Buck Creek Woods

Allowing Development to Destroy the Buck Creek Woods is Directly Opposed to Marion County’s Stated Commitment to Protect Environmentally Sensitive Areas.

Sensitive natural areas in Indianapolis are being destroyed at an alarming pace because there is little will to enforce the Marion County Comprehensive Land Use Plan (aka, “the Comp Plan”).  From 2015 to 2020, the Metropolitan Development Commission of Indianapolis approved 1,658 variances, rezoning requests or building permits in locations identified as “environmentally sensitive areas” in the Comp Plan. Typically forests or wetlands, these are areas where the Comp Plan says developments should not occur.  

The next example of such an approval concerns a variance to allow for residential land to be rezoned to industrial use so that a massive trucking distribution center can be built on 199 acres that is within or directly adjacent to a high-quality forest in the floodplain of Buck Creek in the southeastern corner of Marion County. 

The staff of the DMD have waived off the facts that the Buck Creek Woods is an “environmentally sensitive area” and part of the Buck Creek Greenway corridor whose natural character is to be maintained according to the Comp Plan. They are supporting the variance to allow this massive building and parking area to be built, much of it in the floodplain, as long as the developer provides a 50 foot buffer on the west side of the property along Buck Creek. This is despite the fact that uncontrolled runoff from the “Five Below” trucking distribution center just built immediately south of the site in Shelby County, is damaging the forest and causing the worst flooding ever experienced by residents in the area. 

This Development Project Puts Greenway Plans At Risk.

The Buck Creek Woods is in the riparian corridor identified in City’s Full Circle Greenway Plan of 2014-2024 and two previous city greenway plans to become the Buck Creek Greenway. The Full Circle Greenway Plan is part of the Transportation Element of the Comp Plan and thus its objectives are supposed to guide the city’s zoning decisions. The Full Circle Plan emphasizes the recreational and aesthetic value of the natural wooded corridor along Buck Creek. It states:

“To date, the wooded areas along much of the stream have remained intact creating a unique, natural environment for the new greenway. Along its course, it will pass through forests, wetlands, meadows, and natural habitat areas for several different types of wildlife. It will provide environmental educational opportunities if the current state of the corridor remains intact. . . .  It will be vital to have zoning and development standards put into place to protect the corridor.” (page 114) 

If Becknell’s warehouse plan goes forward, it could place a building spanning up to 26 football fields in size and towering up to fifty feet tall directly along the path of the Greenway. This peaceful recreation area, now used by Indy residents to find respite in a portion of Marion County’s highest quality greenspace, would be flooded by round-the-clock semi traffic noise and light pollution, which has been shown to be highly disruptive to wildlife.

Record Flooding for Forests and Residential Areas Adjacent to Development.

The highest average volume of flow ever recorded by the US Geological Survey in Buck Creek occurred in 2019. A similar but smaller development, the “Five Below” trucking distribution center built immediately south of the Buck Creek Woods in Shelby County, has already caused the worst flooding ever experienced by residents in the area. This project, located in the Buck Creek floodplain, is likely to worsen the flooding, which can eventually drown many of the trees in Buck Creek Woods and harm residential property.