HANCOCK COUNTY — Danny and Nancy Whelchel wouldn’t mind moving away from the house on North Buck Creek Road where they’ve lived for the past four decades. They’d just like a price that would allow them to buy a home somewhere else.

The couple live in an area surrounded by the future site of an industrial development being built by Red Rock Investment Partners, LLC. The couple says they received an initial offer to buy out their property in March 2020, but they didn’t believe it was high enough for them to afford to relocate. They made a counteroffer but say they never got a response.

“We’ve heard nothing since then,” Danny Whelchel said.

The Red Rock development and its corresponding special taxing district, planned in an area generally bounded by County Road 500N, Interstate 70 and County Road 800W, have been controversial with many homeowners in the area.

A public hearing on the tax increment financing, or TIF, district, where homeowners and other stakeholders will have the chance to comment, will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 3, at the Hancock County Courthouse Annex.

The Whelchels said they have made numerous attempts to contact Cushman & Wakefield, the law firm dealing with Red Rock’s real estate transactions, to no avail. They say the construction noise and dirt in the air around their home would make it undesirable to other potential buyers. Meanwhile, the price of real estate has only gone up.

“We’re kind of stuck there,” Danny Whelchel said.

The Whelchels said the offer for their home was based on its estimated value on the real estate website Zillow. The house is currently listed as being worth $185,300, though similar nearby homes have recently sold for above $270,000, according to the site.

Michael Weishaar, Red Rock’s attorney at Cushman & Wakefield, told the Daily Reporter he would contact the company to attempt to find more information on the Whelchels’ property.

Red Rock is planning three buildings totaling more than 2.2 million square feet north of County Road 200N and east and west of Buck Creek Road. The buildings are being constructed on speculation, meaning no future occupants have been identified. It is part of a building boom in western Hancock County of millions of square feet of industrial and warehouse space that already has altered the landscape.

The developer plans to make improvements needed for Buck Creek Road, and the Hancock County Redevelopment Commission agreed the county will reimburse those costs up to $1.5 million.

The district’s eastern boundary would be County Road 700W between Interstate 70 and County Road 400N, before jutting east about halfway to Mt. Comfort Road before continuing north back up to 500N.

Kristan Wulfkuhle, a homeowner in the area who put together a meeting with state and local officials to discuss the Red Rock development and the county’s overall practices regarding TIF districts, said the company has been less responsive since that meeting.

She added that the neighborhood is seeing a lot of construction traffic on County Road 300W, although there are signs posted in the area instructing construction traffic not to use it.

Wulfkuhle and other homeowners in the area sent Red Rock a list of concerns regarding the development relating to light pollution, noise and other potential problems. She said the developer’s response did not adequately address their worries.

The Whelchels are also mourning the loss of character of the neighborhood they moved into 41 years ago. Until recently, it was mostly surrounded by farmland. Danny Whelchel said that if they are unable to get a buyout for their home, he hopes Red Rock will at least consider adding a sidewalk to that section of Buck Creek Road, since it is no longer safe to walk on the road.

“I hope that’s not too much to ask,” he said.

In its response to the homeowners, Red Rock said that based on setup, utility and landscaping needs, there would not be enough room to install a safe sidewalk.

Hancock County planner Mike Dale said the Red Rock development has followed all the typical procedures for an industrial project coming into Hancock County. The area of the development was already zoned for industrial use.

“It’s unusual in the respect that the community’s taken so much interest,” Dale said; he added that the planning office provided community members with information including the development plans.

Dale said Red Rock is an experienced developer and has made good efforts to work with homeowners on its plans. He said some of the things homeowners have asked for do not fall under Hancock County’s code.

“There are some things that are above and beyond what the ordinances would require,” he said.

The development is near the border of Marion County, and a business owner on the other side of the county line has also objected. Shani Williams, the owner of Morgan Acres event venue, started an online petition objecting to the development in the area.

“The last thing we need is an industrial park built in our backyard to take away our ambiance — that country feel — and to detract from all the progress that has been made to create a new image for the Far East Side (of Indianapolis),” the petition states.

Once a TIF district is created, taxes generated by new development after that point can be set aside for redevelopment commissions to use to benefit the area. This would be Hancock County’s fifth TIF district. At a Hancock County Board of Commissioners meeting in June, two of the commissioners voted in favor of proceeding with the development and the TIF district.

Commissioner Marc Huber said he would not consider voting in favor of the project unless he had a guarantee from the developers that the TIF district would put funds toward public safety and schools.
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