Looking out over the vast expanse of farmland that surrounds his home on County Road 36 early Saturday afternoon, Stephen Salisbury was visibly upset about the prospect of losing that familiar landscape to industrial development.
This story by John Kline originally appeared with photos and a video on Goshen News.
And he’s not alone.
Salisbury is one of a number of property owners with homes along C.R. 36 who have serious concerns about the proposed annexation of approximately 330 acres of nearby real estate being requested by the companies Lippert Components Manufacturing Inc. and D-ACT-Z LLC.
The property in question is located in and around the area of 16629 C.R. 36, just southeast of the city limits near the Elkhart County 4-H Fairgrounds. Salisbury’s home, located at 16411 C.R. 36, is completely surrounded by that targeted real estate.
While most of the property currently surrounding his home is farmland, Salisbury said the industrial developments that have cropped up in the area since he purchased his home 29 years ago have already caused a significant increase in traffic, noise and light pollution. Adding another major industrial development such as the one being proposed by Lippert, he said, will only exacerbate the situation.
As things stand now, the proposed annexation includes just the vacant farmland targeted for industrial development, but not the nearby properties containing residential homes. That, in turn, means those homes will essentially be relegated to a residential “doughnut hole” completely surrounded by industrially-zone land should the annexation be allowed to proceed, resident Janice King explained.
Andrew Borkholder, who has lived with his family at 16769 C.R. 36 for the past 11 years, said he’s particularly concerned about certain road improvements being proposed for C.R. 36 in connection with the Lippert development, one of which — the proposed construction of a 10-foot-wide sidewalk stretching from C.R. 31 to the railroad tracks — would mean the loss of a significant amount of frontage for him and his neighbors.