The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is accepting public comments on a request to develop more than an acre of the state’s highest quality wetlands in Franklin Township.
Indianapolis-based development firm Gershman Partners is attempting to develop more than 200 acres of former agricultural land in the southernmost edge of Marion County to build a 1.9 million square foot industrial and retail center near County Line Road and South Arlington Avenue.
The development would destroy a quarter acre of wetlands that the state of Indiana classifies as being the highest quality, known as Class III wetlands. About only 20,000 acres of Class III wetlands remain across the state.
The project would also pave over additional areas of wetlands that do not require a permit for development.
Endangered and threatened wildlife, like osprey, great egrets, sandhill cranes, solitary sandpipers, and American bitterns, have been known to inhabit the wetlands facing destruction.
To submit a comment, email IDEM regional project manager Graham Wrin at gcwrin@idem.in.gov or call 317-605-4105. The deadline is Jan. 3.
Comments should reference the permit application identification number — IDEM ID #2023-1011-49-GCW-A — in the email subject line.
Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @heyEnriqueSaenz
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