SIDNEY – The Sidney Planning Commission approved the alley vacation and replat of the Wagner Manufacturing site at a meeting on Feb. 21.

The Shelby County Land Reutilization Corporation (Land Bank) owns the property and petitioned to have the three alleys on the property vacated, and Choice One Engineering, on behalf of the Land Bank, requested the replat of the 26 lot, 5.7-acre property.

According to the background information provided by the community development staff, “The Wagner property was originally platted with residential lots and alleys in the 1880s or earlier. While Wagner Ware owned and eventually built on the entire 5.7 acres, the underlying lots and alleys were never vacated. With funding available for the demolition of the structures and remediation of hazardous materials, the Land Bank will be better situated to transfer the property to a new developer/user as a single lot.”

According to the staff, the vacation of public right-of-way requires an ordinance to be drafted for City Council with two readings, and the replat will not be scheduled for council review until after the right-of-way ordinance is scheduled.

Commission members asked about the potential of the lot and the condition of the land. Community Development Director Barbara Dulworth said the lot could be used for residential, mixed-use, or manufacturing, but at this time the city does not know what it will be used for yet. She mentioned that manufacturing might not be appropriate based on the location. She also said that as part of the remediation of the site, any soil that contains contamination will be removed.

Commission member Merrill Asher was absent from the meeting and was excused.

At the end of the meeting, the members discussed changing the Planning Commission meeting time to 5:30 p.m. permanently. The proposal will be added to the next meeting’s agenda for a vote from the members.

The next Planning Commission meeting is set for Monday, March 20, at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall’s council chambers.