Mishawaka Council hears request for annexation of 30 acres near Cleveland and Capital
MISHAWAKA — Developers working on behalf of the Gurley Leep Automotive Group admitted Monday that the unnamed business seeking a 30-acre rezoning and annexation designation from the city for a future auto mall at Cleveland Road and Capital Avenue was indeed the area vehicle dealership.
But it could be years before the land under consideration gets built, because the area is far from current utility lines and the city has no immediate plans to extend them without help from the developer.
Angela Turner, representing Danch, Harner & Associates, told Common Council members at a Monday public hearing that a request to annex 30.64 acres north of Cleveland Road and west of Capital Avenue was for a future auto mall. The request follows a similar annexation approval in 2022 from the council for land immediately west of the 30-acre parcel under consideration.
Developers are seeking to rezone the land for a variety of automotive uses. It is seeking an S-2 planned unit development designation.
When Common Council President Gregg Hixenbaugh said that although official documents had information in them that pointed toward Gurley Leep as the potential future project, Turner relented and confirmed the requests were for Gurley Leep.
No formal plans have been determined for the auto mall project, Turner said, because much work needs to be done in determining the securing of right-of-way for the utility improvements. Any set plans would need to come before the city plan commission and council for consideration.
Nearby, as The Tribune has reported, an unnamed developer is asking St. Joseph County to rezone 914 acres of farmland of the former, historic St. Joe Farm — east of Capital Avenue and Cleveland Road — where it would build a “business-tech campus.” That request comes before the county’s Area Plan Commission for a second time April 16.
Auto mall project years away
But the request comes with many steps that would have to be resolved. There is no city water and sewer service to the property in the proposal. City departments studying the proposal said that any water and sewer improvements would have to be paid for by the developer, and service is more than 1,000 feet from the annexation site.
The utility improvements also would have to involve private property and would have to use either the Veterans Parkway or the Cleveland Road corridors for their placement.
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The area also falls within the future wellhead protection area for the city's new water well field along Veterans Parkway. This means the property would need a water retention basin rather than drywells for storm water runoff.
Moreover, city engineering officials also have said that any street improvements would need to adhere to the future plans to expand the city for Cleveland Road and a potential for Veterans Parkway in the northeast portion of the city. Currently, there are no short-term plans for infrastructure improvements for the portion of Cleveland Road near Capital Avenue.
The city analysis of the proposal also said developing the 30 acres under consider to be annexed would have to be done combined with the 2022 annexed property as one project.
The council is expected to have the annexation and rezoning measure up for a vote at its April 22 meeting.
Email Tribune staff writer Greg Swiercz at gswiercz@sbtinfo.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Developers seek to annex land for auto mall at Cleveland Road-Capital Avenue
