Zoning request for ICE facility in Elkhart withdrawn

CoreCivic has decided to withdraw its zoning request for a $100 million ICE detention facility in Elkhart County. 

Elkhart County Commissioner Mike Yoder posted the announcement on his Facebook page Monday.

CoreCivic's letter to the Elkhart County Planning Department says, "After careful consideration, CoreCivic has decided to withdraw its application for the map amendment. We appreciate the professional manner by which you and your staff have approached this project."

Core Civic had proposed a $100 million facility on 61 acres on CR7 in Concord Township. The initial plan included a 1,152 bed facility and an 88 bed Special Management Unit.

On average detainees would have been housed at the facility for approximately 40 days.

The company planned to expand the capacity at the facility to approximately 1,400 beds at a later date.

Residents and area leaders were opposed to the proposed facility.

Steven Owen, the Managing Director of Communications confirmed the withdrawal in a statement to ABC57.

"Throughout this process, we have been assessing whether the Elkhart community would be a good fit for this project, just as local officials have been assessing the potential impact to the community. Our assessment has led us to this decision, and we appreciate the feedback from Commissioner Yoder and others during this process."