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Horse hospital gets nod from board |
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Wednesday, August 27 2008 |
By CHRIS MEYERS
Staff writer
Plans for a new medical facility for horses got the go-ahead Tuesday night, with some nearby residents voicing support and opposition to the project.
The Whitley County Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously to allow the facility to be built on an empty lot on the southeast corner of the intersection of U.S. 30 with county Road 500 East, across the street from Coesse Elementary School.
“There are so many horses in Indiana, and the problem is we can’t get them to care for emergencies,” Marcie Bayman, a nearby resident, said of the need for such a facility in the area.
West Lafeyette, Lansing, Mich., and Columbus, Ohio, are the currently the only nearby facilities that offer the kind of medical procedures that will be done at the facility planned locally.
All three of the veterinarians working on the project currently have their own practices and are 100 percent equine vets.
A surgeon has been brought on board for the more complicated procedures that will be performed.
Union Township Trustee Darl Leininger said he was concerned about a possible “bottleneck” in traffic because the entrances to the medical facility line up with the entrances to Coesse Elementary School.
Robert Koontz, one of the veterinarians working on the project, said traffic flows would be minimal into the facility and should not create problems.
Josh Pranger of Pranger Group Inc., the architect working on the project, said he would be willing to work with the school to ensure traffic flows wouldn’t be a problem.
Leininger was also concerned about the possible odor from the stalls blowing to the nearby cemetery and church during services.
Ron Conley, one of the three veterinarians working on the project, said he has had as many as 50 horses at a facility in Allen County near many homes and has never had a complaint.
“I’ve got neighbors within 20 feet of my horse barn,” he said, adding that the only foul odor usually found is in the stalls themselves after the horses have been in them overnight.
“This is a hospital with sterile rooms. I don’t think believe we’ll have an odor problem,” Koontz added.
Fellow start-up investor Dianne Finch said this project will be a great collaboration of services and skills and offer a place for Hoosiers in the eastern part of the state a place to take their horses for care.
“We can have one location where we can combine our services,” she said, adding that the three of them now serve clients in several surrounding counties.
Coesse resident Tom Stockamp said he was thrilled to hear about the proposed facility.
“I cannot think of a better use for this property. I think this project would be a real asset to the Coesse area,” he said.
Alan Tio of the Whitley County Economic Development Corporation said this type of facility is unique not only to the region, but to much of the Midwest in general.
He saw it as a way to further economic growth in the area beyond manufacturing and large industries.
“It’s a 10,000 square-foot facility so there will be some jobs created, but it will be a small operation,” Pranger said.
Included in the site plan is the main building, which will be built first and could be followed by several smaller buildings with specialized purposes if business goes well.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, August 28 2008 )
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