NextEra Energy’s failed attempt to build a solar farm in Morgan Township cast a shadow over NextEra Energy Transmission Mid-Atlantic’s plan to build a 6,000-square-foot warehouse on the northwest corner of County Roads 125 West and 1050 North.
The Porter County Board of Zoning Appeals considered several requests for zoning variances for the project Thursday.
Director of Development Sean Shortell took pains to spell what the planned development isn’t. “This is not a generation site, it’s not a solar site, it’s not a wind site, it’s not a gas generation site. It’s not a site for battery storage, it’s not a site for a future data center or other commercial or industrial development, and it’s not associated with any NextEra projects past, present or in the future in Porter County,” he said.
It’s simply a warehouse with outdoor storage for spare parts like large transmission line poles in case of an emergency.
“These materials, typically, if everything’s going well, will sit there for decades,” Shortell said.
The warehouse will have office space plus a restroom, but days could go by before any workers show up, he said.
NextEra sought permission to have an eight-foot fence instead of the four-foot fence normally allowed, permission to store materials outside and well and septic instead of extending Chesterton sewer and water lines.
The request drew remonstrances from several people.
Larry Wright owns 52 acres southwest of the site. “I’m a developer. I have a great respect for residential properties,” of which there are many in the area, he said.
“My vision is that that would be a subdivision someday,” Wright said, although it’s zoned for industrial use.
“We have a desperate need for residential properties,” he said.
Spencer Smith, who lives one mile from the property, accused NextEra of trying to sneak in a solar farm in Morgan Township. “I’m really concerned with these people,” he said.
“I’m growing an orchard a mile away,” Smith said, so he’s concerned about chemicals that might leach into groundwater.
Tim Chelf, who lives two doors down, called the proposed development unsightly. “We have beautiful homes there,” he said.
He’s also concerned about chemicals leaking into the ground and the aquifer. “Our watershed problem is terrible,” he said. “You never know anymore what pesticides are being put into the ground by farmers.”
The site is currently farmland.
Matt Carmichael said he asked the board in 2018 to allow an outdoor structure, and he was given a hard time about it because the board wanted to maintain it as residential and bring more residential in. Yet NextEra wants to build a warehouse nearby.
He was concerned about what might be in the transformers stored at the site.
NextEra’s transmission line doesn’t have any substations, so there’s no need for transformers, Shortell said.
Evelyn Komenas complained about traffic on 1050 N. “We have so much traffic, we don’t have any more trucks going down our road.”
Richard Ard, who lives about a mile away, called the warehouse “a misfit for the area.”
“That area has always been a residential, beautiful area,” he said.
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“I don’t know how this even got zoned industrial in the first place,” he said.
Development and Stormwater Executive Director Mike Jabo said the site has been zoned industrial at least as far back as 1983.
Board member Arvid Merkner, who was a leading opponent of NextEra’s solar farm proposal, asked why NextEra would pay $2.4 millions for the 15-acre parcel for just a warehouse and outdoor storage. He wondered if it was part of a larger NextEra development.
“It is not part of anything larger for Next Energy Transmission, and I can only speak for my business unit,” Shortell said, but he doesn’t believe the parent company is even conceiving of another project in Porter County at this point.
What made the Liberty Township site NextEra’s choice was that the site had to be near the transmission line, and the supply of that type of parcel, including the right size and shape and zoned industrial, is “fairly limited.”
The board granted permission to build an eight-foot fence to secure the warehouse and outdoor storage area, but insisted that it be a solid fence, not chain link, because of the residential neighbors.
Shortell had complained that the cost of a solid fence is far higher than a chain link fence, even with slats in the chain link to block the view of the materials stored inside.
Even if Chesterton would allow extending sewer and water lines without annexing the site, it would have cost $420,000 vs. $30,000 for a well and septic, Shortell said. The board followed its longstanding guideline that paying more than twice as much to extend utilities would cause an undue burden.
In other business, the board postponed action on a request by Indiana Steel Carriers to allow trailer sales and outdoor storage at a truck terminal at 447 N. Old Ind. 2 in Washington Township.
Operations Director Matt Debats said that by setting up the trucking company as a dealer, it would be able to buy trailers and refrigerated trucks at a significant discount over buying them elsewhere.
It was while applying for the license to do so that the state asked to verify the zoning for the site and opened another can of worms.
The site is zoned rural residential, although a truck terminal has operated at the site for years. That needs to be addressed before the variance to allow trailer sales and outdoor storage can be addressed, McClure said.
Victory Christian Academy drew complaints from neighbors about disrespect for their property during a public hearing on the school’s request to use a septic system and a well for a proposed addition in Washington Township that will allow enrollment to increase.
The school has two campuses. The one for grades 5-12 is where the addition would be built. Extending Valparaiso water and sewers from miles away would be too expensive.
The neighbors’ concerns would be taken to heart by school officials, said Kevi Coros, of McMahon Associates, representing the school.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.