Lennar Homes is proposing building about 380 single-family homes near the intersection of Smokey Row Road and Honey Creek Road in Greenwood.
Provided by the city of Greenwood
A little more than 245 acres on Greenwood’s west side could be rezoned for a proposed 380-home subdivision.
Miami-based Lennar Homes is asking to rezone about 245.1 acres of land located northwest of Honey Creek Road and Smokey Row Roads from agricultural to residential zoning. Lennar plans to build up to 380 single-family homes in a subdivision dubbed “Honey Creek Farms.”
The city’s advisory plan commission unanimously voted 8-0 with one member absent Monday night to send a favorable recommendation to the city council, which will ultimately decide whether the land is rezoned. A decision could be made as soon as next month during the council’s next meeting.
For the rezone Lennar is asking for about 172 acres of the 245 acres be rezoned to residential large zoning, which allows for homes that are larger than traditional suburban-style homes. These homes will likely be priced between $500,000 to $600,000, said Brian Tuohy, an attorney representing the developer.
The remaining acreage, about 72 acres or so, is asked to be zoned as residential medium. These homes will range in price from $400,000 to $500,000, Tuohy told the plan commission.
The residential large zoning is primarily planned to be within the middle of the project, stretching from Honey Creek Road west before winding down to near Smokey Row Road. Residential medium zoning is planned for the area along Smokey Row Road, and a small section in the northwest that connects to the Center Grove Park Planned Unit Development, he said.
Center Grove Park is a mixed-used development was approved by the city council earlier this year, bringing commercial, office and retail uses, along with 250 apartment units and up to 325 single-family rental homes, along State Road 135.
A section of the land that is marked on the site plan, and is located on the southern edge of the property’s boundary with Honey Creek Road, is planned to remain unchanged for now. The land is set aside for a future school, as Center Grove Community Schools has considered that section for an elementary school, Tuohy said.
“There’s a possibility, a distinct possibility that Center Grove may purchase that site for a school site,” he said.
Honey Creek Farms is planned to have green space and a series of trails for future residents. These trails would interconnect with Greenwood’s parks system, Tuohy said.
The development would also result in an “enormous increase” in the city’s tax base, Tuhoy said. Home construction would likely not start until the first quarter of 2025, with people moving in the second quarter of 2025, he said.
City staff also issued a favorable recommendation for the project, said Gabe Nelson, planning director. The developer agreed to conditions from city planning staff, including building the trails and providing right-of-way connectivity, city documents show.
Shawn Smith, who lives right next door to the proposed development, was the only member of the public to speak during the public hearing Monday. She was concerned about how the project would affect her home’s drainage outlet into the field and traffic in the area.
Keith Lash, an engineer and vice president of land acquisition and development for Lennar, told the plan commission that the developer typically temporarily reroutes the drains and connects them to the subdivision’s storm sewers. They planned to do that for Honey Creek Farms as well, he said.
As for the traffic, Lash said a traffic study has been filed and they are working with the city to come to a “mutually agreed upon resolution.”
City Engineer Mark St. John, a member of the plan commission, later said that there were no plans for future roadway construction near the development as of now, but the traffic study did highlight existing issues at other intersections along Honey Creek Road, including Tracy/Smokey Row and Whiteland Road.
“Conditions are made worse for the added traffic, obviously,” St. John said. “As Lennar indicated, they are working with us to simply pay their share and cover the damages they cause, the traffic issues they cause.”
A roundabout is a possible improvement for the area of Smokey Row and Honey Creek, officials said during the meeting.
Commission member Josh King expressed a concern about the development taxing the Greenwood Fire Department, particularly Station 93 on Cutsinger Road.
“From a public safety standpoint, it’s already at our city’s edge, drawing our limited resources further away or having (us) rely on our generous neighbors, Bargersville and White River,” King said.
Commission President John Shell said that although he can’t speak for the fire department, Station 93 was designed with ideas for future expansion in mind. There is room to add a second vehicle bay, he said.
