Rezone would add 160 $400K homes in southern Greenwood

An area developer plans to build 160 homes in far southwestern Greenwood.

Carmel-based Pulte Homes Indiana has its sights set on about 83 acres of farmland on the northwest corner of the intersection of Whiteland Road and Honey Creek Road, at the city’s southern limits. Pulte Homes wants to rezone the land owned by the Dougherty family, from agricultural to residential.

The Greenwood Advisory Plan Commission unanimously gave a favorable recommendation to the project on Monday, with one member absent. The project next moves on to the city council.

Pulte’s plans call for the subdivision to have 160 single-family homes with an amenity area, pocket parks, trails and green space. The homes will range in price from $350,000 to $550,000, though Pulte officials expect the price range will be closer to $400,000 to $500,000, said Rex Ramage, director of land planning and entitlements for Pulte Homes.

“Assuming we get through the process with the rezone, the plat and construction plans, we hope to break ground next spring,” he said.

The planned neighborhood is located just east of Scottsdale Estates, a massive Arbor Homes development under construction between Honey Creek Road and State Road 135. Plans for this subdivision, which were approved in late 2020, call for 505 medium and large single-family homes to be built, along with several amenities.

Pulte Homes proposed development would feature streets that would connect to stub streets to the Arbor Homes development, which surrounds the Pulte proposal on both its west and north sides. Current plans call for two entrances into the neighborhood, both off Honey Creek Road.

No one from the public spoke for or against the proposal during Monday’s meeting, but members of the plan commission had several questions for both the developer and city staff.

Drainage was one of the first questions addressed after commission member Monica Magna asked about how the project would affect drainage in the area. Planning Director Gabe Nelson told the commission that city staff wouldn’t see the full plans until the plans reach the primary plat stage, as Monday night the commission was voting on the rezoning.

“I’m sure that their team has done this some due diligence to make sure that it’s viable before the proposed zone map change,” Nelson said. “However, our first kind of real review of that would be for the primary plat. We’ll also have our outside review team take a look at the drainage on the site.”

Commission chairman John Shell asked whether there were plans to improve the Whiteland Road and Honey Creek Road intersection to help with visibility. The corn grown in the area currently sometimes makes it difficult for drivers to see traffic coming from the west, he said.

“Was any discussion held about something to — I know you can’t really straighten out Whiteland Road — but to improve that intersection?” Shell asked.

City staff has talked to Pulte about the possibility of having a roundabout at the intersection in the future to make it safer. However, it is a complex situation as it would require the cooperation of three governments: Greenwood, Bargersville and Johnson County. Johnson County is responsible for the land to the east of the intersection, while the land to the south is Bargersville’s jurisdiction, Nelson said.

Roundabout construction is not likely to happen any time soon, but city officials asked the developer to set aside some land near the intersection for future improvements.

A traffic study has also not yet been completed in the area, though the developer wants to get it done as soon as possible.

“We’re not going to wait that long just because we, just like you guys would want to know, we want to know sooner rather than later what the implications are of the traffic so that we can plan instead of having us all of us surprised,” Ramage said.