HANCOCK COUNTY — A proposal calling for buildings totaling over 1.2 million square feet cleared a hurdle after planning authorities gave part of the site a favorable zoning recommendation.
Indianapolis-based i3 Investors is pursuing the two-building development, estimated at $100 million, on the east and west sides of CR 500W north of I-70. While the firm has yet to announce any occupants for the structures, it anticipates distribution or logistics purposes.
The western portion of the site can already accommodate part of the proposal with its industrial zoning designation. The developer’s request to rezone the southeast portion of the site from an agricultural designation to an industrial one is pending with the Hancock County Board of Commissioners.
Now, i3 is also asking that two properties totaling over 9 acres it has under contract on the north side of the proposed site be rezoned to an industrial designation as well. Both of those properties have agricultural zoning designations and contain single-family homes.
The Hancock County Area Plan Commission late last month voted unanimously to send the latest request to the county board of commissioners with a favorable recommendation, contingent on the southeast portion also getting rezoned. It follows the plan commission’s narrow decision to give the southeast rezone request no recommendation in June.
Steven Hardin, a lawyer representing i3, noted during the recent plan commission meeting that the county’s comprehensive plan calls for the kinds of uses the developer seeks on the site.
“This area has been planned for this type of development for years and years and years,” Hardin said.
The developer agrees to fund road improvements in the area estimated at about $5.5 million, including reconstructing and widening CR 500W and adding a traffic circle at CR 500W and CR 300N that won’t encroach on the cemetery near the intersection.
Bill Bolander, a member of the plan commission, noted all of the land adjacent to the proposed site north of I-70 has an industrial zoning designation except for the homes to the north, which are zoned agricultural.
“It only makes sense to fill in that spot,” he told the Daily Reporter. “That’s just sort of like having your front tooth missing. I see no reason why we’d deny them a logical spot.”
He added i3 is a reputable company. The firm reports it has more than 28 industrial assets across multiple states with more than 100 tenants.
Bolander also noted the developer has agreed to follow the county’s beefed-up landscape and buffering standards.
At the plan commission meeting, he told Leah Lederman, who lives in one of homes i3 has under contract and has spoken out against the proposal, that she’s being disingenuous for accepting the company’s offer while remaining a vocal opponent.
“We were asked to sell our house for not enough money to find anything comparable in the area, or they (i3) could just build right next door to us,” Lederman said. “And there aren’t enough down-turned lighting fixtures or berms to make that safe or comfortable, so we felt like we had no choice.”
She added she feels driven to continue speaking out against the proposal in the hopes it will have an effect on the policymakers’ decision.
Duane Trinkle, a realtor representing the resident of the other property i3 has under contract, conveyed his client’s support for the rezone at the meeting. He added his client recognizes that much of the site is already zoned for i3’s plans.
“Plus the offer that was made to them, and I’m sure the other neighbors, by i3 financially makes sense to them,” Trinkle said. “It’s distressing, obviously – the move, finding a place and all that – but they realize this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get that kind of money for the property.”
Larry Sedam, a western Hancock County resident, urged officials to pause on speculative warehouses while for-rent signs still stand outside others in the area. He also sympathized with the residents who live near the site i3 wants to turn into a logistics hub.
“I feel sorry for these people who live on this road that are just going to be boxed in with truck after truck after truck going down their road,” he said. “We can say as much as we want it doesn’t affect their property value, or it doesn’t affect their quality of life, but I think we know.”
