OK is given to jail

If they build it, it shouldn't come.

A local board has voted to allow the expansion of the Jay County Jail to be built in a flood plain.

Older maps of Portland show the expansion site is located in a flood plain of the Salamonie River, but newer maps do not.

Bill Milligan, Jay/Portland Building and Planning administrator, told members of the Portland Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday that the Indiana Department of Natural Resources has given the thumbs up for the jail addition to be built at the former site of the Maitlen building, which is located at the corner of Main and Ship streets.

Milligan said a map approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in 1978 showed that the site is in the flood plain. But a 2003 DNR map indicates the jail expansion site is not in a flood-prone area.

Board members Lee Newman, Susan Schutz and Larry Petro voted to approve the variance request. Ron May and Vicki Tague did not attend the meeting.

Also Tuesday, board members approved an addition to rules and procedures.

The amendment states that board members will review all petitions in the city that are denied by the Jay/Portland Building and Planning administrator. If a project is not permitted in the city's zoning ordinance, Milligan can deny the petition.

Milligan said he has only had one such occurrence in the past 11 years, in which he denied a request, and it was for a project in the county. He said the current zoning ordinance does not have guidelines for such an appeal.[[In-content Ad]]