Despite both their own reservations about a Goodwill store and nearby residents’ complaints, members of the Henderson City-County Planning Commission Tuesday night approved the rezoning of a parcel of land at the intersection of U.S. 60-East and Watson Lane from agricultural to highway commercial—a first step in a new store being built there.
Additionally, George Warren, who owns an 18-acre tract that abuts the parcel on which the Goodwill store is planned, said in an email received by planning commission staff and read into the record Tuesday night that his family hopes to develop his parcel as well, and he hopes it will include professional offices and mixed retail.
George Warren’s land borders the 6.03 acre tract on which Goodwill plans to build a store. The land is owned by his sister and held in the Sarah Hutcheson Revocable Trust.
Tuesday’s action and news of a hoped-for new development are both in line with the county’s Future Land Use Map, which shows that the approved plan for the parcel of land is highway commercial and the entire strip of U.S. 60 from the city east to the I-69 interchange is also planned for commercial development.
Planning commissioners’ comments were sympathetic with nearby residents who opposed the new store building at that location. But the planning commission’s jurisdiction was limited to making a recommendation if the land should be rezoned from agricultural to highway commercial. It has no say in the merits of a planned business there.
In his motion to approve the rezoning, Planning Commissioner Frank Boyett said that he didn’t think the best use for the parcel of land was a Goodwill store, but the project meets all the requirements of the zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan.
“We have no legitimate reason to oppose it,” he said.
Curt Hamilton, another planning commissioner, agreed, saying he’s struggled with the decision after having lived in the area for 30 years.
“But I don’t think it’s our purview to say what’s going in,” Hamilton said. “We’re not voting on who the applicant is or what their business is.”
“If it’s a permitted use in the city’s zoning ordinance, then it could be allowed in that zone,” said Brian Bishop, the executive director of the planning commission.
Many residents voiced complaints against Goodwill locating there.
One resident said other current vacant buildings, such as the old Trees ‘n Trends store, would be more suitable.
“There are other places they can build the Goodwill,” said Deborah Sire.
Another, Niagara resident Lisa Thompson Meyer, who owns nearby rental homes, said she was concerned about the store employing “undesirable people.” She also wondered about property values of nearby real estate.
Later in the meeting, Evansville Goodwill Industries President and CEO Connie Ralph spoke to concerns of employees, saying the company hires people who have self-designated barriers to employment, which could include people in substance abuse recovery and those who have a disability. And through Goodwill’s programs, she said, they attempt to train them to move on to better jobs elsewhere.
“Our whole mission is to continually help people grow and move into better paying jobs,” she said.
Other residents worried about the loss of wildlife habitat, while others were concerned about the direction Henderson is moving.
Center Street resident Susan Spiller said she sees Henderson as growing, but not progressive like Owensboro. She said if the town wants to thrive she believes it needs something “higher class than a Goodwill building on that prime location.”
Ruth Clum said she lives in the neighborhood behind the proposed development, and she asked that the development not move too fast and for officials to talk to the neighborhood residents.
Susan Warren, who is George Warren’s and Sarah Hutcheson’s sister, explained the history of the land. She said there are four Warren siblings who inherited the land from their father, Gene Warren, Sr., upon his death, and divided the land in four different plots. Susan Warren owns a parcel which abuts her sister’s.
“(My sister) has attempted to sell the property for a number of years,” Susan Warren said. “And it turns out that Goodwill is the one who stepped forward to buy the property.”
She also encouraged that Goodwill be actively involved with the former Hugh Edward Sandefur Training Center, now Elevate, in working with people who have barriers to obtaining jobs.
The fourth Warren sibling, Gene Warren, Jr., is on the Evansville Goodwill Industries board of directors. Ralph said in a previous meeting that the search for land went through a broker and Gene Warren didn’t learn about the parcel being considered until later in the process.
Diane Bremmer, a Watson Lane resident, said she knows the area will eventually be developed, but she asked that planners look at how the development that will eventually go to the I-69 interchange will affect the area, which is primarily residential currently. She also asked if a task force be put together to address vacant buildings in town, which others mentioned in the meeting, and possibly rehabilitate them.
The planning commission unanimously approved the recommendation to rezone the parcel to highway commercial. Now, the recommendation will be sent to the Henderson City Commission for final action on the rezoning. The city commission can choose to follow the recommendation or do something different.
Bishop said that at the April 7 meeting, the planning commission will approve the findings of fact from Tuesday’s meeting. Once that occurs and the findings of fact are forwarded to the Henderson City Commission, a 21-day period begins in which anyone who disagrees with the planning commission’s recommendation can file a petition for a public hearing before the city commission. Bishop said he has petitions in his office in the Peabody Building on Barret Court.
