Kokomo planning panel forwards contested plan to convert roughly 700 acres to high-intensity industrial

The Kokomo City Planning Commission voted Feb. 10 to forward a petition to rezone roughly 700 acres north of U.S. 31 to high-intensity industrial, after hours of presentations by petitioners and more than two hours of public comment urging delay or denial.

Petitioner representative Paul Wyman told the commission the rezoning is the next step in a 30-year strategy to create an industrial park that can attract large employers and follow up on earlier investments, including what he described as a $4,500,000,000 investment by Samsung and extensive utility upgrades. “When you put the whole package together … Kokomo is open for business,” Wyman said.

The request encompasses multiple parcels now zoned agricultural or rural residential; petitioners and counsel said the Indianapolis-based Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) has acquired multiple parcels and is participating to make the land more marketable to end users. Kyle Chambers, an attorney with Taft Law representing IEDC, said IEDC has no current business connection to prospective buyers and participated to…