Today, a nighttime driver on Interstate 65 approaching the State Road 47 exit in Boone County finds only darkness, without even a gas station in sight. But county leaders expect to see development over the next decade at Exit 146, and they want to manage that growth.
To that end, Boone County is working to create the 65/47 Economic Development Area that would be bounded by West County Road 750 North to the north, the CSX Railroad tracks west of Witt Road to the east, West County Road 450 North to the south and North County Road 350 West to the west.
Establishing an EDA is the first step toward spurring business and residential development. The county plans to follow up with infrastructure construction and improvements, beginning with sewer service.
Future development could include a new headquarters for Lebanon-based Merritt Contracting Inc., light industrial uses, housing, and commercial and retail businesses.
“We’re not saying we want this to develop as fast as we possibly can,” Boone County Commissioner Jeff Wolfe said. “What we’re saying is, we want to be prepared for what’s going to happen.”
The I-65 interchange at S.R. 47 is in unincorporated Boone County, about 4-1/2 miles east of Thorntown. It is also about 3 miles north of the 9,000-acre LEAP Lebanon Research and Innovation District where Eli Lilly and Co. is spending more than $13 billion on a massive manufacturing campus and where Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook, could invest up to $4.8 billion to build a data center on a 1,500-acre property.
Commissioner Donnie Lawson said that, while Boone County’s agricultural tradition is important to him, he recognizes times are changing rapidly and the county needs to be able to respond and prepare for growth.
Lawson is a lifelong Boone County resident who grew up in the 1960s, when I-65 was built through the county.
“As many years as I’ve driven through that [area] every day, I like the way it is,” he said. “But time changes, and the county is developing, and so we need to move forward with this and not drag our feet.”
Preparing for change
The I-65 interchange at S.R. 47 is one of just two between Indianapolis and Chicago that have experienced no development. The other is Exit 188, at S.R. 18 in White County, about 15 miles north of Lafayette.
More than 49,000 drivers per day passed Exit 146 in 2023, an increase of about 10,000 daily motorists since 2013, according to data from the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Wolfe said developers have for years approached the county with plans for the interchange, but the area lacks utilities needed for growth, particularly water and wastewater.
“When you start looking at developers that would look at an intersection like that, sometimes the cost of private utilities can be prohibitive,” he said.
Despite the lack of utilities, Wolfe said the number of developers looking at Exit 146 has increased in the past year.
“It started becoming apparent that pressure for that intersection was going to grow pretty quickly at this point in time,” Wolfe said. “And so we started saying, ‘OK, if that’s the case, what do we need to do to prepare for that?’”
Boone County’s population has increased 29% since 2010, the second-highest growth rate in Indiana and the 68th-highest in the nation, with formerly small communities like Whitestown attracting new residents at a rapid clip.
The county’s median household income is growing also, and now tops $92,000, second only to Hamilton County statewide. Commercial and industrial developments are exploding along I-65, bringing in hundreds of new jobs every year.
Early this year, the Boone County Commissioners approved a plan to create what is known as a zoning overlay district along major thoroughfares and across four key intersections, including at I-65 and S.R. 47, in unincorporated areas of the central and western half of the county.
The goal of the overlay district is to protect farmland in the largely rural county by driving development instead to the overlay areas.
An overlay district is a planning tool that creates a second layer of zoning regulations on top of the primary zoning district. It applies only if someone wants to rezone an area and receives approval.
For example, land that is zoned agricultural will remain agricultural until someone seeks a change in zoning. If a zoning change is granted, the overlay district automatically regulates what types of development are permitted. The appeal to developers is the predictability of approved uses within the overlay district.
The overlay district spans 750 feet on both sides of some sections of interstates 65 and 74; U.S. 52; and State Roads 32, 39, 47 and 75—areas that are most suitable for growth.
Four intersections likely to experience increased development—I-65/S.R. 47, U.S. 52/S.R. 47, S.R. 39/S.R. 47, and S.R. 32/S.R. 75—are also covered by overlay districts.
At S.R. 39/S.R. 47, and I-65/S.R. 47, the overlay district reaches 3,000 feet in every direction. At the other two intersections—U.S. 52/S.R. 47 and S.R. 32/S.R. 75—the district stretches 4,500 feet in every direction.
Wolfe said the boundaries of the 65/47 Economic Development Area are larger than the overlay district because the county expects to see more pressure to develop farther from the interchange.
“We wanted to be able to react if other types of development started looking it over,” he said.
Quick interest
As the county works to plan the 65/47 Economic Development Area, Lawson said a planned unit development is also in the works for about 122 acres on the southwest corner of the interchange. A PUD is a tool that defines and regulates proposed development and guides developers on permitted uses and design standards.
Lebanon-based Merritt Contracting Inc. approached the county this year with a plan for a development at the southwest corner called 47 Commons. If approved, the project would feature Merritt Contracting’s new company headquarters and other businesses.
“They love the area, and this is an ideal place for them,” Lawson said. “It’s not a done deal yet, but it’s certainly something that we’re looking at a lot.”
Merritt Contracting President Tom Merritt said his company has spent about five years looking for a new home that fits its needs and budget. The company currently has about 135 employees in Lebanon.
Merritt Contracting’s headquarters would occupy about 10 acres. Merritt said the company, through its development arm called MCI Development LLC, expects to spend $30 million in an initial phase to construct its headquarters and build a new road, infrastructure and a potential ready-mix concrete facility. Construction on the first phase could begin next summer and be complete by the middle of 2026.
Merritt said he expects the 47 Commons project will have a total investment of $80 million to $120 million.
“The recent, unprecedented level of growth and investment in Boone County has driven up land prices, creating challenges but also opportunities,” he said. “This project will help solidify and cultivate Boone County’s local tax and job base while supporting the growth of grassroots businesses like ours.”
Wolfe said Merritt Contracting plans to use private wells for water and commercial septic systems for wastewater until the county can expand water services and construct a sewer district to serve the area.
With Merritt Contracting making plans for the southwest quadrant of the interchange, Lawson said he expects development over the next five to 10 years on the other three sides, including housing and industrial and commercial businesses.
“We need this first one to be done the right way and follow all the rules there so that it sets the example of whoever comes into the next one,” he said.
Wolfe said the Merritt Contracting plan “is the type of development that you really, really want to encourage if you’re going to have development.”
“There’s an awful lot of people in Boone County that would love to see Boone County stop developing, and we have respect for that attitude,” he said. “I’m a farm kid myself, so I have respect for that. But there’s also a realistic side to this, too, of our location and our access to the interstate and those things that put an awful lot of pressure on that area.”
Lawson said the county still has work to do in creating the economic development area, and county leaders will continue to hold public meetings to discuss plans with residents.
“It’s time, with everything that’s going on here in Boone County,” he said. “The county is growing, and I think that we really have to look at it seriously to make sure that it’s good for the community, good for the people that live around there and travel through there all the time, and good for the county.”
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