Residents urge stricter limits and clearer enforcement for heavy industrial uses near homes

Several residents spoke during public comment and urged the commission to tighten permitted uses and add clearer enforcement mechanisms. Sandy McIntosh told the commission the proposed amendments "do not do that" in terms of building on resident input and said several potentially heavy uses remain permitted and some important terms are undefined in the code.

McIntosh flagged specific concerns: electrical substations remain permitted in ID-3; smokestacks, smelting and natural gas turbines are not explicitly prohibited in ID-2 and ID-3; biosafety level 3 and 4 businesses are not prohibited; and some manufacturing and R&D activities are not required to be entirely indoors. She said performance standards (noise, vibration) lack a measurable checklist and recommended that certain high‑intensity uses be made conditional rather than permitted.

Amy Swink reiterated these concerns and asked that the commission ensure protections for neighbor health and air quality, saying, "If that's really the goal, then you do need to decrease some of these air pollution issues, like the incinerators, the smelting, the smokestacks." Richard Weeks asked why ID-6 protections weren't applied in some Hoosier Road areas and expressed worry about different height treatments in different parts of the district.