Intermodal facility being explored |
Intermodal facility being explored |
Aug 20 2007, 01:01 PM
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Spends WAY too much time at CBTL Group: Admin Posts: 16,425 Joined: 8-December 06 From: Michigan City, IN Member No.: 2 |
http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=54065.42
QUOTE 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. |
Oct 15 2007, 09:28 AM
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Spends WAY too much time at CBTL Group: Admin Posts: 16,425 Joined: 8-December 06 From: Michigan City, IN Member No.: 2 |
http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=41374.03
QUOTE Commissioner: Land-Use Plan 'Will Be A Big Help' Michigan City, La Porte and county boards will have to support proposal. Jason Miller The News-Dispatch LA PORTE - While a recently completed comprehensive land-use plan was designed to fix issues dating back to the 1960s, discussion has turned into a public debate over an intermodal facility. What's lost in that debate is a document that, if followed, officials believe could solve zoning and development issues plaguing La Porte County since its last zoning plan designed in 1964. "The books we use right now are so outdated. It's why we're doing things the way we are," La Porte County Building Commissioner Ray Hamilton said. "I think this will be a big help. We're like an old stuffed chair. After 40 years, you get comfortable with it. But now, we've decided it's time. And this plan would be a huge help," Hamilton said. Currently, La Porte County operates on zoning maps drawn up in 1964. Along with such antiquated maps come dated zoning concepts and with dated zoning concepts come a preponderance of loosely applied zoning laws. Those laws have created undesirable development better development by doing things like extending sewer and other infrastructure. A big part of the plan deals with rural development in areas without sufficient sewer systems. An example of that kind of development is along U.S. 421 just north of Westville. That community installed water lines last year, helping make projects like University Park Apartments across from Purdue-North Central possible. A tangible piece of evidence of the installation s the appearance of row of fire hydrants between Westville and the PNC campus. "We're looking at the whole thing holistically," Cooper said. "This county has a very old (zoning) ordinance and it's a very good time to look at a new one." While the plan doesn't need all municipalities in the county to sign on, it would be beneficial for the La Porte County Commissioners and the city councils from Michigan City and La Porte, Cooper said. The plan recommends keeping rural development closer to the two major cities for easier access to sewer systems. "The challenge is if the three big players adamantly disagree on one piece and that stops the plan," Cooper said. "We'd hope that doesn't happen." Contact Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com. QUOTE Consultant Hopes Plan Is Approved LA PORTE - Connie Cooper would like to see every municipality in La Porte County sign on to the land-use plan she presented to the community this week. If they don't, however, the plan still has legs and could still straighten out the mess the county finds itself in as it looks to update a 40-year-old zoning plan. "We hope they'd concur," Cooper said this week. "But no, not every incorporated area in the county has to adopt it for it to be in effect." Cooper said this week the land-use plan developed by herself and Eric Kelly, of the Muncie firm Duncan Associates, is designed mainly to deal with unincorporated areas of the county. It presents guidelines by which the county can update its 1964 zoning plan. It also can help with municipal zoning in that the county, cities and towns within it would work together in planning throughout the county, consultant Connie Cooper said. She is one of three people involved in designing the plan. "Seventy percent of the development in this county happens in areas that aren't suitable for development," Cooper said earlier this week during a public meeting to discuss the plan. "It might not be a big problem now, but it will matter in the future." The plan calls for changes in zoning that would, among other things, require high-density development to take place either in areas with municipal sewer systems or in "clusters" which can provide their own municipal sewer. The plan can be viewed online at www.duncanplan.com/laporte. Cooper said too many developments are popping up in the county in areas where septic tanks must be used. She said with the high water table in La Porte County, high concentrations of septic tanks are dangerous to ground water. One way the plan envisions shoring up the issue is by creating a countywide plan commission that would do away with the need for local plan commissions. Cooper said municipalities would still make decisions, they would simply decide based on the recommendations of one, central body. "I think that aspect of the plan will warrant a lot more discussion," Hamilton said. "I can see it on major issues like an intermodal. But I think a local plan commission has a better handle on what's going on in their immediate area." Thursday's meeting on the land use plan was the last public meeting dealing with the proposal, which now faces review by the city councils in Michigan City and La Porte, as well as the La Porte County Commission. The process could last into next year, Cooper said. Contact reporter Jason Miller at jmiller@thenewsdispatch.com. |
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