When you buy a home surrounded by open land, you may have an idea that something may someday be built there. But homeowners in one Indiana town aren’t too happy about what is going to go into the open location next to their homes, and they’re gearing up for a fight.
According to local ABC News station WRTV, homeowners weren’t thrilled to learn that a Friendly Market convenience store and gas station are being proposed for the spot. Now, they are taking their fight public, sharing their story with local media, facing off against the Zionsville Plan Commission, and even starting an online website.
While their complaints range from possible traffic concerns and environmental impacts for the local watershed, they say they are also deeply worried about the impacts the gas station could have on the children in the community.
One homeowner is so upset over the ordeal, he already told WISHTV that it’s a “lose-lose” situation.
Zionsville Families Fight Back Against Gas Station Proposal
Homeowners living near the intersection of Holliday Farms and U.S. 421 are asking for help with stopping a convenience store from being built directly behind their properties. “It’s basically going to be in my backyard,” Patrick Leone told WRTV. “It’s going to be 150 feet from my home. Do we have to move because of this? How is the house value going to be lowered because of this? We’re put into this no-win situation.”
Michael Schacht added a comment to a public website about the gas station proposal, raising his concerns about the potential health impacts. “This site would place two children’s facilities, a retirement community, and a dense residential neighborhood all within 500 feet of a gas station—exactly the populations that peer-reviewed research identifies as most vulnerable to the health risks associated with gas station proximity,” he wrote in a comment.
Residents say they always knew something would eventually be built in the open space behind their homes, but they were expecting breweries or restaurants. Now, the idea of a gas station—which Leone argues will bring increased noise, traffic, and possible pollution to the Eagle Creek watershed—have them up in arms. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like there’s much they can do about it.
“We’re in a lose-lose situation, and every single time we go to one of our elected officials, we get the same exact answer,” Leone lamented to WISHTV.
What Can Homeowners Do to Fight Construction?
Lately, it feels like all you have to do is turn on the news to see homeowners fighting the construction of things like data centers and warehouses. But according to U.S. News and World Report, there are actually a few rights homeowners can exercise if they want to put a halt to these things.
While many steps will vary depending on where you live, it sounds like the first (and most important) step is always going to be approaching your local municipality to see what the zoning laws are, and to confirm that plans have been approved and permits have been issued. If so, you may not have much recourse, but it will give you a jumping off point to see if there is anything that can be done.
Unfortunately for the homeowners in Zionsville, it sounds like they may not have much hope of stopping the gas station from being built, but one should never estimate the power of the people, especially if the entire community is rallying against it.