A proposed heavy vehicle sales, rental, and repair facility threatens a high-quality wetland on the southside of Indianapolis. The wetland is a target for preservation and the local community group Wetlands Not Warehouses Franklin Township, with support from HEC, has been working to develop a site plan for a new park to protect the wetland. The group has received 10K in donations from local developers, and city council members and the Indy parks committee have expressed interest in the plan, but the land parcels remain unprotected. If approved, the proposed petition 2026-MOD-003 would fill portions of the wetland. This would be detrimental to the wetland ecosystem and the future plan for a public park.
Help us protect the wetland and further our vision for a public park!
Contact the city and encourage them to vote no on the petition: Submit your comments to Kathleen Blackham at Kathleen.Blackham@indy.gov, or use HEC’s handy submission form. The deadline to submit comments is October 23rd, 2026.
Attend the hearing: The petition will be heard on October 29th, 2026 at 1 pm at the City-Council Building, 200 E. Washington Street, 2060, Indianapolis, IN 46204. The more people that show up in opposition the better! You also have the option of giving your public comment orally at the hearing if you wish. Instructions for comment will be provided at the hearing.
What makes the wetland important?
- One of the last remaining wetlands in the Pleasant Run Creek watershed in central Indiana, a smaller, sub watershed of the Upper White River watershed
- Provides flood storage for the community
- Filters and purifies water
- Serves as a vital community and educational resource
- Provides carbon storage, helping to mitigate climate change impacts
- Home to state special concern wildlife species such as sandhill cranes. State special concern wildlife species includes any animal species requiring monitoring because of known or suspected limited abundance or distribution, or because of a recent change in legal status or required habitat
- Provides important wildlife habitat for migratory and non-migratory birds including sandhill cranes, bald eagles, blue herons, great egrets, osprey, red-tailed hawks, Caspian terns, peregrine falcons, buffleheads, northern pintails, killdeer, green herons, hood mergansers, and more
Learn more
- Read the WNWFT committee letter opposing the petition.
- Read HEC’s letter opposing the petition.
- History of WNW campaign and efforts to protect southside Indy wetlands
- Wetlands not Warehouses Franklin Township Committee website
Categories: Public Notices, Sustainable Development and Green Infrastructure, Water & Wilderness Protection, Wetlands