BURLINGTON – A zoning change needed for a 208-acre industrial park off Chambers Road was rejected during a Boone County Planning and Zoning Committee meeting Wednesday, marking a victory for residents who fought against it.
NorthPoint Development, a liaison company that builds industrial sites for companies like Amazon, FedEx and General Motors, has been eyeing the large site at Logistics Boulevard, Chambers Road and Dixie Highway for more than two years now.
This is now the second time NorthPoint has been rejected for its plans to place an industrial business park on this site, directly across from rural Boone County residents. While their request was denied, residents worry they will be back a third time.
NorthPoint hoped to rezone the site from residential to industrial for four buildings, ranging from 201,000 square feet to 448,000 square feet, in the first phase of construction. In the second phase, 11 lots for semi truck distribution were planned. This proposal was a scaled-down version of the original plan, which was denied by the Boone County Fiscal Court in 2021.
During a Boone County Planning Commission meeting on Aug. 3, more than 100 property owners from the area showed up to the public hearing to protest the development.
Public comment in the previous meeting lasted more than three hours as people aired their concerns over noise, light pollution, flooding, traffic hazards, and the preservation of Boone County’s rural land.
Marc Gloyeske, vice president of development at NorthPoint, presented the proposal with addendums to show the committee and the public that their development would not be as invasive as they feared.
During the last meeting, Gloyeske said the proposal promised “only light industrial users.” On page 4 of the plan, NorthPoint states it will not allow “obnoxious uses” that would “produce vibrations, odors, dust and smoke.” Gloyeske also said noise impacts from the industrial park would be mitigated by landscape buffers, and light pollution would be minimized by “strategic placement of building, yard and street lights.”
One of the key concerns was the traffic impact that any development would have on Chambers Road, which residents and committee members said is already a troubled area for travel.
Chet Hand, a Republican who is the only candidate running for the Boone County Commission District 2 seat in November, acted as a spokesperson for the group on Wednesday night in order to meet the committee’s desire to keep public comments brief.
He pointed out a single disabled vehicle pulled over on Chambers Road recently backed up traffic “all the way to Walton.”
Committee member Janet Kegley said she took a drive on Chambers Road prior to the meeting and noticed the asphalt was “crumbling” at the sides of the road, and there was clear evidence of the damage semis had done to the roadway.
Other committee members pointed out that the traffic study cited by NorthPoint may be outdated and does not take into account their development’s impact during peak traffic conditions.
Ultimately, the committee decided the request did not meet the requirements to necessitate a zoning change and it was unanimously denied.
Following the meeting, Gloyeske said NorthPoint may continue to look at property in Boone County to develop but, “we’re not sure. We’ll continue to evaluate.”
He did not wish to offer further comment.
Residents rejoiced that the development was once again rejected, but Hand and other property owners shared expressed concern that NorthPoint would come for the rural land again.
“I don’t trust that it won’t come back again,” he said. “It’s not that we don’t trust the planning commission. I will say that we don’t trust the ownership of that property. The planning commission is doing the job that they’re supposed to do.”
He added that the area property owners are “not against development, but we are against industrial development” on that site.