LEBANON — Indiana Economic Development Corp. has asked the City of Lebanon to annex an additional 5,225 acres as part of a historic industrial development. And the city is scrambling to develop a new zoning classification for that land.
LEAP Lebanon will be a high-tech industrial park on land north and northwest of the city. LEAP, which stand for Limitless Exploration-Advanced Pace, would be the largest economic development project in Indiana history.
IEDC officials are simultaneously courting multiple high-tech industry giants for the development district but have named none after the announcement that Eli Lilly & Co. would build a $2.1 billion campus to house a pharmaceutical manufacturing operation north of Lebanon.
The City Council in July annexed LEAP Lebanon’s first 1,396 acres. Lilly will occupy 600 acres of that and is anticipated to begin construction next year.
Now the state and 43 property owners of about 122 parcels have petitioned the city for a voluntary annexation of 5,225 acres. The state has the land under contract with the current owners and will buy as the land is needed by companies that want to build here.
Several landowners elected not to sell and will not be forced from their homes.
The IEDC reported to the city in June that it had about 6,000 acres under contract. The second annexation would bring a total 6,621 acres into the city.
It’s clear the state is still negotiating for more land, but Lebanon Planning Director Ben Bontrager said last week that the two areas together probably represent the bulk of the project for now.
Boone County Commissioners have hired a firm to create a Planned Unit Development district for the area with the help of local officials and residents.
The Boone County Preservation Group, a grassroots organization represented by attorney Michael Andreoli, has been particularly involved in developing the PUD, which is expected to be complete in early 2023.
The preservation group wants to save farmland and Boone County’s rural homes and way of life.
Mayor Matthew Gentry has said the city will adopt the county’s PUD.
But the PUD is incomplete, and the first annexation was zoned general industrial, with some exclusions. Land south of the Big 4 Trail would be zoned the same, which is the closest classification the city has for high-tech manufacturing. But it really isn’t fitting, planning chief Bontrager said. Bontrager once worked for the IEDC and has done previous work with the PUD developers. The “LEAP Development Plan District” zoning classification will be included in the PUD next year. So Bontrager and city officials are scurrying to get the classification in place in city code before the second annexation occurs.
The City Plan Commission will consider the request for recommendation to the City Council on Monday.
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