ELIDA, OH (WLIO) - A large crowd of American Township residents attending Monday night's board of trustees meeting voiced concerns about potential development north of Bluelick Road, between N. Cole and N. West Street.
"You're choosing textbook farmland, rural character land that is supposed to be protected, and you're wanting to turn it into a park," expressed a concerned resident.
To help residents who have questions, the Allen Economic Development Group provided a presentation on 3 potential development concepts with the 800-acre property. Concept 1 would be classified as "M-1" light-manufacturing with 300,000 square-foot buildings. Concept 2 would be classified as "M-2" manufacturing with 500,000 square-foot buildings, and concept 3 would be classified as a "B-1 to B-2 and M-2" business park with multiple 300,000 to 500,000 square-foot buildings. At Monday night's meeting, Your Hometown Stations talked with AEDG President and CEO Dave Stratton about a possible industrial park and the benefits of developing this land.
"Ultimately, this is going to be pursued as a business park, not an industrial park. Many times, people have the idea that we're looking at a nuclear power plant, we're looking at a steel factory, we're looking at a refinery... we are not doing that. We're looking for a business that would be very good for American Township, and ultimately, we believe that it would be not only good for the township but would bring in all kinds of positive tax-base and support for American Township," says Dave Stratton, President & CEO, Allen Economic Development Group.
The Allen Economic Development Group also discussed the importance of bringing jobs to Allen County as county population projections show a 20% decrease to around 81,000 people by 2050 and added that US and state funding will decrease if the population goes under 100,000.
9/26/23 5:26 PM Edit/Correction - Added graphics of proposed concepts and additional details about the location.
