CLARKSVILLE, IN (July 20, 2023) – The Clarksville Town Council has approved a rezoning request for a large piece of heavily wooded land in North Clarksville. The property is made up of 140 acres of heavily wooded land located in between Interstate 65 and Apple Leaf Lane. The property sits in North Clarksville near the border of the Town of Sellersburg.
Denton Floyd Real Estate Group is working with the owners of the 140 acre property to develop a large logistics center made up of five building totaling 1,124,000 square feet. In order to proceed with the project, the developers needed the Clarksville Town Council to approve a zoning change of the property from R-1 (Residential) to I-1 (Industrial). The developers and owners of the property say they considered using the land for multi-family residential, however, that plan wouldn’t be financially viable. A public hearing was held in May, during a Clarksville Plan Commission meeting, for residents to learn more about the project and voice any concerns. The Plan Commission then voted to send the rezoning request without a positive or negative recommendation to the Town Council with a vote of 7-0.
Several Sellersburg residents living near Apple Leaf Lane attended the Town Council meeting Tuesday night to speak against the project, mainly due to concerns of aesthetics and increased traffic. To alleviate those concerns, developers noted that they would be taking steps to make sure the logistics center has a large buffer of trees and greenery between the roadway and the logistics center. Although Town code requires a 50 foot buffer between residential and industrial zones, the developers plan to include buffers of 150 or more from Apple Leaf Lane. Those buffers are include in the 46 acres of mature trees and wetlands that the developer plans to protect during the construction of the facility.
When it comes to traffic, Denton Floyd retained the services of The Kleingers Group to study current traffic and come up with an estimation of the expected traffic increase with the new logistics center. The study found that Apple Leaf Lane experienced 1,518 daily trips during a typical weekday in 2023. That number is expected to increase to approximately 3,200 trips by the year 2046, however, the increase is expected to be slow and in stages since one logistics center building will be constructed at a time.
Another element of preparing the site for development is the obtaining of permits from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and US Army CORP of Engineers. Those permits are to make sure the developers produce a Concept Plan with minimal stream and wetland impact. In developing the land, Denton Floyd must be environmentally conscious in the preservation of existing tree canopy, wetlands, streams and floodways. Bat Boxes will also be installed in addition to tree 46 acre preservation, to provide shelter for Indiana endangered bats.
“The Town Council asked the developers various questions about the project, but there seemed to be a great interest in making sure the trees, and wetlands would be protected with limited impact,” said Clarksville Communications Director Ken Conklin. “The possibility of increased semi traffic in the area was also a concern.”
Following a lengthy questions and answer session with project developers, District 4 Councilman Mike Mustain motioned to approve the rezoning request. His motion was seconded by District 2 Councilman John Gilkey. The council then approved the request with a vote of 4-3. Voting in favor of the request were Councilmembers Mike Mustain, John Gilkey, Ryan Ramsey, and Karen Henderson. Those against were Councilmembers A.D. Stonecipher, Jennifer Voignier, and Tim Hauber.
Council President Ryan Ramsey says although he understands and appreciates the concerns of our neighbors in Sellersburg, he and the other Town Council members are elected to represent the interests of the residents of Clarksville. He went on to say that the project economic impact of the project was just too beneficial to the Town to ignore.
The project is expected to support more than 600 jobs during construction and also create more than 430 jobs once the logistics center is fully built out. The average minimum annual salary of those employees is estimated to be nearly $57,000. The center is also expected to generate more than $500,000 a year in annual local property tax revenue. Funds which will support Town services for all of Clarksville’s 22,000+ residents.
