The city has approved annexing and rezoning nearly 80 acres in Wayne Township for future industrial development.
City council members unanimously approved annexing and rezoning 78.93 acres of land owned by the Deckard Family Trust at the northwest corner of State Road 58 and County Road 300W near the Woodside Northwest Industrial Park.
City officials expect the property to be officially annexed and rezoned by mid-March, after a required 30-day period during which the public can challenge the contiguity of the property with the city limits, said Jeff Bergman, city and county planning director.
State law requires a property to be at least 12.5% contiguous to the current city limits in order to be annexed, Bergman said. The Deckard Family Trust property is 17.66%, according to city calculations.
With the approval, the land will be rezoned from “agricultural: preferred” to “industrial: heavy” but with some restrictions on some types of facilities prohibited on the property, including a sewage treatment facility, hazardous material production, waste disposal facility, truck stop or travel center, among several other activities.
“One of the commitments that the planning commission is recommending is that certain, comparatively more intense industrial uses not occur on this property for so long as there are a couple residences in close proximity,” Bergman said during the city council meeting on Jan. 21.
The current recommendation by the plan commission remains consistent with previous commitments made to prohibit certain types of industrial activities on the property, requirements on the placement of vehicles and loading areas on the property and other provisions designed to “minimize impacts to immediately adjoining homes.”
One of the provisions is a 150-foot-long buffer zone that includes an elevated strip of land that is at least 8-feet tall with a staggered row of evergreen trees that are a minimum of 5 feet in height. This buffer zone would be along County Road 450S.
A 50-foot-long buffer zone with an elevated strip of land that is at least 8-feet tall with a staggered row of evergreen trees that are a minimum of 5 feet in height would be placed behind homes on County Road 300W.
In November, council members approved annexing an adjacent 20-acre property in Wayne Township, even after nearby residents begged the council to reconsider before taking a final vote.
The families live next to 18.97 acres owned by the Deckard Family Trust at the northwest corner of State Road 58 and County Road 300W near the Woodside Northwest Industrial Park. They claim that any new industrial development behind their homes would box them inside an industrial park with large factories and warehouses on the west and east sides of their homes.
None of the residents spoke against the ordinances during Tuesday’s city council meeting.
“We did solicit input from all the city department heads and they indicated that city services could be provided at this property,” Bergman said during the city council meeting. “…The comprehensive plan shows this in an area that is intended for future industrial development.”
Currently, it is unclear what type of facility, if any, will be constructed on the land, but any developer or company seeking to build on the property would have to submit plans to the city and county planning department to ensure site or subdivision plans comply with the ordinances and permitted uses, Bergman said.
