Planning committee reviews revised PUD for former Beckton School site; neighbors press for stronger vetting and protections

The Gary Planning and Development Committee on Tuesday reviewed a revised planned unit development ordinance for the former Beckton School property that would rezone the site for light manufacturing and related uses while adding enforceable design and operational limits.

Planning staff and the developer presented a redlined draft that adds timing requirements — “demolition should happen within 8 months; development must commence in 18 months,” and primary infrastructure completed within three years — and a clause requiring trucks to enter and exit from West 20th Street (20 Second Avenue) rather than 20 Third Street, staff said.

Why it matters: The PUD would change the zoning for a parcel that abuts residential blocks. Committee members and nearby residents said they want stronger guarantees that the project will not replicate problems from previous industrial uses on former school sites, while the developer said the revisions address technical and design concerns previously raised by staff.

Corey Sharp, zoning department staff, said the revised ordinance clarifies definitions, ties unspecified standards back to the underlying M1 zoning, and adds items that must be submitted to the Site Plan Review Committee (site plan, traffic study, photometrics, landscape plan, signage and related exhibits) so the city can enforce what is shown on permit drawings. Sharp said the ordinance also strikes several uses — including shipping/trucking terminals and outdoor construction-material storage — and adds prohibited items such as stacked railroad or shipping containers and data centers.

Attorney Jim Weiser, representing the petitioner, said he and city staff have largely resolved the technical issues in the staff report. Architect Carl Heitman showed revised elevations and site drawings that the team said reduce the visible impact on neighboring residential areas by increasing landscape buffers, relocating emergency/fire lanes to existing alleys, and adding an encircling security fence plus an 8-foot solid fence around the rear storage yard.

Key development standards discussed included a maximum primary-structure height the ordinance caps at 50 feet (the architect said the design is about 42 feet, 10 inches), accessory structures limited to 22.5 feet, rooftop mechanical equipment set back and screened from the street, and strengthened lighting rules to prevent light spill onto adjacent lots. The ordinance includes a 50-foot buffer yard where the site abuts residential property and specifies initial plant sizes and mound heights for screening.

Committee members asked for clarification on truck routing and pavement impacts. The petitioner said a truck-impact study was completed for 20 Second and 20 Third streets; the developer and staff agreed they could add language addressing street repairs if necessary. The project drawing identifies 72 trailer parking spaces on the north side of the site; the ordinance defines “trailer staging” as parking of trailers or semi cabs on the same site for consecutive periods in excess of 48 hours.

Residents and neighborhood advocates urged the committee to require more vetting of the developers, stronger community-benefit commitments and enforceable protections. Resident Carolyn McCready cited past failed projects and told the committee the city must vet developers’ records before approving rezoning. “When the PUD is prettied up, it is still the same project,” McCready said. Resident Gary Lee questioned employment claims and whether proposed jobs would go to Gary residents, saying, “They don’t know what’s gonna go on at that building.” Doreen Carey, speaking for Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, pointed to a nearby trucking PUD with ongoing zoning violations and urged denying or delaying the rezoning until the city updates its comprehensive plan and zoning code.

No formal committee vote was taken. Chairman Darren Washington said the item and related ordinances will go to the full Common Council agenda on April 15 for final action.

What’s next: The revised PUD will be considered by the full Common Council on April 15. Committee members and staff indicated they will seek specific enforceable language on truck routing, repair of impacted streets and final design exhibits to be incorporated into the ordinance before council action.