Goshen Plan Commission members voted last week to send a favorable recommendation to the Goshen City Council regarding the requested rezoning of more than 330 acres currently targeted for annexation on the city’s southeast side.
This story by John Kline originally appeared in the Goshen News.
During the meeting, commission members gave their nod of approval to a request by Lippert Components Manufacturing, D-ACT-Z LLC, Elkhart County 4-H Agricultural Exposition and Norfolk Southern Railway Company for the rezoning of 333 acres to Industrial M-1 should the council ultimately vote to annex the property into the city.
The property in question is 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 requested rezoning is a desire by Lippert Components to use its portion of the 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.
John Simon, a project manager with Lippert, informed the commission that while there is potential for the construction of up to three new facilities on the targeted property, the company’s current plan involves construction of one $20 million facility.
Along those lines, Simone noted that Lippert currently plans to purchase several million dollars’ worth of equipment for the new facility such as high-tech laser cutters, automated packaging machines and welding automation with robotics.
The company’s plan is to transfer about two-thirds of its workforce, or about 550 employees, from its nearby Plant 45, located at 2703 College Ave., to the new facility. The old plant would then be converted into a warehouse for the storage of raw materials. The new facility will be completely self-contained, with no outside storage, which should help with the overall aesthetics of the property, Simon said.
