A logistics company has withdrawn its plan to build massive warehouses on about 200 acres of farmland in southeast Greenwood at the request of Mayor Mark Myers after the community rallied against it.
Logistics Property Company, LLC, a major Chicago-based logistics company, withdrew its petition to build in Greenwood on Friday.
Myers discussed the move with city council members and planning commissioners last week, city officials said.
It was clear the project lacked community support, Myers said in a news release.
The public outcry about the proposal included a petition that had garnered nearly 900 signatures by Saturday afternoon.
“We appreciate both the company’s interest in Greenwood and constructive input given by residents. Government is most effective when citizens are engaged, and this process serves as an excellent example,” Myers said.
At its last meeting two weeks ago, the city’s plan commission failed to come to an agreement about whether to rezone the land for Logistics to build five large warehouses on 188 acres of land southeast of the Worthsville Road interchange. The property is owned by Kelsay Farms, a six-generation farm that sits on a total of 2,200 acres on the Greenwood-Whiteland line.
The company wanted to build speculative buildings, creating an industrial business park dubbed Logiport 65, that it hoped to fill with high-profile tenants in the next several years.
Eventually, the warehouses would have brought 300 to 400 jobs to the city, but there was no way of knowing specifics on the number, type or pay of the jobs, the developer said.
The company planned to spend $140 million to build the five facilities in Greenwood. They would have ranged in size from 285,000 square feet to 1.3 million square feet, according to its application. The first building, which was to be built this summer, would have been a $40 million investment, the developer said.
Dozens of area residents packed the council chambers on Jan. 14 to speak against the proposed development. Families pleaded with the commissioners not to smash their dreams. Some cried as they told the members why they bought property in Greenwood, and why they don’t want vacant, possibly crime-inducing warehouses scattered throughout their hometown, and especially not in their backyards. They were also concerned about their property values, they said.
Other residents — and some planning commissioners — pointed to the city’s 20-year comprehensive plan which promised this wouldn’t happen, they said. Several residents said they looked at that plan before they purchased homes in the area, at least one for as much as $650,000. The plan calls for this particular area to be rezoned for residential use.
The three plan commission members who OK’d rezoning the land for this development argued that city leaders had already set a precedent by allowing other companies to build industrial warehouses in southeast Greenwood, including Amazon and, previously, FedEx.
Logistics’ proposed development was expected to be discussed again at the next plan commission meeting tonight. Hundreds of residents had already rallied and were planning to attend.
