Hammond planning panel backs subdivision and rezoning for large storage, RV facility with solar canopy

The City of Hammond Plan Commission voted unanimously Oct. 20 to grant preliminary and final approval for a one‑lot subdivision and to forward a rezoning recommendation that would allow a large private storage and RV/boat facility on multiple parcels near Sheffield Avenue and 136th Street.

Petitioner Scott Yaney, speaking for Storage Development Hammond LLC and accompanied by principal Amit Patel, told commissioners the project would consolidate five tax parcels into a single lot at 3518 Sheffield Avenue (and the parcel around 345 136th Street) and put previously underused, environmentally challenged land back into productive use. "One of the significant aspects of this project is that you might wonder, that's a really big swath of land. What used to exist there? As far back as anybody can determine, nothing," Yaney said, and added that Mead and others have been working on contamination remediation.

Yaney described the development…