After months of meetings, debate and community input, Goshen City Council members Tuesday are set to finalize their decision on whether to approve an annexation agreement with Lippert Components Manufacturing involving approximately 153 acres of land on the city’s southeast side.
This story by John Kline originally appeared in the Goshen News.
During the meeting, council members are scheduled to cast their second and final vote on a request by Lippert for the annexation of three parcels of primarily agriculturally zoned land located east of and adjacent to the existing Goshen corporate boundary on the north and south sides of C.R. 36/College Avenue, just southeast of the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds.
Central to the request is a desire by Lippert to use the annexed property as the location of a new $20 million facility focused on light manufacturing, research and development with the potential for multiple facilities at the site.
Tuesday’s meeting will mark the third time the annexation request has come before the council in the past three months. Council members were set to vote on the request on first reading during their Jan. 16 meeting, though the request was eventually tabled after several residents raised concerns about the proposed annexation and its proximity to their homes. The request would eventually be passed on first reading during the council’s Feb. 6 meeting, but not before council members agreed to consider reducing the overall scope of the annexation significantly.
As originally proposed, the annexation agreement included requests by both Lippert and a second company, D-ACT-Z, involving six parcels totaling more than 330 acres.
