Greenwood residents speak out against Walker Farms housing proposal

Residents on Greenwood’s west side are concerned over a proposed rezoning that would bring hundreds of homes and a new apartment complex to Main Street.

Indianapolis-based Apollo Developers is requesting to rezone about 113.5 acres of land on both the north and south sides of Main Street next to Greenwood Christian Academy High School and the Community Church of Greenwood. The land, known as the Walker Farms property, is currently zoned as agricultural and would be rezoned into residential attached, residential large and residential multi-unit complex to allow for an up to 350-lot mixed residential development, according to city documents.

The Greenwood Advisory Plan Commission voted 8-0, with member Brian Walker absent, Monday night to continue the hearing until their Jan. 22 meeting at the request of resident Marcus Crouch, who created a petition with hundreds of signatures opposing the rezoning. His request was heard at the beginning of Monday’s meeting before Apollo could present about the project and before public testimony could be heard.

Apollo, who is being represented by local attorney Eric Prime, did not oppose the continuance.

Three separate parcels are being considered for rezoning for the project, dubbed Walker Commons.

The north section would be rezoned as residential attached, consisting of single-family detached homes. The northeastern area of the southeast section would be residential attached, consisting of a mix of two-story rear-load and front-load townhomes, while the rest of the southeast section would be residential large zoning with large estate homes, city documents show.

The western side of the southwest section, located west of GCA, would be rezoned to residential attached for paired patio homes and rear-load single-family detached housing. The remainder of this section would be rezoned to accommodate an apartment complex, according to city documents.

Documents indicate Apollo plans to provide amenities such as a dog park, playground, pickleball courts and a linear trail connecting the south parcels and surrounding neighborhoods to Westside Park. City planning staff gave a favorable recommendation for the project, though they asked for conditions to include a traffic study, which will also evaluate direct access from Smith Valley Road, and prohibit the use of vinyl siding.

Other conditions from city staff include the collaboration with the city about connecting sidewalks and trails to existing sidewalks at nearby roundabouts and collaboration with GCA on making safe pedestrian paths to the school, city documents show.

Although the item was continued at Monday’s meeting, there was still some discussion held as part of the request for a continuance. It was standing room only inside the council chambers at the Greenwood City Center as residents attended the meeting.

Crouch was the first to speak about the project at the meeting, asking the plan commission to continue any discussions of the project for 30 to 60 days. This was so that he could speak to all the residents in opposition, including those who signed his petition, to have a cohesive message for when they remonstrated against the proposal. The Glen Oaks Common resident has worked for the last week to draw a map of the surrounding area to show the impact the project will have, he said.

”We have more than enough citizens that are objecting to this [for you] to go ahead and just deny it today,” Crouch said. “I would like to continue this to actually put together a well-rehearsed speech for you guys.”

Prime said Apollo had a virtual town hall meeting with some residents who received public notices last week. They had taken concerns that were raised under advisement and made some changes to the original concept plan, he said.

He also said his contact information was given to residents as well on the public notices. Those in attendance took issue with the public noticing process, however, with some saying they never got a notice.

Under city ordinance, notices went out to everyone within 300 feet, or two properties away, from the affected areas. Those who did not meet these qualifications did not get a notice, said John Shell, plan commission president.

Residents then began to voice their frustrations about the noticing process. Shell had to call for order at least twice during the meeting, threatening at one point to clear the room if there were any more disruptions. He ultimately did not exercise the action.

Glen Oaks Commons resident Bob Bitterman said he wanted proof of delivery of the notices, while also criticizing the placement of the public notice signs on the street. The city’s planning department followed rules, regulations and ordinances from the city, Shell said.

Crouch also said that part of the reason why he wanted a continuance was to send out a broader notice about the project on his own.

“You can see the significant outcry from the neighborhood of how bad these apartments, these townhomes are going to be, which is what my petition is specifically against,” he said. “The developer refused to even consider getting rid of this, so I don’t know how much the continuance is even going to bear as far as them working with us.”

He later voiced displeasure at the commission’s decision to only continue it by two weeks. Commission member Dave Lekse told Crouch the best use of the time would be to consolidate their top arguments as there is only a limited amount of time.

At one point in the meeting, a resident asked via Zoom if commission member Brian Walker was present and if he would recuse himself from the discussion. Walker owns the property, a plan commission member said, but he was not there at the meeting.

In an interview on Tuesday, Crouch reiterated his concerns about the project, including concerns about adding more traffic in the already-busy area. A lifelong Greenwood resident whose background is in helping developers get development permits in places like Marion County, he was concerned about the project’s “extreme intensity.”

“If you submitted this to Marion County, they would laugh you out of their office. When you submitted it, they wouldn’t be able to help themselves from saying no immediately,” Crouch said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Crouch’s Change.org petition had at least 481 signatures — a majority of which were from Greenwood residents. In the petition, he says the proposed development would “further disrupt” quiet neighborhoods and potentially affect the Yorktown Race Track.

He says he’s enjoyed a peaceful neighborhood with minimal traffic disturbances until recently, saying there’s been an increase in thru traffic after roundabouts were constructed nearby. Yorktown Road has also seen an increase in speeding, Crouch alleged.

Crouch is not against progress or growth, but says it should be done responsibly. In the petition, he urges city planners to limit the number of single-family home lots that can be built and ensure that they are constructed on lots that are sized equal to or larger than those found in existing neighborhoods.

The petition also proposes an alternative solution for managing increased traffic: building a new bypass that extends directly from Main Street to Smith Valley Road. They say the bypass could help divert future residents away from current cut-throughs.

Walker Commons is not the right use of the property, according to Crouch. He is concerned that, if built, it will eventually all become rental properties. The developer has not publicly said anything about this, however.

Crouch was at times emotional during the interview, saying it was sad that it took something like this to bring the community together. He met a great group of people at the meeting, he said.

“It’s amazing, the few individuals that I’ve had time to speak with, how amazing they are, how capable they are,” Crouch said. “It’s just sad that it took something like this to bring us together.”

With the hearing continued, Crouch is now working to create a unified message from residents to give to the commission at their Jan. 22 meeting.

He has reserved a room at the White River Branch of the Johnson County Public Library from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Friday for people to meet him and discuss their concerns. He’ll also be at the library’s group discussion tables from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday to Thursday to meet as well, he said.

Another resident, Nate Ridgeway, has launched an online form for feedback as well, which can be found at shorturl.at/dtITW.

CORRECTION: Jan. 10, 2024 at 11:42 a.m.

A previous version of this story had incorrect information about who launched the online form. However, it was actually launched by Nate Ridgeway, Crouch said.