A rezoning proposal could bring industrial and commercial development to Greenwood’s east side.
Greentree Lane Holdings came before the Greenwood Advisory Plan Commission Monday to request the city rezone about 29 acres of land on the northeast corner of Worthsville Road and Collins Road for industrial and commercial use. About 23 acres of the northern end of the site would be rezoned from agricultural to industrial large, while about six acres on the southern end of the site would be rezoned to commercial large.
This land is currently owned by Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation, which is planning to sell the land to the developer. The city’s advisory plan commission voted 8-1 to give a favorable recommendation to the city council.
The property owned by Clark-Pleasant schools actually totals about 40 acres, with only about 29 acres being considered for rezoning. The remaining 11 acres located on the southeastern corner of the property will remain under agricultural zoning, said Brian Tuohy, an attorney representing Greentree.
“There’s been some preliminary conversations with the city about potentially a donation of that land to the city for some purpose. That’s not gotten very far, but this is not going to be developed,” he said.
Clark-Pleasant schools has owned the land for a number of years, keeping it as a possible location for a future school building. However, due to the land’s proximity to Interstate 65, there are safety concerns with traffic, said Austin Fruits, director of finance and budget for the district.
Additionally, the district already has three school buildings in the general area, and adding another one would make traffic worse, Fruits said.
Short-term, the sale will provide the district with some revenue that could help offset the impact of heavy tax cap losses. Long-term, the property’s net assessed value would increase, benefiting the district’s receipts of future property tax revenue. Selling the land also means there would be one less potential building taxpayers would have to pay for, Fruits said
“With that said, this is kind of a ‘no-brainer’ for us at the school district,” he said.
Current site plans show the industrial area being occupied by a large warehouse. However, the developer does not have an exact site plan for how it will be developed, Tuohy told the commission.
“This site would have to go through your process, through the planning process for site plan approval,” he said.
The commercial area could possibly have restaurants, offices or other approved commercial medium uses, Tuohy said. The developer has already agreed to not allow extended-stay hotels, indoor self-storage, auto and motorcycle sales and gas stations without a convenience store.
Two residents spoke out against the rezoning during Monday’s public hearing.
Gary Woodland, whose home is right next to the property, told the commission he was concerned about the extra noise the development could bring, along with drainage. There is a subdivision already under construction behind him, and he was concerned about a loss of privacy, he said.
Greenwood resident Randy Goodin said he understands the school needs to sell the property, but he is concerned about the industrial rezoning and the increase in noise. The industrial development would back right up to some of the houses being constructed, and if there isn’t a sufficient distance between the houses and the industrial, it would make it very difficult for people to live there, he said.
“The industrial backing up to these homes is something that I think is very unfair to those people,” Goodin said.
Later, Touhy said there would be several hundred feet of distance between the industrial area and Woodland’s home. There are also areas of already-existing green space and trees that will continue to stay this way despite the development, he said.
“Will that completely eliminate the effects of development of a corner and development to the north end? No, but it certainly will mitigate because of the distance, and the fact that the petitioner is leaving that alone and leaving it in the Ag zoning,” Touhy said.
As for the homes in the upcoming subdivision, they will be several hundred feet away from the industrial area. The end of the zone closest to the homes would also not likely be where trucks would be going in and out of a future warehouse, Touhy said.
During the plan commission’s discussions, member David Leske, who is also on the city council, was concerned about putting industrial along this area of Worthsville Road. It had always been his understanding that the property had been thought of as residential, retail and commercial — not industrial — under the city’s land use plans.
“Worthsville Road is supposed to be this additional gateway to the city of Greenwood, and it’s not supposed to be industrial,” Leske said. “It’s supposed to be more residential, retail, commercial use. That’s my concern with this proposal.”
The commission ultimately voted 8-1 to give a favorable recommendation to the city council. Leske was the lone no-vote.
The rezoning will likely be introduced to the city council at its next meeting on Monday. Action would likely be taken on the rezoning in July.
