Boone County judge dismisses lawsuit challenging massive development
A Boone County Circuit Court judge Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by landowners against Lebanon and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. that challenged the annexation of more than 5,000 acres for a new development headlined by a $1.6 billion Eli Lilly development.
The lawsuit, filed by 11 landowners in January, claimed the annexation was illegal because it was not included in the city's comprehensive plan, which was adopted in January of 2020 and is a guideline for how the city should develop. The challenge also addressed the zoning of the annexed land, which it said was illegal due to Lebanon's development guidelines.
City officials passed an updated development plan for Lebanon and the annexed land in mid-August.
Lebanon Mayor Matt Gentry, a Republican, called the legal challenge "an attempt to delay a 100% voluntary annexation that had no reason to be filed" in a social media post.
"All that resulted from this frivolous lawsuit was a waste of taxpayer dollars and an affirmation that the City of Lebanon followed the law precisely," said Gentry. "I am glad we have received the Court’s decision to dismiss this case with prejudice. The City of Lebanon will continue to work with the IEDC to develop the LEAP Lebanon district into a world-class research and innovation district that will bring boundless opportunities and benefits to the citizens of Lebanon and the State of Indiana."
Zionsville lawyer Michael Andreoli, who represented the landowners, said the court took the case under advisement for so long "to allow the city to fix what they’ve done wrong" and rework the annexation and rezoning into the comprehensive plan. He denied the case was frivolous.
Boone County Preservation Group, a local group formed in opposition to the LEAP District, said that though the lawsuit did not rule in favor of the landowners, the legal challenge had the desired effect, which was that the city and the IEDC changed their development plans and zoning to exist within the city's comprehensive plan.
“We supported this filing to force the local government to follow its own rules and ensure the correct processes were used when approving such an enormous project,” Jim Love, a Boone County resident and group member, said in a statement. “Lebanon went back and corrected the issues brought in the suit, leaving the case moot. However, we got the desired outcome and hope this serves as a warning to all levels of government that they cannot cut corners in the future.”
The district is anchored by Eli Lilly's $3.7B investment in 12 buildings encompassing 1.6 million square feet, including two 330,000 square-foot three-story peptide manufacturing facilities.
Though Lilly is the only company to commit publicly to LEAP thus far, the IEDC is marketing the site to manufacturing and technology companies, earlier this summer requested $122 million to attract a $50 billion semiconductor facility to the district.
Contact business reporter Claire Rafford at 317-617-3402 or email crafford@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Boone County judge dismisses lawsuit challenging massive development
