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[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=54065.42

Co. Committee To Look At Intermodal
Officials to start advisory task force to ensure ‘transparent’ process in development.

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

LA PORTE - An advisory task force is being created to help county officials evaluate prospective developers and sites for an intermodal freight terminal in La Porte County.

County Commission President Barbara Huston said in a press release Friday the commissioners are developing an "orderly and fair process" that would involve public input. The task force will have 15 to 20 members.

The convergence of rail lines, coupled with closeness to major interstate highways, has positioned La Porte County as a prime location for a facility that could create jobs and boost economic development. It would serve as a place where cargo is transferred between trucks and trains.

Two railroad companies are said to be eying locations here, but are saying little publicly about their plans. Some property owners have said they have been approached by a real estate company that has been buying options on farmland in southern La Porte County.

"We will put a very public, transparent process in place to evaluate developers and sites before we ever give approvals to anyone," Huston said.

Huston said the county has received multiple inquiries from real estate firms, venture capital groups, railroads and real estate investment trusts interested in prospective county locations. She said county attorney Shaw Friedman and county economic development coordinator Matt Reardon will coordinate contacts and issue a request of interest to identify serious proposals.

Her own preference is to use the Kingsbury Industrial Park as the site of the intermodal facility, but she and the other commissioners are open to all possibilities, she said.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=35581.87

Plan Brings Large Crowd
Intermodal opponents return to urge new study for county land use to keep facility out of plan.

Jason Miller
The News-Dispatch

LA PORTE - Opponents of an intermodal facility could lose a battle if zoning changes aimed at protecting them from it are removed from a recently completed land-use study.

"I think it would be terrible," consultant Connie Cooper told a crowd at the La Porte County Complex on Wednesday discussing the study. "It would leave you defenseless. People think 'let's just don't mention the word and it won't happen.

"That's not gonna happen."

Nearly 100 intermodal opponents showed up at the land-use meeting, despite the it having little to do with the intermodal facility long rumored to be slated near Union Mills.

The plan contains recommendations on zoning changes meant to protect against the effects of large-scale facilities like an intermodal - many of which are feared by opponents.

La Porte County Attorney Shaw Friedman, on behalf of La Porte County Commission President Barb Huston, read a statement from Huston requesting any mention of the intermodal be stricken from the proposal.

The request was met with applause from opponents, despite Cooper's contention the zoning changes recommended would force any large facility to, for example, provide sewer and buffers from residential areas.

Hugh Glasgow, a Union Mills-area farmer who opposes the facility, said with the intermodal in the plan, any chance of turning it away would be futile.

"If you put the star on Union Mills, it diminishes our bargaining power," Glasgow said of a map which indicated Union Mills and Pinola as the two sites mentioned by developers. "We need to keep industry where the land is already polluted."

Cooper said at a meeting last month that the plan has nothing to do with the intermodal's success or failure, and that the reason it's in the plan is because it's an issue that needs to

be identified.

The plan Cooper presented is aimed at shoring up development and zoning in the county to get away from zoning habits the county currently has, specifically because it uses a zoning ordinance designed in 1964.

It deals mainly with changing minimum lot sizes and stemming the tide of spot development in rural areas with no sewer.

The discussion, however, was taken over by the intermodal.

"If (an intermodal) happens, at least you'll put into place a plan that you like," she said. "If you take it out of the plan, it won't do anything to change it (because outside entities are planning the facility). You need some safeguards because something like this might happen."

Contact reporter Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com.