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Neighbors press for binding protections as Whitestown panel approves Indianapolis Logistics Park Northwest Phase 2
Summary
The Whitestown Plan Commission approved the preliminary plat and concept plan for Indianapolis Logistics Park Northwest Phase 2 after public comment from adjacent homeowners who asked the town to require enforceable traffic, noise, lighting and buffering protections rather than conceptual commitments. Staff and the petitioner said those details will be addressed at the development-plan stage under the town's UDO.
The Whitestown Plan Commission on Tuesday approved the preliminary plat and concept plan for Indianapolis Logistics Park Northwest Phase 2, a roughly 100-acre industrial project that proposes two buildings including a 669,000-square-foot cross-dock and a 182,000-square-foot rear-load facility.
Resident Tasha Carlisle, who said her home at 4100 Whitestown Parkway sits approximately 300 to 400 feet from a planned entrance, urged the commission to require "detailed enforceable" protections for homeowners before the project moves forward. "We are asking the town to require these protections to be clearly defined and legally binding, not just conceptual," Carlisle told the commission, naming traffic volumes, noise, nighttime lighting and a meaningful buffer of berms or dense tree lines as specific concerns.
Petitioner representative Chad Mays of Kimberly Horne Associates said the developer intends to work with town staff during the development-plan process to design entrances that do not negatively impact local traffic, to meet the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) requirements for lighting and decibel limits at property lines, and to provide a landscape plan that could increase buffering. "We intend ... to work with staff through the development-plan process to come up with a design that does not negatively impact the local traffic," Mays said.
Town staff reiterated that the UDO contains photometric and decibel requirements at property lines and that the development-plan review is the appropriate point to add conditions or require stronger mitigation. Staff recommended approval of the preliminary plat and concept plan, noting that more detail and potential conditions would be added at the development-plan stage.
Commissioners asked about prior outreach and whether the development might operate 24/7; petitioner representatives said those operating hours could be an option and that they had met with adjacent neighbors at a neighborhood meeting. Several commissioners suggested the petitioner meet again with neighbors before the development-plan submittal to review landscaping, buffering and operational measures.
A motion to approve docket PC26-018-PP based on the staff report and submitted findings of fact passed on a roll call vote. The approval allows the project to advance to the development-plan phase, where staff and the commission said they will have the authority to require specific, enforceable mitigation measures.
The plan commission recorded no additional formal conditions at the preliminary-plat vote; the commission and staff emphasized that compliance with the UDO and any added development-plan conditions will govern lighting, noise and landscape buffering. The development-plan application will return to the commission for further review.
