The Noblesville Common Council denied a rezone request from Beaver Materials, 7-2, at its June 28 meeting.
Beaver Materials’ petition proposed an expansion of Potter’s Bridge Park near 191st Street and Allisonville Road in collaboration with the Hamilton County Parks and Recreation Dept. after a five-year sand and gravel extraction process in the area. A residential component also was planned.
Council members Megan Wiles, Darren Peterson, Brian Ayer, Mark Boice, Pete Schwartz, Dan Spartz and Aaron Smith voted against the proposal. Council members Greg O’Connor and Mike Davis voted in favor of the project.
O’Connor said he voted in favor because of the benefits of having more parkland in a growing city.
“I think for the next generation of residents, it can be quite an amenity,” O’Connor said.
Wiles and Peterson said an expanded park would be a welcome amenity, but felt the location wasn’t the best place for a gravel operation. Peterson, however, supports the idea of turning an industrial site into a recreational area.
“I don’t believe this is the right site for a mining operation,” Wiles said. “If it can be a park that would be expanded, that would be fabulous.”
Ayer said he voted against the proposal because it didn’t meet Noblesville’s comprehensive plan and wasn’t approved by the city’s plan commission.
Beaver Gravel and the Hamilton County Parks and Recreation Dept. must wait one year before considering resubmitting the proposal.
The project was opposed by a grassroots organization called Don’t Leave It to Beaver. Group members stated in a press release that if the proposal is resubmitted, members would oppose it absence of new evidence.
For more, visit cityofnoblesville.org.
