Arbor Homes’ planned development on Honey Creek Road on Greenwood’s southwest side would feature homes from the developer’s traditional series, Arbor. Video screenshot
After debate over the project’s name and density, a proposed 252-neighborhood on Greenwood’s southwest side received a favorable recommendation from a city commission Monday night.
The Greenwood Advisory Plan Commission voted 6-0, with three members absent, to give a favorable recommendation to the city council for the annexation and zone map change for 106.67 acres west of Honey Creek Road and south of Stones Crossing Road. Arbor Homes plans to build a new neighborhood, comprising up to 252 homes, on the land, which is within the Clark-Pleasant school district. This neighborhood would be located directly across from Honey Creek Farms, an up-to-318-home Lennar Homes development under construction in the Center Grove school district.
Plans currently call for 167 Arbor Series homes, ranging from one- to two-story, 1,200- to 3,200-square-foot single-family homes, which will have 12 different floor plans available for home buyers to choose from, according to a presentation from Domonic Dreyer, a land entitlement manager with Arbor Homes. These homes could have optional sunrooms, flex spaces and three-car garages, Dreyer said.
It also features 85 Destination Series Homes, which are one-story, “low maintenance” ranch-style single-family homes ranging from 1,500 to more than 3,200 square feet, the presentation shows.
Other highlights of the development include a 2.5-acre natural preservation area, two playgrounds and an internal trail network. It also includes trails along Honey Creek Road and County Road 125 West, and the developer is open to working with the city on a “restrictive donation” for future roundabouts in the area, Dreyer said.
However, before any details on the project were discussed Monday, city officials and an Arbor Homes representative first addressed the name of the development. On plans provided to the city, the neighborhood was tentatively dubbed Averdeen. This sparked confusion with another nearby neighborhood: Aberdeen, a Duke Homes development in Bargersville.
Several messages came to the city from residents concerned about the name of the Arbor development, said Gabe Nelson, planning director. Gene Baker, an Aberdeen resident, along with Mike Duke, the developer of the Aberdeen development in Bargersville, also spoke out about the name.
Baker said the name would confuse first responders, also saying the “lack of effort” behind the name by Arbor made him wonder if they would do the same for the development. Duke said Aberdeen needs to be differentiated from Arbor, asking for a commitment that Arbor would not name the neighborhood Averdeen.
Dreyer told the commission the Averdeen name was a placeholder and that Arbor would explore other names for the project. Later, he said Arbor would not use the name and planned to use a unique one, giving consent to a commitment to name it something else.
At the suggestion of Nelson, the plan commission cemented that consent to not use the Averdeen name by adding a formal commitment to the documents that the city council will consider.
Several residents, including those who live nearby, spoke out about the project, expressing concern about the type of housing and density.
Allen Mathena, who lives farms land to the south of the project, brought up a past project proposed on the land a few years ago. He said it was rejected by the city council because of a want for a higher-end subdivision in this area.
“I don’t really see this as being any different,” Mathena said.
Michael Veenhuizen, who lives to the north of the project, also brought up the past projects on the land, expressing a similar sentiment. He was concerned the city was “going backward.”
“I don’t deny that this is a valuable, very precious area for Greenwood. You look at your comprehensive plan, you look at what available ground there is and making improvements to Greenwood and benefiting Greenwood, I’m in favor of that,” Veenhuizen said. “But I think what we need to pay attention to is what the character the area is, and if it’s consistent with that as we do our planning. And this plan is not consistent with that.”
Mathena also expressed concerns about drainage and traffic, along with the site layout. He felt the higher-end quality homes were only on the west side, along Honey Creek Road, and not the west side along County Road 125 West. They should be placed throughout the neighborhood, he said.
Robert Poole, who lives to the south, told the commission he was concerned the values of the proposed homes would decrease his values, and that the project would “degrade” his property. He also expressed concern that the project would make traffic worse on Honey Creek Road, which he said was already bad now.
Randy Goodin, a resident who lives a few miles away near Sheek Road, said he was concerned about the density of the development. He argued the homes wouldn’t have a lot of green space, also expressing concern about the quality of homes and how there were no four-lane roads in the area, yet the plans called for putting a lot of homes at that site, he said.
Dreyer said Arbor plans to do a traffic study for the project, will make the necessary improvements it calls for, and work with city planning and engineering staff to ensure everything is acceptable.
He also addressed the density and size of the lots, saying the homes for the project are larger than what residential medium, the requested zoning, requires. The lots for this project are 71 feet wide, 10 feet larger than the typical Arbor lot, which can accommodate people who want a larger lot, he said.
Dreyer also said Arbor Homes builds high-quality homes.
City planning staff gave a favorable recommendation for approval, Nelson said. However, he said planning staff would’ve preferred more diversity in the housing products and having those products more spread throughout the neighborhood. Currently, it is segmented, with the Destination Series only on the west side of the project and the rest being the traditional Arbor Series.
Commission member Michael Probst asked if the higher density was what the city’s comprehensive plan wanted. Nelson said yes, but there’s a misconception about density. Nelson suggested it wasn’t density that caused housing values or concern, but maybe it was the product being built and how it was maintained, he said.
“We didn’t have a concern with the density being proposed,” Nelson said.
With a favorable recommendation, the project will be before the city council on Monday for a public hearing and a first vote. The final vote will take place later in February.
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