The seemingly endless saga of the willful attempts by retail developer Centre Properties to persuade the Department of Natural Resources to issue a permit for the destructive plan to fill 15 acres of floodway at 96th Street continues with two new actions filed by the would-be developer. This is a destructive plan which McANA has vigorously opposed since 1997 due to its many adverse environmental effects on neighborhoods and the community at large. The current river-defense litigation is being actively sustained by the Hoosier Environmental Council (HEC).

As readers might recall, last March, the DNR denied Centre’s fourth application (since 1997) for the fill project. The basis for the denial was that Centre had failed to submit sufficient information (about the hydraulic effects of the proposed project) which had been repeatedly requested by DNR technical review staff. Previously, the DNR had rescinded its permit to Centre after the HEC had successfully proven, with great effort and expense, to the DNR that its engineering review and protocols were faulty. The March, 2004 denial by the DNR of Centre’s application was appealed by the developer and is currently pending before an administrative law judge (ALJ). The firm of Mullett Polk and Associates continues to handle the legal work in the proceedings before the Administrative Law Judge.

Not content to only appeal the permit denial to the ALJ, the developer also hired another law firm to file suit against the DNR in Marion Superior Court. That suit, Centre Properties v. the Department of Natural Resources, was filed June 4th and is pending in Marion County Environmental Court. It alleges that DNR improperly denied Center’s application and asks the Court to order DNR to issue a permit. It also alleges that the DNR’s denial resulted in a taking of Centre’s property and caused it financial loss. In response, a Motion to Dismiss was filed by the Indiana Attorney General on July 28th. It asserts that the plaintiff Centre failed to exhaust its administrative remedies prior to seeking judicial relief. In September, the HEC petitioned the Court to formally intervene in that proceeding. HEC is being represented in that action by the litigation law firm Hoover Hull Baker and Heath.

Anyone desiring to help HEC to sustain this challenge is encouraged to make a tax-deductible contribution to the HEC Legal Defense Fund/White River. For further information, contact Tim Maloney at the HEC office, 317-685-8800.