Staff has received a revised plan from Metro staff with attention to preserving more of the forested area. The changes are the following:
- The ambulance lane is moving 25 feet closer to the hospital by relocating parking spaces onto the north side closer to the Spectrum building
- These modifications reduce the amount of wooded land to be cleared from .73 to .45 acres. This leaves 95% of the 6.74 wooded acres currently on the Metro property.(Less than 2/10ths of an acre of the forest area to the east will be removed).
- Metro will continue to explore offsite parking options and utilization of landscaped areas on the site, which could potentially lead to reduced parking and further environmental benefits.
- In addition Metro has agreed to use only native plants in their landscaped area and include a pollinator garden and continue to work with our Planning Department on a finalized landscape plan.
- We learned work on the site must begin on Monday March 29 in order to adhere to the ODNR rules regarding endangered species (the Indiana bat) that does not permit removal of trees after March 31st.