Saturday, March 15, 2025
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BZA Upholds Fence Requirement, Tables Solar Variance Request
The Shelby County zoning code gives the Board of Zoning Appeals the authority to regulate fences. It’s been a busy job of late. The BZA voted, 3-2, to require Anthony and Emma Jean Stewart to fix their fence at 657 N 350 W, Shelbyville, which has been a long-standing cause of contention with their neighbor.
The fence issue previously made an appearance at the November 2024 meeting after county officials received a complaint about it having the structural face facing outward. Mr. Stewart noted he had added an extension to an existing fence with its structural face outward. The county told him that the old fence was grandfathered in, but the new fence should be built to the 2008 ordinance. Mr. Stewart added paneling to the structural side as a method of converting the fence into a shadow box design. The BZA in November determined the attempted fix did not correct the violation. Mr. Stewart attempted to correct the issue, but the existing structural posts extended past the solid face at regular intervals.
Board members this week voting in favor of upholding the original determination to require a fix were Megan Hart, Kevin Carson and Jim Douglas.
In other action, the BZA:
Tabled a variance request from Speedway Solar to eliminate the landscape buffer requirements for a portion of a commercial solar energy system facility at 6631 E. 700 N, Shelbyville. The request was in regards to eliminating tree plantings that would divide farm fields at the landowners’ request. Representatives for Speedway said that crop spraying would kill trees and shrubs close to fields. Buffer areas near homes would remain, the petitioner said. The county plan staff had recommended denial of the petition because the original owner of the project had voluntarily consented for increased landscape buffers. The petition was tabled because BZA members asked for a detailed plan of which buffer zones would be removed and which would remain under the proposal, details which were not provided by the company at the meeting. The project covers approximately 1,800 acres, of which panels are on approximately 1,014 acres. The original approval included conditions that no solar panel would be either 150 feet from a nonparticipating property line or 300 feet from a non-participating residence, and no panels would be closer than 100 feet from a public road.
Unanimously approved a variance allowing a gravel driveway, which accesses a carport, at 6765 W. Forest Brook Dr., Fountaintown. Last May, the county planning department received a complaint regarding the installation of the carport and driveway without permits. Derek Way, the petitioner, retroactively applied for a permit for the carport. In January 2025, the planning department received another complaint about the lack of a driveway. Several neighbors spoke in support of Way’s petition. No one appeared to oppose.
Unanimously approved a variance to allow for a fully finished, heated 1,536-square-foot pole barn at 7837 East Blue Ridge Road, Shelbyville.
FOR A GOOD CAUSE
Crafty Creators Home Extension donated money this week to Purdue Extension Shelby County to use for Dining with Diabetes programming, the Shelby County Animal Shelter and Rupert’s Kids. Left, Diana Stone with Purdue Extension; top right, Kileen Winkler, Brynna Finley with the Shelby County Animal Shelter and Pam Lochard; and, lower right, Brandy Camerucha with Rupert’s Kids show off the checks. | submitted
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NOTEBOOK:
The third annual Turning of the Fountain Green is today, 4 p.m., on Public Square in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Participants can toss gold coins into the fountain. For those 21 and older, the Shelby Shamrock Bar Crawl follows.
HOOSIER NEWS: MakeMyMove, has been partnering with local governments and economic development agencies in recent years to lure hundreds of remote workers to Indiana. Across the nation, MakeMyMove programs offer cash for moving expenses, free access to networking events and complementary sports and theater tickets. The company already works with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation to match payments from local governments in cities like Noblesville, Avon and Plainfield, but the new program is a regional effort involving the Indianapolis Chamber and the Central Indiana Regional Development Authority. The company has relocated 677 households with more than 1,500 people to Indiana communities. The median household income of workers who have moved to Indiana is $112,000, according to the company. The 11 participating counties are Marion, Hamilton, Hancock, Shelby, Johnson, Morgan, Hendricks, Boone, Madison, Brown and Putnam. (IndyStar)
NATIONAL NEWS: A whole lot of Disney is closed right now, and anywhere from a fourth to a third of Walt Disney World Resort is expected to be shut down at some point this year for maintenance and renovations. There are currently 13 ride closures at Disney World, the highest level in a year and the second-highest level since 2010, excluding the pandemic. Part of this is a pipeline problem. No new rides debuted this year (part of it is deferred maintenance finally catching up), but it comes at a bad time because rival resorts are beefing up their offerings and launching new parks. There’s also a key incentive behind the deferred maintenance: parks produce incredible amounts of money — $11.2 billion last year alone, up from $5.1 billion a decade before — and nobody wants to be the guy who messes with that. The Lightning Lane ride reservation system is also a $50 million business, making it a tough-to-squeeze-in maintenance when rides might be booked weeks in advance. (Sherwood News/Numlock)
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WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
Mike and Denise (Hardin) Coffey, Shelbyville, celebrate 45 years of marriage today. They were married March 15, 1980, at First Christian Church, with Rev. Jim Horner officiating. They have been blessed with two children, Sarah (Waninger) and Paul, and with three grandchildren, Micah, Jonah, and Caroline. Mike worked for many years at Meshberger Stone and then Shelby Materials before his retirement. Denise worked inside the house and outside the house for many years before Mike's retirement. They both enjoy gardening, yard work, family, and church.
SHS Courier Archive Highlights
March 15, 1929, Part II
John Paul “Doc” Barnard was re-elected class president in a landslide. Barnard had recently defeated his “aged and feeble” father to win the local country club golf championship. Barnard also had a “beautiful alto” that made him popular with the girls. The paper said The Courier editor had limited the amount of space that could be used to describe “miracle man” Doc Barnard.
The SHS basketball season had ended, but there were several positives. The team had won the Sixth District Invitational Tournament for the first time. Only one player was graduating.
Spring sports season was here. Coach J.M. McKeand said there would only be one track meet due to lack of a suitable track. Construction on a new track at the new athletic field was expected by 1930.
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This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated by The Addison Times from Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department materials.
2005: Grover Museum hosted a 1950s sock hop.
1995: The Shelby County Council rejected a plan supported by Mayor Bob Williams to build a second vehicle bridge across the Little Blue River, near an existing foot bridge. One county council member said one bridge was enough. “The Walkerville bridge goes nowhere,” the county council member said. Williams had wanted a second bridge so that emergency vehicles had another way to access the northeast part of the city.
1985: Chambers of Commerce throughout the region were struggling to survive with limited finances. The Shelby County Chamber had 180 members and a $45,000 budget.
1975: Five inches of snow fell, with seven inches falling near St. Paul. Jack Boyce, WSVL, announced the third annual WSVL-Tom Franklin Saint Patrick’s Day Parade would be postponed for a week due to the snow. Boyce added that, true to his word, Tom Franklin still planned to ride his green horse along the whole parade route by himself at 2 p.m.
1965: For the second time in two weeks, the Strand Theatre received a bomb threat, and patrons were required to evacuate.
1955: Shelby County Commissioners offered to pay the city 50 percent of the operational costs of a proposed joint dog pound.
Police set up a new electric speed timer in Kennedy Park so the public could inspect the equipment. The timing device was in the form of a clock. When a car passed over a piece of hose on the highway, the clock started and was stopped when the car ran over another hose. The clock then registered the automobile’s speed.
1945: Robert May, a mechanist’s mate second class with the Sea Bees, was seriously wounded in Iwo Jima and was in a hospital in Saipan. He was a member of an underwater demolition unit and had participated in the Battle of Guam, in which he had been injured.
1935: The state sent Shelbyville High School $600 to help cover expenses for advancing to the regional.
1925: Shelbyville defeated Columbus, 19-17, at Richmond. SHS had played Columbus twice during the season, losing both times.
The sexton of the Ogden Cemetery near Waldron was arrested for transporting alcohol in his car.
The C.F. Fix & Son Funeral Home hearse, loaded with 11 SHS band members en route to Richmond, was involved in an accident. All of the glass in the vehicle was busted out, but there were no serious injuries. People picked up the passengers and took them on to the game.
1915: Rev. James Ricketts, who lived south of Marietta, was stricken while preaching in the Sunday night service in the M.P. church in Bengal. Congregants helped revive him, and doctors later said he had suffered a stroke.
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OBITUARIES
Irma “Jean” Theobald, 93, of Shelbyville, passed away on Friday, March 14, 2025, at Waldron Health and Rehabilitation in Waldron. She was born July 31, 1931, in Shelbyville, the daughter of Oren and Nora (Sanders) Campbell. On September 10, 1982, she married Carroll G. Theobald, and he preceded her in death on December 31, 2024.
Jean is survived by her sons, Michael Kent Simpson of Tampa, Florida, Todd Brendt Simpson and wife, Peggy, and Timothy Allen Simpson and wife, Kathleen, both of Shelbyville; four grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren. She was also preceded in death by her parents; two brothers; and a sister.
In 1949, Jean graduated from Shelbyville High School. She was a homemaker and enjoyed volunteering for Meals on Wheels and the Shelbyville-Shelby County Animal Shelter.
Private family services have been entrusted to Freeman Family Funeral Homes and Crematory, 819 S. Harrison St. in Shelbyville. Memorial contributions may be made to the Shelbyville-Shelby County Animal Shelter, 705 Hale Road, Shelbyville, Indiana 46176. Online condolences may be shared with Jean’s family at www.freemanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.