County to seek help in planning for proposed development district

Maria Flora, The Lebanon Reporter, Ind.
·2 min read

Jun. 6—Boone County Commissioners intend to hire a firm to help the county prepare for a 7,000- to 10,000-acre industrial development proposed north and northwest of Lebanon.

Commissioners President Jeff Wolfe and commissioners' attorney Robert Clutter are interviewing firms offering to provide planning services, Wolfe said during Monday's regular meeting.

Commissioner Don Lawson agreed planning services are warranted, while commissioner Tom Santelli called the need urgent.

The planning required will take about six months to complete and incorporate community input, including from school districts, Wolfe said.

Clutter and Wolfe will meet with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, the organization driving the LEAP Lebanon Innovation and Research District, and are working on possible funding solutions for the required planning, Wolfe said.

LEAP stands for limitless exploration/advanced pace. The district is part of more than 7,000 acres the IEDC has under contract to build a high-tech industrial park on farm and residential land north and northwest of Lebanon.

Eli Lilly and Co. became the first potential tenant with authorities announcing in late May that the global pharmaceutical giant will invest $2.1 billion in two new facilities here.

Lilly is slated to build a multi-structure campus over 600 acres north of Lebanon from north of County Road 350 North to C.R. 450 N. and from Interstate 65 east to the CSX railroad tracks, Boone County Economic Development Director Molly Whitehead said earlier.

Clutter on Tuesday estimated planning services will cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars but the price is not expected to exceed $1 million. The county would not be charged a flat fee but would be billed for actual hours worked.

The firm chosen by the county will help update the county's comprehensive plan to take an innovation and research district into account. It will also develop an ordinance for planned unit developments, in the event the development goes through, Clutter said.

A planned unit development ordinance governs how and by whom land is used in an area proposed for development.

All of the residential, commercial, and farmland in the proposed research and innovation district is in an unincorporated part of the county and falls under commissioners' authority in matters of planning and zoning.

But landowners may ask to have their land annexed into Lebanon and meet the city's zoning requirements instead. Owners of the land proposed for Eli Lilly on Wednesday filed voluntary annexation requests with the city. Lebanon authorities expect to approve or deny the requests in July.

Wolfe plans to bring an offer from a planning firm for consideration during the commissioners' next regular meeting at 9 a.m. June 20 in the Boone County Annex Building, 116 W. Washington St., Lebanon.