The Niespodziany Ditch runs through farmland near Walnut Road in New Carlisle. South Bend Tribune File Photo/ROBERT FRANKLIN
SOUTH BEND — After allowing a contentious industrial rezoning of 730 acres near New Carlisle in September, St. Joseph County Council signaled it’s not inclined to permit more rezoning related to the Indiana Enterprise Center.
Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to deny rezoning about 24 acres at the northeast corner of Indiana 2 and Willow Road from agricultural to industrial.
County economic development officials sought the rezoning as one of the last pieces in a puzzle as they ready a new “core development area” for the controversial IEC. But council members questioned how necessary it was and said they have a hard time answering questions about why more land should be rezoned when new development hasn’t happened yet.
With the 700-plus-acre rezoning in September, council demonstrated it’s “willing to come to the table, but right now we’re kind of sitting alone at the table,” council member Joseph Canarecci, Democrat, District H, said.
The county has invested about three years and several million dollars developing a plan for a 7,200-acre, expandable industrial complex east of New Carlisle. The idea has been to capitalize on existing industrial development in that area by creating a “mega-park” that could be one of the largest industrial parks in the U.S. and serve as an economic engine for the region.
Copyright © 2024, South Bend Tribune