Residents’ concerns fail to halt plan to create investment area on city's northeast side

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Howard County is short on shovel-ready industrial land. The arrival of the StarPlus Energy battery plant last year consumed hundreds of acres on the northeast side of Kokomo, leaving the community without parcels zoned for this type of investment.

On Feb. 10, the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance (GKEDA), the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC), and the owners of 41 parcels of land near the StarPlus investment petitioned the Kokomo Planning Commission for a rezoning of 700 acres of land for heavy industrial investment.

The measure prompted hundreds of residents to fill the council chambers at City Hall and to remonstrate against the move. The opposition was driven by alleged plans to bring a data center to the community, though such a development currently exists only as speculation. Regardless, those filling the chambers and the foyer beyond it on Feb. 10 made it clear that they oppose any industrial investment in the area.

The pushback wasn’t unexpected. Local Realtor Paul Wyman, representing the petitioners seeking rezoning, held a meeting with affected residents on Feb. 5, attracting a similar crowd of remonstrators in advance of the plan commission meeting. The fight that began there spilled into the plan commission meeting, where Wyman again made the case for creating an industrial park.

He began by explaining that industrial investment in the area began in the early 1990s when Chrysler Corp. chose to build the Indiana Transmission Plant along Ind. 931, and to later add what is now an engine plant in 1998. To accommodate this growth, Howard County leaders enacted an Economic Development Income Tax to fund the vast infrastructure improvements such an investment required.

“Our community, the citizens of Kokomo and Howard County have a huge stake in this location because of the millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars that were put into this project to bring the utilities to this location to start this type of investment,” said Wyman. “That happened 30 years ago, and with that type of investment, you would hope that it would generate additional investment. The zoning of high industrial for that transmission plant did just that.”

Wyman argued that because the infrastructure is already in place, the 700 acres slated for industrial rezoning makes sense. The cost of extending utilities would be minimized by building near the previous developments. This theory was validated by the StarPlus investment, and he believes that investment 30 years ago will translate into more development, should the targeted properties be rezoned.

“All of your major utilities are literally sitting at the proposed industrial park,” said Wyman. “This has been the projected growth over the last 30 years. The next step is to zone industrial ground so that we as a community can say to prospective companies and investment, ‘Come here. We have utilities already upgraded.’

“When you put the whole package together, we have an additional 700 acres that we will be able to go out to the world and say, ‘Kokomo is open for business.’”

Wyman further acknowledged the opposition to the rezoning, but contended the northeast area is the only logical choice for further industrial investment.

“You can see by the turnout tonight, it’s a tremendous amount of discomfort,” said Wyman. “But anywhere that you would put a proposed project like this in our community, you would have the same kind of conversation. Why here? Why not here?

“The reality for us is there is no other location in Kokomo and Howard County than this one that has the utility capacity, the interstate-quality highway, and four significant industrial investments, which is why this area is being proposed.”

Kyle Chambers, an attorney representing the IEDC, explained that the organization already owns 170 acres in the proposed rezoning area and has been marketing the land for industrial investment.

“The City had always been aware that IEDC’s plan was to eventually annex and rezone the rest of its property in order to bolster the marketability of the site,” said Chambers. “IEDC thought it a prudent idea to go ahead and participate with the rezoning to further make the site more marketable and enticing to potential end users.”

And GKEDA CEO Lori Dukes threw her organization’s support behind the rezoning.

From the start, the plan was to create an industrial park,” said Dukes. “It’s a vision that’s remained unchanged. From our perspective, having development-ready industrial land is critical. We regularly receive requests from site selectors, and we are looking forward to an inventory that we can continue to supply to these opportunities for growth.”

Wyman then stoked concerns about revenue that is projected to dry up in the wake of legislative acts at the Indiana Statehouse. Property tax reform stands to eliminate tens of millions of dollars from local government coffers. Additional industrial investment, he contended, will help blunt the impact of this legislation.

“When we talk about having an industrial park like this and attracting investment, it’s one of the things that ends up helping fill that gap for local governments going forward,” said Wyman. “You’ve seen some of the fees, some of the taxes that local governments have had to put into place. The ultimate goal is future growth for a community that can provide services taxpayers expect.”

Before he left the microphone to allow the remonstrators to respond, Wyman obliquely addressed the rumors that part of the planned investment in targeted area for rezoning will involve a data center, claiming that nothing definitive has been presented.

City attorney T.J. Rethlake, serving as counsel to the planning commission spoke next, explaining that the plan commission was empowered to give either a favorable or an unfavorable recommendation on the rezoning, which will be forwarded to the Kokomo Common Council on Feb. 23. He also pointed out that the commission had no information about any proposed projects that may be attached to the parcels in question, which would prevent them from answering questions about future development.

“There’s no development plan on the table yet,” said Rethlake. “All we’re looking at is rezoning. That’s the sole scope of this board. I’ve heard a lot of speculation, but there’s no projects on the agenda tonight. We’re not approving any projects.

“But I promise you that if there’s a project that comes at a later date, that will be put on a public agenda, and that will be heard again. That is probably the more proper time to answer those questions, because at that point it’s not speculative.”

As happens at most of the hearings involving a rezoning or development that has attracted remonstration, many of the citizens who addressed the commission cited how long they lived near the area in question, along with their concerns about their quality of life should things change.

In this instance, there were questions raised about the ability of the community’s utility providers to handle additional industrial investment, whether new industry would place the health of the community at risk, how new development would eliminate the rural character of the area, and how their property values might be affected. Several also took issue with the short timeframe between the legal notification of the rezoning and the hearing, claiming that one week was insufficient for remonstrators to organize their opposition.

Commission member Jon Pyke, the administrator of the city’s engineering department, cited the rights of the property owners who are making way for the development.

“It’s the people who own the property who are making this request,” said Pyke. “That’s the way capitalism works. These people are probably getting offered life-changing money in order to do what they want to do. The people who are selling this property have property rights as well. We have to protect all the rights.”

What followed was more than two hours of testimony, all in opposition to the rezoning. Dozens of citizens signed up to speak, peppering the commission with every fear and concern, while pessimistically expecting their words to go unheard.

Notable among the remonstrators was Allie Pond, whose home is located close to the proposed rezoning. Citing her strong opposition, along with that of the hundreds in attendance, she claimed that the 30-year plan for industrial development was not known by the community.

“We invested here with reasonable expectation that this land would always remain agricultural and low density, unknowing to us that a plan was laid out 30 years ago to always develop this part of the county,” said Pond. “If we all would have known that, different decisions could have been made. Financial and emotional investments could have been halted.

“I believe a large-scale industrial or commercial development is incompatible with the character of this rural community, and it undermines the very reasons that families chose to live here and stay here for generations.”

Pond also cited the presence of an early cemetery near the proposed rezoning and wondered how industrial investment might disrupt the graveyard. And then she leveled strong criticism at the IEDC.

“I’d also like to voice my concerns about the ongoing investigation against the IEDC,” said Pond. “House Resolution 1511 (currently considered at the Statehouse) states that they are doing an investigation that is set to resolve on July 1. This is looking into the IEDC’s conflicts of interest, financial mismanagement, and overall cultural secrecy. I feel like this must be resolved before we can decide on rezoning this area that will benefit the IEDC.”

Pond asserted that the rezoning would be “permanent and irreversible” and would negatively impact “real people.”

“Samsung is not my neighbor,” said Pond. “It hasn’t watched me grow up out here, and I haven’t called the IEDC once for a cup of sugar.”

Resident Grace Moore lives two miles east of the proposed rezoning. She was incensed by the fact that she received no notice of the action, despite her proximity.

“If you think two miles on a country road is enough space to say that I’m not going to be affected by this, you clearly live in the city and not out in the country, because two miles is nothing in the country,” said Moore. “I do not appreciate the fact that we were not properly informed, because this will affect us. I drive this road every day. I’m a longtime resident of rural Howard County. Over the years, I have seen many large projects come to Howard County with great promises of awesome returns, but the results have been mediocre at best.”

Moore contended that the rezoning amounts to “trading food for factories” by eliminating agricultural land, and she expressed concerns about utility prices should new industrial investment be made.

“Is that something you want your future children to have, or your current children or your grandchildren?” asked Moore. “By bringing an industrial park to Kokomo, you will be putting additional stresses and strains on our electrical grid. Residents have already seen large spikes in our utility bills. If there’s been an upgrade to these utilities, we have yet to see the rewards of these upgrades.

“The proposal will continue to cut into our fragile and dwindling natural resources. Furthermore, this industrial park does not offer enough information for us to feel confident about it. We need more information. I do not believe that it’s fair to those in rural Howard County who purposely moved out there to avoid the hustle and bustle the city who are now being sucked into it unwillingly.”

Resident Kenneth Beard echoed concerns about increased household expenses to area residents with the demands placed on the community’s resources by industrial investment.

“Will our utility costs increase?” asked Beard. “We were told there’s plenty of capacity from a utility standpoint, and that our rates won’t change. I think this is intentionally misleading. House Bill 1421 (under consideration at the Statehouse) allows utility companies to pass infrastructure bill costs on consumers under the construction work in progress framework.

“So yes, our rates may not change, but the delivery fees will most assuredly increase, as many across the state have already experienced. It’s not honest to say that our prices won’t change in our community. We will generate essentially nothing from the property tax perspective for the life of this facility. The only real incentive for this project is potential job creation, and I’m sure, a future income tax increase.

“Who really benefits? The focus needs to be on building a high-value community by enticing (investment) here with robust community services and commerce. There is opportunity in Kokomo, but the answer is not another industrial facility that strip mines local resources, pays no property taxes, and creates minimal job opportunities at best.”

Beard took the additional step of proposing a two-year moratorium on data centers, which he hoped either the planning commission or the Kokomo Common Council would enact.

“If there are as many businesses interested in Kokomo as Mr. Wyman has led us to believe, this should be not an issue at all,” said Beard.

After the testimony was complete and Sheline read the staff findings into the record, plan commission member Kathy Stover moved to continue the matter, though she stated a desire to amend the motion to approve the rezoning and instead institute a moratorium, though what the moratorium would include was not disclosed.

The motion to continue was seconded by commission member Tina Durham, forcing a vote. The commission split evenly on the matter, forcing chairman Mike Besser to vacate the chair to cast a deciding vote against the continuance. The vote on the rezoning proceeded, but this time the vote resulted in a 5-3 decision to offer a favorable recommendation to the common council.

The crowd exploded in anger, with shouts emanating from every corner of the room and the foyer beyond. But the rezoning will move forward and be heard by the Kokomo Common Council on Mon., Feb. 23. That hearing – the first of two readings on the matter – will begin at 6 p.m. in the same chamber that hosted the plan commission in city hall. That hearing also will be livestreamed on KGOV.