What Is the Comprehensive Plan?
All In Allen is the official joint Comprehensive Plan for Allen County and the City of Fort Wayne, adopted December 2022 and effective March 13, 2023. It represents a 30-month planning process, over 620 public survey responses, community focus groups, and five adopting jurisdictions. It is the community’s own documented vision for the next 20 years.
The Plan Commission and BZA are legally required to evaluate rezoning and special use applications for consistency with this plan. A rezoning that conflicts with the Comprehensive Plan requires affirmative justification to override it.
How the Quarry Conflicts With the Plan
1. Agricultural Land Preservation
The All In Allen plan explicitly identifies agricultural land preservation as a priority goal:
“Agriculture Facing Growth Pressure — Agricultural preservation identified as important element requiring careful consideration.”
“Protect agriculture from incompatible development.”
“The outward growth of Fort Wayne and communities like New Haven and Huntertown places pressure on agricultural lands in unincorporated Allen County.”
The conflict: Heritage Group is targeting ~1548 acres of currently A-3 Agricultural-zoned land for acquisition, with ~710 acres proposed for heavy industrial and quarry operations. Once a limestone quarry operates for 80–100 years, the land cannot be returned to agricultural or residential use — it becomes a brownfield. The All In Allen plan calls for protecting agricultural land from exactly this type of conversion.
2. Community Health and Equity
The plan’s three core thematic principles include Community Health:
“Healthy living, healthcare access, safe communities.”
“Equity — no disadvantage by social position.”
The conflict: The proposed quarry, asphalt plant, and concrete batching plant would emit crystalline silica dust (classified Group 1 carcinogen by IARC), PM2.5, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and diesel exhaust from hundreds of heavy trucks daily. Prevailing winds blow southwest to northeast — directly toward the residential corridor, schools, and the new IU Health hospital campus. Communities with fewer resources to relocate bear disproportionate exposure. This directly contradicts the plan’s equity and community health objectives.
3. Growth Management and the IU Health Corridor
The plan envisions Southwest Allen County as a growth corridor anchored by the new IU Health Regional Campus:
“Managing Growth — Need for growth management strategies.”
“As the Community evolves, steering its economic future will be key to ensuring it is comprised of a diverse mix of businesses, attractions, and employment options to keep the local economy continue thriving.”
The conflict: The IU Health Regional Campus — a multi-hundred-million-dollar healthcare investment currently under construction, bordering the SC commercial zone of the proposed site — is intended to anchor a medical district and residential growth corridor in Southwest Allen County. An 80–100-year industrial quarry operation in close proximity to a major hospital is incompatible with the type of economic development the plan envisions. IU Health has stated publicly that quarry operations would conflict with patient care and safety.
4. Sustainability and the Little River Watershed
The plan uses the Three Rivers as its sustainability symbol:
“The Three Rivers icon symbolizes sustainability, referencing the agricultural fertility and resiliency provided by the nexus of the Community’s waterways.”
The conflict: The proposed site sits within the Little River watershed, which feeds into the Maumee River and ultimately Lake Erie. Eagle Marsh — an 831-acre restored wetland, one of the largest inland urban wetland restorations in the Great Lakes basin — lies immediately adjacent to the site. Quarry dewatering can affect groundwater levels across a significant area, potentially threatening the hydrology of Eagle Marsh, which depends on precise water management. Dust deposition causes eutrophication. The All In Allen plan’s sustainability commitments are fundamentally incompatible with a century of industrial extraction adjacent to these water systems.
5. Community Character and Authentic Identity
“Economic development should align with community character and sustainability principles.”
“Preserve the authentic characteristics.”
The conflict: Southwest Allen County is characterized by established residential neighborhoods, functioning agricultural land, protected wetlands, and proximity to healthcare and educational institutions. An 80–100-year industrial quarry permanently transforms that character. The plan explicitly calls for economic development aligned with community character — not industrial extraction that contradicts it.
What the Plan Does Not Do
The plan designates Southwest Allen County as an “Economic Development and Industrial Growth area.” This designation does not authorize any specific use — it indicates the general economic intent for the corridor. The Plan Commission must still evaluate whether a specific proposed use (open-pit limestone quarrying + asphalt production + concrete batching) is consistent with the type and character of economic development the plan envisions. The plan’s agricultural preservation goals, community health objectives, and growth management strategies must be weighed against any industrial designation.
What to Say at Public Comment
When testifying before the Plan Commission or BZA, these are the plan-based arguments that carry legal weight:
- The rezoning conflicts with adopted agricultural preservation goals (All In Allen, Agricultural & Food Systems section)
- The rezoning conflicts with community health and equity objectives (All In Allen, Community Health theme)
- The rezoning is incompatible with the IU Health growth corridor vision (All In Allen, Economic Development section)
- The rezoning threatens the Little River watershed identified as a core sustainability asset (All In Allen, Three Rivers sustainability framework)
- Demand an independent consistency analysis — ask the Plan Commission to produce a written finding on how this rezoning is or is not consistent with each relevant Comprehensive Plan goal before voting
Before Any Vote Is Cast — Demand These Studies
The reference documents identify critical studies that have not yet been completed. The Plan Commission should require these before any hearing proceeds:
- AERMOD air dispersion modeling (EPA standard) using Fort Wayne Airport hourly wind data — independently reviewed
- Karst/subsurface geological study by Indiana Geological & Water Survey — these studies have not yet been completed for this site
- Hydrogeological assessment of quarry dewatering impacts on Eagle Marsh, private wells, and the shallow aquifer
- Flood designation interaction analysis — the site’s relationship to FEMA flood hazard areas has not been independently assessed
No responsible planning body should approve a rezoning of this scale and duration without independent, peer-reviewed technical studies on each of these risks.
Sources
- All In Allen Comprehensive Plan (adopted December 2022, effective March 2023): allencounty.in.gov
- Indiana Code IC 36-7-4-603 — Plan Commission duties, comprehensive plan consistency requirement
- Allen County Zoning Ordinance — A-3 Agricultural zone, I-3 Industrial zone standards
- Community analysis: Detailed Quarry Resist (Shawn McCarthy, March 2026) — fiscal modeling and geological risk summary
This page presents legally grounded arguments for public comment. All claims cite publicly available planning documents and verified sources. Last updated: March 2026.