The Vigo County Area Plan Commission gave a favorable recommendation Wednesday night to a request to rezone thousands of acres in southern Vigo County for a possible new industrial park.
The 3,821 acres are owned by Terre Haute businessman Greg Gibson.
The request now goes to the Vigo County Commissioners. Plan commission member Brad Anderson, who is also a Vigo County Commissioner, abstained from the vote. Plan commissioners Bob All, Troy Fears and Jeff Ford were absent from the meeting.
Several people living near the site, which is just north of Indiana 246 near the Sullivan County line, spoke against the rezoning. One neighbor, Randy Knopp, said he recently found a business at the site making ammunition, which would not be allowed by the land's current agricultural zoning.
"They're down there building ammo," Knopp said after the meeting.
However, Gibson, reached later Wednesday night, said ammunition manufacturing is not taking place at the site. He is leasing a former coal company office building on a monthly basis to a business interested in ammunition research, but no manufacturing is taking place, he said.
"Vigo County at its finest," grumbled one of those who attended the meeting immediately after the plan commissioners' voice vote. Dozens of people attended the one-hour meeting in the Vigo County annex, many apparently in opposition to the rezoning.
If ultimately approved, the rezoning would make the property, which includes rail lines and easy access to U.S. 41, more marketable as an industrial site, said Steve Witt, president of the Terre Haute Economic Development Corp., who spoke at the meeting.
Some opponents, however, asked why the rezoning was being sought without a prospective company waiting to build at the site.
"It's a lot easier to attract a [business] if the property is already a turn-key site," answered Darren Maher, executive director of the Area Planning Department, which also gave a favorable recommendation to the rezoning. Use of the site for industrial purposes fits the county's comprehensive zoning plan, Maher stated at another point in the meeting.
There are no companies lined up with plans to move into the site, Witt said. However, the site offers possibilities that are not currently available at the Vigo County Industrial Park or elsewhere in the area. As a result, the site will broaden the scope of businesses the county can hope to attract, he said.