Mayor breaks tie so Kendallville can give tax abatement to ice cream store

Councilmen Regan Ford and Steve Clouse expressed several concerns about the abatement request and voted against it. Councilmen Jim Dazey and Frank Walkup voted for the abatement.

With Councilman Larry Davis absent, Mayor Suzanne Handshoe voted for the abatement to break the tie.

The property is zoned C-2A, general commercial district, allowing for indoor and outdoor retail sales.

According to the abatement application, the building, which has been on the market since 2010, is best suited for use as a dining establishment. It was listed at $189,000, but is in the process of being acquired for $125,000.

The couple will save $10,564 in taxes over the five-year abatement.

Four jobs will be created with total salaries of $66,300, according to the abatement application.

The Spencers plan to offer ice cream and sandwiches, according to Handshoe. They have an ice cream shop in Panama City, Florida, and spent a lot of time investigating the Kendallville location.

They want to open next month and will adjust their business hours according to customer demand, the mayor said.

State law allows governments to grant a tax abatement for the purchase of an eligible vacant building in an economic development target area. Kendallville’s City Council has established the downtown business district as such an area.

Ford requested that the abatement be tabled to allow City Attorney Doug Atz to review the application and the state laws pertaining to tax abatements.

Atz admitted to the mayor he had not seen the application document before Tuesday’s meeting.

Clouse, an attorney and former Noble County prosecutor, said he supports tax abatements that benefit the city, but he questioned whether Kendallville will benefit much from the business. He pointed to the $66,300 in total salaries — or $16,575 each for four workers.

He also wondered how the city could give an abatement to the Spencers when they don’t yet own the building. And he expressed concern the two-story building may not have been vacant for at least a year, which is what state law requires for granting a tax abatement for an unoccupied building.

In a report prepared for the council, Dave Lange, the city’s building inspector and director of planning and zoning, wrote the ground level of the building has been vacant for more than a year. His report did not address the second-floor apartment.

Dazey said he supports the abatement because it will result in adding a business downtown and attract people to the area.

“I feel it has been investigated by the EDAC and we have an opportunity here to benefit the city and downtown,” he said.