Neighbors say a 154-home development near multiple Center Grove schools will cause too much congestion and may not fit well with the area.
Neighbors will bring their case to the Johnson County Plan Commission at 6 p.m. today when the proposed subdivision comes before the board for a preliminary plat.
Already remonstrators have sent dozens of emails about the development to the planning department. Commission members received 43 pages of public input to read through, with just one letter in that document being in support of the development.
The report to the commission from the county planning staff recommends approval, contingent upon the developer following the county’s new building standards and making improvements to the entrance design per county highway department guidance.
Both residents of the subdivisions adjacent to the proposed development from Florida-based Lennar Homes, dubbed Eagle Springs, and residents from greater White River Township are opposed, said Lisa Dickinson, an organizer of the remonstrators.
The opposition stretches beyond the immediate area because parents are concerned that traffic from the proposed neighborhood would further tax the already congested Stones Crossing Road, Dickinson said. The development is less than a half-mile from Center Grove High School, Middle School Central and Center Grove Elementary.
The 91-acre subdivision would be between the Forest Hills subdivision and the Skillman minor subdivision.
New roads built in Eagle Springs would connect it to surrounding neighborhoods via existing dead-end streets in Forest Hills, Brentridge Estates and Hunters Pointe subdivisions.
The average lot size in Eagle Springs would be 13,068 square feet, about 5,200 to 9,100 square feet smaller than the subdivisions it will connect with, according to county documents.
Eagle Springs homes would be between 2,096 and 3,488 square feet, and are expected to range in price from $400,000 to $600,000, according to Lennar.
The development will also include 23 acres of common area, sidewalks and a walking trail along Stones Crossing Road, county documents show.
Lennar Homes is established in the county. The home builder has two new subdivisions planned in Greenwood: the 66-home McCormick Estates subdivision is planned on 33 acres on Cutsinger Road, and the 248-home subdivision Elmwood Estates is planned on 106 acres on Emerson Avenue near Pushville Road.
The Morningside neighborhood in Bargersville and The Preserve at South Lake in Greenwood are also Lennar communities.
Neighbors have known for several months the new subdivision was in the works, and began organizing efforts to oppose it in November. More than 280 members are in the “Opposition to Eagle Springs” Facebook group, and about 200 are on an email list for updates about the project, Dickinson said.
The group also conducted a survey to get input on the biggest concerns. The top three concerns were traffic on Stones Crossing Road, traffic within the interconnected subdivisions and quality of the new homes, she said.
For those who live along Stones Crossing Road, congestion is already a challenge. At peak traffic times, before and after school and during sporting events, residents have a hard time getting out of the neighborhood, said Dickinson, who has lived in Forest Hills for three years.
With conditions as they are, adding 154 homes and as many as 15,400 trips per day to the road, that is a major concern, Dickinson said. That trip count is based on a 10-trip average used by the transportation industry to calculate road use per household.
A Johnson County Highway Department memo directs Lennar to make some modifications to its planned entrance on Stones Crossing, which would include two lanes and a passing blister.
The highway department memo points out that traffic would have other ways to leave the subdivision, as streets will connect to subdivisions that connect to Olive Branch Road.
Future plans for Stones Crossing Road will include widening it to three or four lanes from Morgantown Road to State Road 135, according to the county’s Interstate 69 Corridor Plan. However, that project is deemed a low priority, the plan shows.
By and large, the neighbors are used to growth and are not opposed to it. They are opposed to adding this many homes to that specific property, Dickinson said. Another concern is how well those new homes will blend with other custom-built brick homes in the area, given Lennar’s products on the market right now, she said.
Others are also concerned about drainage problems, as the existing subdivisions in the area were built in the 1980s and 1990s when drainage regulations were looser. As a result, some of the neighbors see significant flooding as a potential issue, letters to the plan commission state.
Some were concerned about Center Grove schools, which they argued are struggling to keep up with the current population.
Dickinson and others are hopeful the plan commission and Lennar will hear their concerns.
“A lot of residents feel like our hands are tied,” Dickinson said. “We can share our concerns, but ultimately it depends on them to make decisions in our best interest.”
The meeting will take place in the public meeting room at the county annex at 86 W. Court St, Franklin.
The public may also join the plan commission meeting via Zoom. The link is available at co.johnson.in.us/event/johnson-county-planning-commission/.
