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Commission recommends industrial rezoning for parcel west of US‑31; residents express traffic, noise and property‑value concerns
Summary
The planning commission voted to recommend rezoning a 23.17‑acre parcel south of US‑31 and adjacent to an existing 195,000‑square‑foot building from agricultural (with overlay) to HI heavy industrial, subject to annexation; neighbors raised concerns about traffic, noise, annexation and property values.
The Kokomo City Planning Commission on May 13 recommended that the Common Council adopt a rezoning that would change a roughly 23.17‑acre parcel adjacent to East 400 North from agricultural (with US‑31 overlay) to HI high‑intensity industrial, a step the developer said is needed to support future industrial development next to a 195,000‑square‑foot building now under construction.
Rob Young of The Hegeman Group, representing the prospective purchaser and developer HH Real Estate Holdings LLC, told the commission the parcel would provide expansion capacity for the industrial campus that includes a speculative building the developer is completing at 414 East 400 North. Young said the parcel may host another speculative building or a smaller user; no tenant was announced at the hearing.
Young said the rezoning request is intended to match existing industrial uses in the area and to increase the community’s inventory of industrial buildings and sites. "We believe our rezoning request is consistent with those situations," Young said, referencing nearby industrial employers and existing infrastructure.
Staff’s report recommended a favorable recommendation to the Common Council; the report noted that approval is conditioned on annexation and that the rezoning would be effective on the annexation date. Staff also noted that some adjacent parcels remain residential and that the city comprehensive plan does not currently show a future land‑use designation for the site because it is not yet inside city limits.
Several residents and landowners asked questions or objected during public comment. Geraldine Arnold, who lives on a nearby road, said notice of the applications and the multiple parcels involved had confused neighbors and expressed frustration with cumulative development on Kokomo’s north end. "We have just put up with so much out there on the North end of town," Arnold said, listing roads and factory projects that she said have already changed the area.
Cassandra Hester, who lives near the Nickel Plate Trail, said she worries about property values, contamination and increased traffic if heavy industrial development expands behind her house. "When is enough enough?" Hester asked, noting ambulance access and her family’s reliance on nearby roads. Other neighbors raised potential truck traffic and noise. Planning staff and the developer responded that specific site‑plan details — including buffer yards, landscape screening and driveway access — would be addressed in later development plan hearings and that state and city transportation authorities control the design and access of the state roads in the area.
The commission voted to forward a favorable recommendation to the Common Council. The staff report, and the commission’s motion, make the recommendation contingent on annexation; the rezoning would take effect on the annexation date and any future development would be subject to site‑plan review, landscape buffer requirements and any state permits required for access to US‑31 or other state highways.
The recommendation will be presented to the Common Council by Councilman Greek hue for final action.
