Residents have a message for a Greenwood company that wants to develop one of the largest remaining tracts of Whiteland farmland into restaurants, stores and housing: Businesses are welcome, homes and apartments are not.
“I want commercial,” Whiteland resident Debra Hendrickson said. “I’m tired of going to Greenwood and Franklin for groceries. We need that here, just not with all the houses or apartments.”
The theme was common during Tuesday night’s town plan commission meeting, where more than 50 residents gathered for a two-hour public hearing on the project.
Developer Bob Lane is asking that nearly 155 acres be rezoned for commercial and residential use. The land is southwest of Whiteland Road and U.S. 31, north of the town’s wastewater treatment plant.
The area would be part of a 181-acre development tentatively called The Village of Briar Hill.
Plans show a few restaurants, a bank, a gas station and some self-storage units on the east side of the property, near U.S. 31. Retail stores or offices and possibly a big-box retailer also would be in this area of the property.
The businesses would bring an estimated $537,000 in tax revenue to Whiteland, according to the company’s attorney.
“This would be a magnet at the heart of the community, (would) bring dollars into the town and serve residents,” Greenwood attorney Eric Prime said. “What we’re proposing breaks that cycle of having strip malls with housing behind them.”
Single and multi-family housing units would be built on the property’s west side, which borders the Millstone subdivision on South Sawmill Road. About 20 acres would be used for apartment buildings.
Two miles of walking trails, senior housing and a day-care center would also be a part of the property, Lane said. Students living in the proposed development would attend Clark-Pleasant schools.
The developer could not answer questions about size, cost or number of homes or apartments that are proposed but has pledged to work with the town in moving forward.
Once the land is rezoned, the developer would be able to offer more specifics on the residential and commercial aspects of the projects, Lane said.
“No one here seems to be generally opposed to this, but when I hear words like ‘if’ and ‘concepts,’ I get nervous,” resident Gary Lee said.
Planning commission members said they wanted to hear more details and see what changes could be made to the proposal.
Residents attending the meeting said they were not opposed to the commercial and retail aspects of the project but did not want any apartments or new housing.
“Get rid of the houses and put in a community center,” one woman shouted from the back of the room.
After hearing the community response, Lane offered to withdraw plans for apartments on the land and is willing to discuss other possible changes with the seven town council members before they discuss the project March 7.
If approved later this year, construction would likely be timed with improvements to Whiteland Road and U.S. 31 by the Indiana Department of Transportation, scheduled in spring 2007.
If the property is not rezoned, the land will remain farmland, and a developer could build 300 to 400 homes, Whiteland Town Manager Dennis Capozzi.
Planning commission members make a recommendation to the town council, which has final say on rezoning the land.
Article Comment Submission Form
Editor, John C. DePrez Jr.; Executive Editor, Carol Rogers; Publishers: IBRC and IAR
