Many decisions that affect the local environment are made at the municipal level, on zoning boards or in city council meetings. CLC partners with residents and community organizations to identify, understand, and respond to land use and zoning proposals that may negatively impact surrounding residents via air, water, or land pollution. We work to ensure that local decision-makers have the information and conduct the due diligence needed to protect the community’s environmental health needs.
Recently:
- CLC supported local advocates’ questions about and challenges to a proposed soil recycling facility that would have brought up to 125 dump trucks per day carrying construction debris into Gary’s Aetna neighborhood. Our client sought a traffic study and additional guardrails to protect the community from potential long-term problems with contaminated soils and aggregation of wastes. In February 2026, the Gary Common Council voted down the special use variance for the facility.
- CLC encouraged the East Chicago Board of Zoning Appeals to exercise caution as it reviewed an application from Universal Metal Recycling to locate a scrap metal recycling facility, including a metal shredder, near community baseball fields and St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago, Indiana. In November 2025, the Board of Zoning Appeals voted not to recommend the application, and the East Chicago Common Council rejected the application in December 2025.
