Ms. Kaiser asked if he had enough space to park the cars.

Mr. Wilson stated that they had a long driveway with plenty of room in the grass on their 50 acres. He stated that they had a golf cart that they planned to use as a shuttle to bring people back and forth.

Josh Dyke, 10301 N CR 650 E, Muncie Indiana, appeared in opposition. He stated that Mr. Wilson was correct that there were no homes within 300’ of his property but that this would be in his families’ direct line of sight. He stated that it was a direct open field with nothing to stop light of sound pollution from the property. He stated that he purchased his home in 2021 and fell in love the peaceful quite open area. He stated that his concerns were not personal or against small businesses, they were about land use compatibility, public safety, and long-term impacts that this variance would have on surrounding property owners. He stated that this property was in a farm zone and that people chose to live there for the peace and quiet and that was what the Board and zoning laws were there to protect. He stated that an event center was fundamentally different than agriculture and would bring commercial traffic, light, signage, and noise that would extend beyond the property line. He stated that he had 4 small children and that the roads were designed for residential use and not for commercial traffic such as deliveries and that he had concerns about that. He stated that in a rural setting noise would travel farther with nothing to dampen the sounds and that these events would likely have music and late nights, and drinking, placing a burden on the surrounding property owns. He stated that 15-20 events a year did not sound like a lot but when it would be all summer back-to-back on the weekends that was a concern. He stated that this request being labeled as an event center would not limit them to only weddings and that if the buildings became climate controlled, they could increase to more events year round. He stated that this was not a suitable area for this request and that there were better places and for all of those reasons he asked the Board not to approve this request to maintain the integrity of the area.

Mr. Wilson stated that Mr. Dyke brought up some valid points about noise. He stated that he wanted to be a good neighbor and if approved he would work towards not being a disturbance. He stated that he did not believe that the direct line of sight for the lights was accurate based on the direction that Mr. Dyke’s house faced and the barn that would be used for events. He stated that they were not having concerns or light shows so he did not believe that would be an issue. He stated that there were other event spaces near this area and that they did not want to be a nuisance, they just had a beautiful property that they wanted to share. He stated that they had no plans to add air conditioning or heating to the barn and that he would be fine with the condition that limited them to 15 events per year. He stated that he had 7 children and 9 grandchildren and that he did not want this to take up all of time during the summer. He stated that they would have no more than 150 people so there would be traffic, but that he did not believe it would change the character of the area.