CLARKSVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- A 140-acre plot of land east of I-65 and along Apple Leaf Lane is now dense woods in northern Clarksville, but soon it could be five logistic warehouses.
"This is a huge development for the town of Clarksville," Ken Conklin, Clarksville Communications Director, said. "Not only in the tax income that it is going to bring to the town but also just the amount of jobs that will be brought with the project."
Last week in a 4-3 vote, the Clarksville Town Council recently approved the zoning change from residential to industrial.
Denton Floyd Real Estate Group is spearheading the project.
"Clarksville is landlocked so we're getting to that point where developers are starting to find these little pockets of land where they can develop something like this," Conklin said.
The 1.2 million-square-feet parcel will impact two neighboring towns. On one side of Apple Leaf is Clarksville and on the right is Sellersburg.
"It's heartbreaking to see that beautiful piece of property be five large logistic centers that personally I don't think we need," said Rhonda Gividen, who has lived across the street for 18 years.
A street view on July 25, 2023 of the proposed logistics development in Clarksville on Apple Leaf Lane. (WDRB image)
She’s concerned the two-lane road is simply too narrow to accommodate the increase in traffic.
"We're going to have light pollution, we're going to have noise, we're going to have trucks that park there all night and run waiting to deliver their load the next morning, we don't know what the hours are," Gividen said.
Because the property is on a wetland, the developer wants to keep at least 46 acres natural.
They would also create more space between the homes and the buildings.
"By code they are only supposed to have 30 feet of buffer in between the roadway - they are going above and beyond somewhere around 150 feet," Conklin said.
"If they want to develop it there could be more homes, there could be apartments, but we certainly don't need a lot of concrete buildings for distribution," said JoAnn Kime, who lives across from the property.
During construction, the project would bring in more than 600 jobs and an additional 400 once completed.
If approved by the Clarksville town council, construction could begin as soon as next year.
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