Pulte Homes is proposing building a 55-and-up age-restricted subdivision on the east side of Five Points Road, half a mile south of County Line Road. The homes would be built in five phases.
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The Greenwood City Council approved rezoning nearly 186 acres on the city’s eastside for a large senior-home development Monday night.
Council members voted 6-3 Monday to approve rezoning 185.97 acres of agricultural land for a 55-and-up age-restricted single-family home development located east of Five Points Road and a half-mile south of County Line Road. The planned unit development, or PUD, would be a Del Webb active adult community of up to about 519 homes to be built in five phases, city documents show.
Council members Ron Bates, Brad Pendleton and Michael Williams voted against the rezoning.
The rezoning had previously received a favorable recommendation from the city’s Advisory Plan Commission in a 5-3 vote in August. The proposed rezoning had originally been before the city council on Oct. 3, however, the developer did not show up to the meeting, which to a continuance to Monday’s meeting.
Pulte Homes Vice President of Land Acquisition David Compton apologized to the city council for not showing up to the other meeting. There was a miscommunication of dates, he said.
Compton told the city council that the development would be “amenity-driven,” and that Pulte Homes plans to spend $10-12 million on trails, pocket parks and landscaping. Benefits of the community include the fact there are no children, residents create up to 60% fewer trips and there would be less demand for public safety runs, he said.
“Crime watch is very, very active in Del Webb,” Compton said.
In between the two meetings, Pulte Homes representatives met with neighbors who had concerns about the development and were able to create additional commitments for the project to address their concerns. Pulte Homes had proposed four additional commitments addressing concerns from the owner of a nearby airfield, drainage and traffic improvements, Compton said.
Earlier on Monday, resident John Peterson, who was representing the East of Interstate 65 Property Owners Association, expressed concerns about the number and density of homes in the development. The association believes there would only be 10-to-12 feet between the homes, he said.
“I’m sure Greenwood would like to have a 55+ community and a Del Webb community just like Westfield, Carmel, Fishers (and) Plainfield. However, the homes are just too crowded,” Peterson said.
Compton later addressed this, saying Pulte Homes designs developments so that lots don’t back up to each other. The developer puts a common area behind homes to help provide space, he said.
Resident John Hakes expressed concerns about drainage issues. Hakes has been working with Pulte Homes and believes they can reach some agreement about his concerns.
He also expressed concerns about the impact future development could have on Grubbs Ditch. This is the ditch where the development would drain.
“The problem along Grubbs Ditch has grown steadily worse over the last 20 years, and it’s now a major problem,” Hakes said. “This is not a problem the council can set aside for the next administration to deal with.”
Hakes told the council to be aware of the investment they would need to make to upgrade drainage if the city continues to annex land to the east.
Compton told the city council their plans, will include detention ponds and eliminate all drainage that flows toward nearby property owners. In terms of Grubbs Ditch, Pulte wants to be part of the solution, not the problem, he said.
“When Mr. Hakes talked about cutting the amount of water that goes into that ditch, we’re going to cut the amount of water that comes off of this piece of ground by 90%,” Compton said. “We will work through the process work with (the planning director), the city engineer, county surveyor and we’ll put in two commitments. Two additional commitments are to provide the Hakes family with a copy of all our drainage reports and plans through the process.”
In terms of traffic improvements, the developer will improve Five Points Road as required by the city. They will also work with the city engineer, he said.
Jackie Briggs, the owner of the land, told the council her family had several important goals in mind for developing the land. The family wanted to have a low-impact development that could meet Greenwood’s needs and provide significant long-term benefits to the area, she said.
Briggs, who is a managing broker in commercial real estate, said her research of the market had shown that the area “overwhelmingly” has a need for active adult communities. Right now the area has very little to offer, so seniors and active adults have to look to other communities, she said.
“We want to retain them in our community — opportunities for three generations to live near one another,” Briggs said. “The Pulte-Del Webb team brought a premier active adult community asset for the area and also rolled up their sleeves invested in a lot of upfront research, put in years of effort worked with our family and the neighboring landowners towards a good project.”
Later, the city council voted unanimously to amend the resolution to add the additional commitments from Pulte, along with an additional commitment to forbid vinyl siding.
With the rezoning now complete, Pulte plans to submit its plat approval and construction plans this winter. On that timeline, construction could begin in the Spring of 2023, with a grand opening by Spring 2024, Compton told the city council.
