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FORT WAYNE – Allen County Board of Zoning Appeals members Wednesday blocked a Leo-Cedarville couple’s plans to move the family woodworking business home.
Country Door & Millwork Inc.’s planned 10,000-square-foot shop, proposed on Hollopeter Road off Tonkel Road, exceeded the county’s size limits for home workshops, board member Thomas Black said. The county zoning ordinance allows home workshops covering up to 2,000 square feet.
Thirty residents signed a petition objecting to the shop’s construction in a residential and agricultural area. Three neighbors spoke in support of the project at Wednesday’s hearing.
Owners Roger and Pamela Beedy had hoped to move the company, which makes doors, crown molding and other wood products, to their home from Kosciusko County. Roger Beedy said he searched for a shop location in Allen County, but the available buildings were expensive and not well lit.
Instead, the Beedys sought permission to construct a 10,000-square-foot woodworking shop on their 5-acre property. The relocated shop would have employed up to five, Pamela Beedy said. The proposed shop included a dust-collection system to minimize the effect on the neighborhood.
But neighbors said they did not want an industrial operation moving into the area.
The woodworking shop’s construction would lower surrounding property values, said Jack Bentz, an attorney representing seven nearby families. The building would be larger than other barns and outbuildings in the neighborhood, he said.
“This is a very picturesque, rural area,” he said.
