Tweaked ordinance change would still allow growth for less desired industries in IEC

Joseph Dits, South Bend Tribune
·1 min read
A sign for concrete company Ozinga is posted near the Smith Ready Mix Concrete plant on Walnut Road on April 25, 2024, near New Carlisle.
A sign for concrete company Ozinga is posted near the Smith Ready Mix Concrete plant on Walnut Road on April 25, 2024, near New Carlisle.

Officials are coming to the St. Joseph County Council with a modified version of a proposed ordinance change that will permit a concrete contractor to expand in the Indiana Enterprise Center near New Carlisle — and without which, the contractor would violate the IEC’s overlay district rules.

The IEC is hungry for concrete to build big, new industries like Amazon’s data center and the GM/Samsung EV battery plant.

But the overlay district bans certain kinds of unwanted industry, such as mining operations, slaughterhouses and junkyards.

The proposed change would allow certain pre-existing businesses already in the IEC — even though they are considered less desirable — to grow their buildings and paved areas by 25%, rather than 50% as originally suggested.

How this issue came about: With possible violation of New Carlisle overlay district, county seeks to tweak wording.

The softened percentage appeased those who’d opposed the expansion at the Area Plan Commission meeting on May 21, including rural and environmental advocate Steve Francis and New Carlisle resident Dan Caruso. They worried that an exception like this weakened the overlay district’s protections.

The change was sparked this spring after Caruso noticed how concrete contractor Ozinga was already setting up a temporary operation on land that a competitor, Smith Ready Plant, was leasing to it. Seeing it as a violation, he alerted county officials.

The APC itself, which had raised questions on May 21, too, ultimately voted 6-0 to give the tweaked wording a favorable recommendation at its June 18 meeting.

The modified measure will come to the county council for its approval on July 9. It gained a favorable recommendation from the council’s Land Use Planning Committee on June 25.

South Bend Tribune reporter Joseph Dits can be reached at 574-235-6158 or jdits@sbtinfo.com.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: County change would let industries in IEC overlay district to grow