What to know about the quarry quarrel + city-county relations

Hey Locals,

A controversial quarry project in Southwest Fort Wayne is unearthing interesting issues related to public input on projects and city-county government dynamics in Fort Wayne and Allen County.

This week, we’re examining the proposal at hand, the resident engagement organizing around it, and what it all tells us about future developments in our community. 

For a quick refresher:

• A group called US Aggregates (a subsidiary of the Heritage Group) filed plans to build a $145 million, 824-acre limestone quarry off Homestead Road near the new Indiana University Health hospital. It has received strong pushback from residents, as well as IU Health, Southwest Allen County Schools, and Little River Wetlands Project. A petition has collected 8,000 signatures, and more than 100 households have contributed to a No Quarry on Homestead Road Coalition. 
• About 500 residents gathered last week at an informational meeting to hear from developers about the project. Five speakers detailed how it would create about 100 jobs, pay about $1.1 million in annual tax revenue and produce stone, asphalt and concrete for the county’s growth. However, residents said the meeting “didn’t address significant issues," including an industrial portion of the site that would "convert what is extracted from the quarry into asphalt, concrete and other building materials and commercial development.”
• County Commissioners say: there’s still a lengthy process required to approve the project, including a public hearing at the Coliseum on May 26 hosted by the Allen County Board of Zoning Appeals and the Allen County Plan Commission. The JG* notes: “The Heritage Group isn’t asking for tax breaks, so the commissioners wouldn’t be able to derail the project by withholding incentives.”

So… what should readers know about the quarry and how it relates to broader city-county developments?

To answer the question:

We reached out to several city and county officials, and heard back from three:

• County Councilman Don Wyss
• Allison Engleman, a supporter of the No Quarry Coalition
• IDEM, who told us they aren’t commenting on the project yet, since all the applications are still at the county level