A family hoping to open a snow tubing facility in Morgan County says it will have to resort to its backup plan after the board of zoning appeals rejected their proposal Monday night.
Dale Martyn and her family moved to Martinsville from Texas to pursue their dream of opening the business. They wanted property on State Road 67 rezoned to allow for a snow tubing and sliding park.
"We are looking to help the community, not hurt it in any way," Martyn says. "It's something that we just wanted to bring to the community to help families, to help kids get out of the house in the winter months."
But the proposal drew criticism since it first came before the board in June.
Several residents spoke in opposition to the request, saying the tubing park would hurt their property values, increase traffic and cause too much noise.
And the staff at the nearby Link Observatory says light pollution from the proposed development threatened to make the educational facility obsolete. More than 2,500 people visit the observatory every year to look through its telescope.
"Don't compromise the beauty of the night sky and destroy the educational opportunities of future generations," Link Observatory Executive Director Greg McCauley says.
Martyn and Holloway Engineering met with concerned residents and business owners last week to try and address some of the issues before bringing their proposal back to the zoning board. But, commissioners say the recreational facility would cause too much hardship for businesses and homeowners near the property. They unanimously rejected the proposal.
Martyn says her family is looking into purchasing the former Ski World property in Brown County as a backup plan.