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Landowners urge halt to Continental Divide/master-plan process, warn of eminent domain
Summary
During public comment at the St. Joseph County Redevelopment Commission, several landowners and local officials criticized the Continental Divide/master-plan process for poor outreach and expressed alarm that eminent domain language could be used to take private property; callers urged pausing the effort and involving landowners from the start.
Multiple landowners and at least one South Bend council member used the commission's public comment period on July 14 to sharply criticize how a proposed 'Continental Divide' or master-plan effort has been handled and to raise explicit concerns about eminent domain.
Dan Caruso (305 Compton St., New Carlisle) told the commission the process had been 'bungled' and that property owners had not been engaged early. He warned that if plans require crossing private backyards or use of eminent domain residents would 'be pretty ticked off' and resist, and urged officials to delay the process until after the election and restart outreach with landowners at the first step. "This whole thing has got to wait at least till after the election, and then start over again with the first person you sit down and talk to being the landowners," he said.
Chantell Snyder (57501 Mayflower Road, South Bend) said she had read the legislation and master plan repeatedly and called the eminent domain language "very disturbing." Snyder said a map showed part of her farm inside a 'destination district' and declared, "I'm not willing to sell it," urging the commission to scrap the legislation and involve landowners from day one.
Brent Berkes (58995 Mayflower Road) urged commissioners to read the baseline legislation and criticized what he described as a city-driven effort that treats project managers as stakeholders instead of landowners; he cited a 2021 South Bend document that described creating an "ecodistrict" for parts of Saint Joe County and warned of concentrating decisionmaking in a five-person commission that includes city and Pokagon representation.
Derek Dieter (1740 Portage Ave.), a former city council member, raised questions about public spending and records: he said Saint Joe County taxpayers paid $315,636.08 from the New Carlisle TIF and that the city contributed $187,500 to related work; he said he had submitted invoices and other documents and urged staff to respond to those information requests.
Oliver Davis, a member of the South Bend Common Council, said officials must avoid passing legislation before meaningful public input, noting that in his experience public meetings were sometimes held after ordinances were already drafted. "When people come up to the mic and say that we didn't know," he said, "that makes no sense to me." He called for earlier notice and engagement.
No responses or policy changes were announced during the meeting; the comments closed the meeting and commissioners adjourned.
