A 12-acre parcel of land in Franklin Township at 8600 Combs Road may soon be developed into a semi-truck maintenance and storage facility, according to Wetlands not Warehouses: Franklin Township, an environmentalist group affiliated with the Hoosier Environmental Council. They oppose the change, claiming it threatens the wetland located next to LifePoint Church (Photo Credit: Wetlands Not Warehouses: Franklin Township).
“Combs Road is not equipped to handle semi-truck traffic, and the two intersections – Stop 11 (roundabout) and County Line Road – cannot safely handle semi-truck traffic in their current states,” they said in a Facebook post on April 5, urging locals to call city-county councilor Brian Mowery. “Drainage and Stormwater Management will be drastically impacted with the potential of flooding in and around the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Our communities’ natural resources, the wildlife habitat, and vital wetlands that ensure a balanced ecosystem will be drastically impacted if not destroyed by this development.”
Mowery, a Republican, has represented Franklin Township on the Indianapolis City-County Council since 2016.
[RELATED: How Indianapolis can fix their pothole problem]
The parcel of land is already zoned for heavy industry, meaning that a rezoning process would not need to take place for the development, according to the group.
Various rezoning propositions have sparked controversy in the township in recent months, with a 468-acre data center considering setting up shop and a proposal for high-density housing being scrapped after state and local legislators intervened to oppose the plan. Like Wetlands not Warehouses, opponents of development in both cases questioned the ability of local infrastructure to sustain it.
The Hoosier Environmental Council has successfully advocated against a proposed warehouse development over a wetland in Franklin Township located at the northeast corner of the intersection of East County Line Road and South Arlington Avenue after the permit for the development was denied by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.
Franklin Township recently experienced severe flooding after several days of heavy rainfall, and experts say that wetlands may play a role in managing floodwaters.
“Wetlands function as natural sponges that trap and slowly release surface water, rain, snowmelt, groundwater and flood waters,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Trees, root mats and other wetland vegetation also slow the speed of flood waters and distribute them more slowly over the floodplain. This combined water storage an braking action lowers flood heights and reduces erosion.”