Nearly 100 new homes could be coming to Greenwood if the city council approves a proposed change to a two-year-old proposal.
Two years ago, the Greenwood City Council gave Arbor Homes the OK to build 94 homes on 32 acres on the west side of Combs Road, near County Line Road. Initially, the developer wanted to build 120 homes, but had to scale down the neighborhood, dubbed Ridgetop, in 2019, after the city council said the homes would be too close together.
At the time, Arbor also had to agree to several commitments, including planting trees along the south and west borders of the community, paying or reimbursing for privacy fencing, only building detached single-family homes and meeting all of Greenwood’s architectural standards. The community was to include a state-of-the-art, fenced-in playground, per the city council’s request, two retention ponds and two separate access points, and Arbor will make improvements to city roads near the community.
Ridgetop was once again before the Greenwood Advisory Plan Commission Monday after Arbor submitted a request to increase the number of homes by three, and change some of the previously agreed to commitments, according to city documents.
Under the proposed changes, the developer would build 97 homes, all of which would follow the city’s Unified Development Ordinance, which was updated in 2020.
Construction of the development was delayed after the approval of the original plans due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, Arbor is ready to proceed with the subdivision, said Eric Prime, an attorney representing the developer.
When Arbor was preparing to move forward, they discovered that under the Unified Development Ordinance, they could add three additional lots while still meeting the city’s development standards, Prime said.
Also under the proposed plan, none of the homes will have vinyl siding, and the mortared masonry that is required around the exterior of the houses will be more than what the city requires, he said.
The plan commission voted in favor of the proposed changes, which will now go to the city council for approval.
In other news
Also on Monday, the plan commission approved two plat amendments that would add four warehouses to an existing commercial subdivision, and add common spaces to a proposed residential subdivision.
The RISE Commercial District requested the amendment so they could expand the number of self-serve storage units on the property, which is located on the southwest corner of Christy Drive and Airport Parkway. The land where the new buildings are proposed is 3.65 acres, according to city documents.
RISE leases office, warehouse and business storage spaces to businesses. The Greenwood location already has 10 buildings on the property.
The commission also heard a request to change plans for Lyon’s Park, a 14-home neighborhood that would be built on a single cul-de-sac extending off Fry Road. The subdivision, proposed by Northpointe Engineering and Surveying, Inc. in 2019, would be west of Northwest Park in Greenwood, and just south of Lyons Cemetery.
The neighborhood has 16 lots, 14 of which are buildable, said Donna Smithers, Northpointe Engineering president.
The change adds four common areas to create green space for drainage and landscaping, Smithers said.
One of the spaces includes an island at the entrance to the neighborhood. Two spaces have also been added along Fry Road as a buffer between the neighborhood and the road, city documents show.
When the subdivision was initially proposed, residents who lived near the proposed development spoke out against it, saying they were concerned about increased traffic and how the homes would affect the area’s aesthetic.
At the time, Northpointe said Lyon’s Park would not heavily impact traffic along Fry Road. The developer also said most of the nature and trees in the area will be preserved.
The remaining common spaces would follow along the east and west sides of the neighborhood before connecting with a road in the middle, tentatively named Lyons Park Court. This middle connection would be between the majority of the neighborhood and the remaining four lots, including a lot assigned to the cemetery and Greenwood Parks and Recreation Department, according to city documents.
The cemetery would still be accessible through the cul-de-sac, city documents show.
