HANCOCK COUNTY — Blue Tank Pump and Rental will go to the Hancock County Plan Commission for possible approval of its development plan on May 28 after receiving the OK from the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) to build a new location off CR 300N.
According to the staff report presented at the January BZA meeting, Blue Tank received a special exception in 2022 to allow equipment sales and rentals. However, due to wanting more space for the project, Tanner Perdue, president of Blue Tank, said they decided to put the original property up for sale and request a special exception for a larger property just down the road.
The nearby property is zoned Industrial Business Park (IBP) with about 18 acres, five of which are proposed to be developed with the remaining areas being greenery.
Perdue said this Blue Tank location would replace their Indianapolis location. They have eight locations across multiple states, and their headquarters is in Lexington, Kentucky.
Perdue has been president of Blue Tank for eight years and said they specialize in the sale and rentals of specialized equipment for pumps, tanks, generators and more. Perdue also clarified that the new location would be storage for the equipment and wouldn’t be used to store waste on site or hauling trash.
“We’re not like a waste facility or anything like that,” Perdue said. “That’s what a lot of people think is happening.”
Since Blue Tank did not need a tax abatement and requested a special exception for the zoning area listed as IBP, they were approved by the BZA with a favorable recommendation from staff following a few conditions.
Scott Wooldridge, county council and plan commission member, explained that since the request did not involve a tax abatement and the land was already zoned IBP, the request didn’t have to go before the county council for approval, just to the BZA for the special expectation of use. Because of this, some county officials weren’t entirely familiar with the project coming to the northern part of the county.
Wooldridge also shared that, by state statute, the BZA can only have appointed officials on the board, not elected officials.
“It’s already zoned industrial (IBP), which was done a long time ago by commissioners, approved and so forth. The council only steps in – our role as council is we only step in if they come to us for a tax abatement, otherwise we have no say,” Wooldridge said.
While Perdue said that he personally had not received any comments on the project, minutes from the January meeting show that Larry Sedam, a frequenter of planning commissions and BZA meetings, was in opposition, saying at the time he didn’t believe there was proper notice.
However, Hollie Kinker, assistant planner, confirmed that proper notice was given to surrounding property owners and a notice was posted in the Greenfield Daily Reporter.
Sedam also mentioned landscaping, stating a fence should be required and a berm for landscaping, much like the other warehouses in the area.
According to meeting minutes, BZA member Lacey Willard asked Perdue if they were opposed to installing a berm, in which Perdue replied that they have budgeted for and planned to meet landscaping requirements and buffering standards set by the county, which would be later shown in development plans depending on the approval at the time.
Perdue also said at the meeting that they don’t anticipate any immediate changes to the business plan but want to be ready for growth in the next five to 10 years. Perdue said they plan to cultivate the back part of the lot or for it to remain green space and had no intentions of selling off the back part of the parcel.
The special exception request passed with listed conditions from the staff with vote of 3-1. Willard voted no, according to meeting minutes. Blue Tank is now scheduled to go before the plan commission on May 28 for their development plan review.
