichs’ filed an appeal in court in March of 2012 on the grounds the trailer, which was purchased in Illinois, was not certified for any use in Indiana for any purpose and that placement of such structures outside of commercially zoned areas is a violation of county ordinances. A special judge ruled in their favor in January of 2013 and sent the matter back to the BZA. That body adopted the judge’s findings and ordered the structure removed by June 1, 2013. Continue reading →

Judge Blankenship to Ponder Starke County Property Case

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

Pulaski County Superior Court Judge Patrick Blankenship will take a few days to mull over a decision concerning legal action between the Starke County Board of Zoning Appeals, George and Betty Dotlich and Julia Ford.

The Starke County Board of Zoning Appeals and attorney Martin Bedrock filed a motion in court to show cause as to why Julia Ford has not removed a structure that was ordered to be done by the BZA in the Grovertown area. The issue was if she violated the terms of the court order and was to held in contempt of court.

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Starke Council Approves Payment of Negotiated Attorney Fees for Dotlich Case

Posted on Author WKVI

 
 
The legal case between George and Betty Dotlich and the Board of Zoning Appeals is still causing commotion, as the Starke County Council this week approved a motion to pay a to-be-negotiated amount in attorney fees as ordered by Special Judge Patrick Blankenship. The pair had valiantly fought tooth-and-nail over a commercial structure that had been permitted as a single-family residence, ultimately winning the appeal in the Starke Circuit Court, where it was ruled that the BZA failed to follow proper procedure and made a permitting decision unsupported by substantial evidence.

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Starke Commissioners Deny Additional Reimbursement for Dotliches

Posted on Author WKVI
 
 

While the debate over an erroneously-permitted commercial structure has officially come to a close, some loose ends are still being wrapped up by Betty and George Dotlich. The pair had valiantly fought tooth-and-nail over a commercial structure that had been permitted as a single-family residence, ultimately winning the appeal in the Starke Circuit Court under Special Judge Patrick Blankenship ruled that the Board of Zoning Appeals failed to follow proper procedure and made a permitting decision unsupported by substantial evidence.

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Starke Judge Rules on Commercial Structure Debate

Posted on Author WKVI
Starke County Courthouse
Starke County Courthouse

The ongoing debate between Betty and George Dotlich and Julia Ford seems to have come to a conclusion, as Patrick Blankenship, special judge with the Starke Circuit Court, ruled that the Starke County Board of Zoning Appeals failed to follow proper procedure, allowed ex parte communication, and made a decision unsupported by substantial evidence.

The case came to light when Julia Ford of Starke County purchased a used manufactured commercial office structure that had been certified in Illinois and applied for a permit to convert it to a single-family residence, which the BZA approved on Jan. 11, 2012. Petitioners George and Betty Dotlich, James and Linda Siroky, and Anthony and Jane Standifer own real estate adjacent to Ford’s residence.

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