Baked goods and beverage plant being planned for Taylorsville area

A food and beverage producer will be asking Bartholomew County officials for some permissions this evening to construct a more than half million square foot facility in the northwestern corner of the county.

In documents filed with the county, the developer outlines plans for a 380,000 square foot plant with future phases to include a cold storage facility and a possible second plant on the site. The developer explained that the plant will produce bakery products and beverages.

The developer of the Project Whiteboard production facility is asking the Bartholomew County Board of Zoning Appeals for several accommodations including allowing portions of its facility to be 100 feet tall — 50 feet taller than allowed under the current zoning. The development would be built on an 88-acre parcel on North County Road 200W near Taylorsville, just off Interstate 65.

The request to allow the 100 foot height would apply to about 78,000 square feet of a cold storage facility and about 34,000 square feet of silos, but the district already allows 100-foot tall silos. The department staff is recommends approving that request.

The planning department staff is recommending delaying decisions on two parts of the request including a wellfield protection concern, and a request to allow larger than normal signage. Eastern Bartholomew Water Corp operates a wellfield just to the southeast of the proposed facility and county ordinances require safeguarding clean drinking water by those who want to build within a wellfield protection area. The staff recommends continuing that part of the request while the water company studies the project and any affect on the drinking water supply.

The Bartholomew County Board of Zoning Appeals meets at 7 p.m. tonight at Columbus City Hall.