A proposed industrial park could bring as many as nine warehouses, a hotel and three retail businesses to Whiteland, changing the landscape of the small town of about 4,400 residents significantly.
Developers are working with town officials to annex 340 acres into Whiteland from unincorporated Johnson County, and rezone the properties to commercial and industrial from agricultural and residential. The land, which Dallas, Texas-based developer Mohr Capital is in the process of acquiring, is mostly farmland.
Area residents expressed concerns about the proposed development at a neighborhood meeting Saturday morning at Whiteland Community High School. Mohr stakeholders and Town Manager Norm Gabehart spoke about the project, and were available to answer questions.
The town organized the public input session to hear from neighbors prior to the Whiteland Plan Commission’s first meeting about the project at 7 p.m. Sept. 1. Both the plan commission and town council will have to approve proposals to annex and rezone the land.
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The developer is also expected to seek tax abatements for the proposed development.
About 20 residents came out this weekend to learn about the project. Several asked questions and voiced opposition.
If approved, the development, northwest of the Whiteland Road interchange, would be phased in in as many as five years, with 800,000-square-foot and 600,000-square-foot buildings going up first, as well as a new access road.
Mohr is responsible for bringing several other warehouses to Johnson County, including the new Cooper Tire facility under construction right now in Whiteland. That facility, which gained regional attention due to its size and scope, is considered the first phase of the town’s industrial park development.
A proposed "logistics park" will be developed via a master plan and according to demand for spaces, said Gary Horn, chief investment officer for Mohr.
Its boundaries include Tracy Road to the north, Whiteland Road to the south, Interstate 65 to the east and County Road 200 East to the west.
The proposed entrance to the park on Whiteland Road will include a hotel and three retail businesses. The entrance would be across the street from the Whiteland Exchange Business Park, which is now anchored by an Amazon fulfillment center.
Plans for the proposed development call for nine buildings of varying sizes. They are estimated to range in size from two buildings at 111,300 square feet, to three buildings at about 1 million square feet each, according to a master plan for the project. Mohr hopes to build roughly 1.5 buildings a year, Horn said.
The actual number of buildings and their sizes may vary, depending on what tenants the developer attracts and what their needs are, said Matt Price, Mohr’s attorney for the project. Several of the buildings are planned to have extra space for a future expansion, which could allow a business to grow without leaving the community.
The developer is looking at e-commerce, warehousing and light industrial operations as potential tenants. Mohr is already in talks with potential tenants for the first two buildings that are planned, including a food company, Horn said. The hope is to attract tenants with big household names that will boost Whiteland’s reputation, Price said.
The developer has also committed to continuing work on the Bob Glidden Boulevard bypass, which will eventually route traffic away from downtown and residential areas, Gabehart said. The road would be built out over time and keep pace with traffic impacts that each new warehouse would bring, he said.
To alleviate traffic congestion in the area, Mohr has also committed to a roundabout at Whiteland Road and Warrior Trail, Gabehart said. And another roundabout or no left turn intersection would maybe be installed at the entrance to the park at the future Bob Glidden Blvd., depending on the need, he said.
Traffic concerns were chief among concerns raised by neighbors Saturday. Neighbors who live on County Road 600 North and Graham Road are concerned about the traffic an industrial park would bring, particularly semi-truck traffic.
The proposed bypass, which would run past existing homes in the immediate area, is expected to alleviate traffic issues rather than cause them, Gabehart told residents. The roadway would minimize left turn curb cuts, allowing traffic to move as seamlessly as possible through the area, he said.
Residents were also concerned about future land use, given that there are still hundreds of acres of farmland surrounding the proposed logistics park.
The town’s comprehensive plan for that area calls for residential developments, and Gabehart said the plan is, right now, to continue on that path. However, property owners at the southwest corner of Whiteland and Graham roads have expressed interest in selling the land for retail space, he said.
Matt Stephenson, who lives on County Road 600 North, across the street from the proposed logistics park, is concerned about having a 1.08 million-square-foot warehouse so close to his home without a buffer. The master plan for the site shows a planned retention pond next to the building, but that is not enough, he said.
Stephenson called on the developer to consider a less intense use for buildings that are closest to homes. For example, the comprehensive plan contemplates alternative uses such as an office building, which would bring less traffic and potential pollution, he said.
Stephenson also questioned why town officials are allowing major developments such as the proposed industrial park, Amazon and Cooper Tire, to continue to spring up on the west side of I-65, rather than the east side, where it would have less of an impact on residents. It is too much, too fast, he said.
“I don’t see this as an opportunity to make Whiteland that much better. I see it as an opportunity for someone in Dallas to come to Indiana and find a project they can make money from,” Stephenson said.
The town is trying to be “a good neighbor” to residents by including them in conversations about proposed developments and the town’s future beyond what is required by state law, Gabehart said.
Though much public focus the past few years has been on industrial parks, the town is focused on overall growth, he said.
The hope is that these developments bring more jobs to the area and spark more interest in housing and retail developments, Gabehart said.
In addition to industrial projects that are either proposed or underway, two new subdivisions and two new parks are planned. Holistic growth is coming, he said.
“This town has advanced more in the past 5 years than it ever has in town history,” Gabehart said.
