Friends Of The ... St. Joseph River 
Bristol ~ Indiana
** The River Is The Community's **

Together As a Community We Have a Voice!

80 Acres ~ Over 2,000 Feet Of River Front At Risk!

BIG PICTURE

There is a strong effort to rezone the 80 acres and over 2,000 feet of beautiful river front property, to commercial development.   We NEED YOUR VOICE to be heard!  

Imagine ... as you come into Bristol the St. Joseph River and how amazing the entire experience of it is as well as what it has represented forever.  Thousands of people every year, kayak, tube, swim, boat, fish and enjoy the abundant wildlife - the bald eagles, golden eagles, river otters, beavers, turtles, the hundreds of species of birds / ducks and over 200 species of fish that inhabit the St. Joseph River.     

Now, imagine being greeted by 80 acres and over 2,000 feet of river front of land use for commercial businesses with trucks, fork lifts, equipment, noise and enough lights to make a dark star lit night impossible to even see the sky.  
  • Light Pollution ~ For as long as anyone remembers, you can see the stars at night by the river ... rather than the sky being lit up by the lights that any type of commercial property would bring.  
  • Sound Pollution ~ Lets face it, no matter what buffers are placed, commercial property, with trucks and equipment bring a lot of noise and will disrupt the river which is enjoyed by thousands of people from all around the country and even the world.  
  • Commercial Pollution ~ Consultants, developers and even some city officials assure us that there are rules and regulations ... which is true but those are hard to enforce and ... well ... just like is happening now, rules can change as is seeking to be done by the efforts to rezone this property.  
  •     > The current property was zoned for a reason and to rezone it to anything other than what it is now will impact everyone up-river, down river and anyone who uses the river.  That's tens of thousands of people who will feel the direct and in-direct effect of any type of rezoning.  
notice of Public Hearing

Next Important Date & Location

Date:  9:30 am Thursday, January 11th 2024
Location:  117 N 2nd Street, Goshen, Indiana 46526
                   County Administrative Building
                   (574)971-4678
                   Meeting Rooms 104, 106 & 108
Preparation:  If all you do is show up ... that makes an impact.  If you are willing to go up to the podium and share you name, address and share any thoughts as to how you have enjoyed the river over the years and how you are against any rezoning - especially commercial. 

IMPORTANT NOTES

Yes ... one person can make all the difference.  There were only four neighbors who spoke up at the last meeting.  Imagine what would happen if there are many many more.   Those who are elected public officials who care and listen.  And the more people who share they are against this, the more they will listen.  There are also city and county employees who are paid by the taxes we pay.  

This website will publish, for the public record and ease of access, to all those who support the Friends of the River and those who vote against the protection of the river and vote against all of us and for the commercial development.  

This is not something which will slowly fade into the background.  This is something which greatly effects every future generation of our children and grandchildren.   Let your voice be heard!  Let the voice of your children and grandchildren be heard.  

Hope To See You There!
We are sorry that this meeting is in the middle of the workday.
If you are not able to attend, please do three things which will take less than 5 minutes to do:

3 Actions To Take!

  • 1. Call (574)971-4678 and let them know who you are and that you would like to register your opposition to any rezoning changes and especially commercial.
  • 2. Email BristolRiverFriends@gmail.com - Let us know if you can help to rally family, friends and neighbors ... anyone who uses / enjoys the river.
  • 3. Sign "the petition" & Get Others To Sign

Some Key Points ... 

You May Hear ... 

What About ... 

1. From an elected official or a city employee that there's not really anything that can be done.   

Maybe ... we should seriously consider working harder to get better elected officials and/or actively questioning the city government.  

2. Property rights are important.  

Yes, that is correct.  The property is zoned agriculture for a reason and the person who wishes to purchase the property knew that when they purchased it.  

3. The property right across the Route 15 is commercial.  

The property right across Route 15 is not riverfront property and surrounded by residential and river front property. 

4. The property is perfect for commercial development.  

Do you mean ... that commercial property is taxed at 3 times that of residential and even more than that for farm land?   Can you honestly say that this is not a money grab from those in the city / county?

5. We're running out of commercial property to develop?  

What?!?!   Do you mean we're running out of farmers who are wiling to sell and you want the entire community and thousands of people who enjoy the river to pay the price for one property owner and their developer to gain a massive financial windfall at the expense of  the neighbors and the thousands of people who enjoy the river every year?!?!  

You May NOT Hear ... 

What About ... 

1. Who are the people making the decisions and what are their relationships to those who are set to gain financially?  

Hmmm ... 

2. Was there some rush over the holidays to slip this through and under the radar?

Hmmm ... 

C. Will there be a public record of what votes are cast?  

Well ... kind of.  Those who are on the board and in the public meetings there are minutes and records of votes, but no, other than this site there will not be a record of the votes cast.

City and County employees who seem to have a lot of influence on moving things forward, no there does not seem to be a record of their work / influence on pushing this through.   

The following signatures were gathered from one teenage Amish young man who cares about Bristol who took two hours and fifteen minutes at the fair. He and his family, along with all the other Amish he knows have enjoyed the St. Joseph River his whole life. He heard about what the owner, the developer and the city were doing and he decided to do his part. Yes … over 100 signatures in two hours. Imagine as momentum grows and everyone down stream hears about what is going on.

We’re not sure about the developer & attorneys, we’re guessing they may not care but we’re guessing that the owner and the city officials probably do care about having their names directly connected with the negative and irreversible impact that this will have on the city of Bristol … forever.
Imagine if there were three or four people gathering signatures over the full period of the fair and how many signatures there would be then.