(Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette
It was no small feat for Allen County economic development officials to land a 600,000-plus-square-foot Amazon warehouse project that promises 1,000-plus good jobs for Allen County residents. In fact, the project was a major victory for the combined forces of the county and the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority, which shepherded the project to fruition.
But Amazon’s new neighbors got an unexpected awakening three weeks ago when earth-moving and construction equipment moved into the adjacent property to begin work on the project. While it may not be possible to build a giant warehouse without a lot of noise and light, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to wonder why Allen County planning authorities didn’t notify the neighbors that construction was beginning on the land near their homes.
The process was completely legal under state law and county ordinance. Kimberly Bowman, director of the Allen County Department of Planning Services, said the land was rezoned several years ago, and the development plan submitted didn’t require any waivers, which meant that no public hearing was required. Bowman said her department often goes beyond what is required legally to make sure nearby residents are aware of construction projects.
“We issue over 4,000 construction permits each year,” Bowman said, “for everything from a fence around someone’s yard to a 600,000-square-foot warehouse, and we’re not required to notify anybody.” She said county officials often post signs and send notification letters to neighbors. She said the cost of notifying all the residents affected by 4,000-plus construction permits would require more staffing and funds to accomplish than her department has available. She argued that it would be difficult to notify some residents but not others based on the size of the permitted project.
“Where would you draw the line?” she said. “Some people are extremely concerned when their neighbors put up fences. How do they feel when we don’t notify them?”
Bowman said her department is working on a plan to make the planning services website friendlier and easier to use. The new plan would allow anyone to keep tabs on nearby properties and to watch how rezoning and permitting processes play out.
Although Allen County has an extensive ordinance prohibiting “nuisance” uses of property, it does not — unlike the Fort Wayne city government — have a noise ordinance to regulate the amount of noise that neighbors say is coming from the construction site.
It seems reasonable to ask county planning officials to add a step to the permitting process and estimate the amount of noise, light, traffic and general disruption likely to affect nearby residents, and to notify them accordingly, especially in cases where public hearings are not required.
While fence installations are generally not disruptive to neighborhood life, it would have been a good bet to assume that noise and light generated by the county’s economic development bonanza would surely bother the neighbors.
