Next Chapter Neighborhoods is proposing constructing an up to 296 single-family rental home subdivision near Greenwood’s east side.
Provided by the city of Greenwood
A favorable recommendation was given Monday for annexing land near Greenwood’s east side for a proposed rental home subdivision after nearly 90 minutes of debate.
The Advisory Plan Commission voted 5-3 with one member absent to give a favorable recommendation to the city council on annexing about 80.9 acres of land at the southwest corner of East County Line Road and North Five Points Road. Georgia-based developer Next Chapter Neighborhoods is asking for a majority of the land to be zoned as residential attached for single-family homes and for the northeast section of about 10 acres to be zoned as commercial small for future commercial developments. The land is currently owned by H&I Amick Farm, LLC.
Next Chapter Neighborhoods specializes in building for-rent, single-family neighborhoods. The company has built several developments with this concept, including Dupont Meadows in Fort Wayne, said Andrew Malzer, vice president of development.
The company plans to build a neighborhood of cottage homes with one to four bedrooms in Greenwood. Up to 296 homes are planned to be built in two phases, with phase one consisting of 233 units, he said.
Homes will have an average square footage of 1,300 feet. The home will have an average rent of $1,900, according to Malzer’s presentation.
Next Chapter Neighborhoods plans a capital investment of $65 million for the project, which will also add more than $700,000 of additional tax revenue each year to the city, he said.
The developer has also been in touch with Clark-Pleasant Community Schools about their plans, and the district sent a letter saying they had no concerns and would be able to accommodate the increase in students. The developer has also agreed to proposed commitments to prohibit vinyl siding, install a Flock license plate reader camera and offer a home at a 50% discount for a Greenwood Police or public safety officer, Malzer said.
Residents of the neighborhood would likely be those who rent by choice, people who feel it is more advantageous for them to rent. The median household income for Next Chapter Neighborhood developments is $106,801, which is more than $31,000 higher than Greenwood’s median household income, he said.
There will be several “high-end” amenities in the neighborhood, including a clubhouse, community garden, playgrounds, pickleball courts and two dog parks. Two parks will be built in the neighborhood, along with 2.1 miles of walking trails, Malzer said.
Drainage concerns
Nearby residents expressed concerns about the project’s impact on the area, specifically discussing drainage and traffic.
John Hakes, whose family owns three 40-acre farms along Matthews Road, expressed concern that Grubbs Ditch may not be able to handle the amount of drainage going in. The ditch is already compromised, and when it fills up, it backs up very quickly, causing flooding, erosion and damage to field tiles, he told the commission Monday.
The problem will be exacerbated without any fixes. He is aware of the county’s plans to fix it, but this will take time, Hakes said.
“This drainage problem, which is a county problem, and now it’s coming to Greenwood,” Hakes said. “This drainage problem should be a major consideration for both annexation and planning purposes.”
This is also not the first time Hakes has expressed concerns about the ditch, previously doing so when Pulte Homes announced their plans to build an up to 519-home, age-restricted subdivision further south.
Malzer and Kevin Sumner, an engineer working with the developer for the project, said they have heard the concerns about the ditch before. The engineering work is ongoing, they said.
The city has in the past done improvements on the ditch, but the land is not in the city yet, said Mark St. John, city engineer. St. John, who is also a plan commission member, added that once it is annexed, the legal drain is still the responsibility of the Johnson County Surveyor.
Additionally, per city ordinance, developments are not allowed to discharge more water than what the land did before, said Gabe Nelson, planning director.
A good fit for Greenwood?
Resident Sam Hartley, who lives on County Line Road, expressed concerns about the project being, in his view, corporate-owned single-family homes.
There is a problem with corporate hedge funds renting out formerly owner-occupied single-family homes, but that is not what Next Chapter Neighborhoods is planning, Malzer said.
“We’re not impacting anyone’s ability to buy a home. We’re not a single-family for-sale developer,” he said.
They are building new products purely for people to rent, and with the way the project is designed it is impossible for them to sell off individual homes without getting variances from the city, he said.
Commission members expressed concerns about the proposal, as did city planning staff.
Staff gave an unfavorable recommendation to the commission because of the proposed land use. While it appears to be single homes, they are being developed as a whole product, not single lots, Nelson said.
He also highlighted a recent Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization regional housing study, which said 61% of renters were cost-burdened, rents were increasing by 21% over two years and wages were increasing by 9% over two years. Nelson was concerned an all-rental community with a high concentration of homes could create a monopoly, he said.
“When you have an all-rental community with such a high concentration, it kind of creates a monopoly in that area where it can manipulate the rental market,” Nelson said. “When rents are increased, it especially is harmful to people on fixed incomes that cannot keep up with the rental costs, as the rents increase with the market.”
The development “could disrupt the fabric of the city” and is a shortcut to solving the lack of housing in the city. A mix of housing is needed, but the concentration of homes is the concern, Nelson said.
Commission member Brian Walker questioned how the development would be maintained, with Malzer responding that Next Chapter would handle all the maintenance. Walker questioned the financial feasibility of this, and the developer said they could handle it.
Toward the end of the discussion, the conversation again shifted to whether the project was a good fit for the city. Commission members asked planning staff to compare the project with the Center Grove Park Planned Unit Development, which was planned to consist of three distinct areas: commercial mixed-use, apartments and single-family-rental homes.
The PUD did have commercial development integrated, however, it was being done as part of the project, not being parceled out for future use. It also has a stricter set of zoning, but the project is now being reconsidered, Nelson said.
City staff also had concerns about the enforceability of one of the proposed commitments: the 50% discount for a Greenwood Police or public safety officer. There could be issues with tying this to the land, Nelson said.
If the project fell through, and a nonresidential project came in, how could the future project set aside a home for this purpose, officials said. St. John gave the example of a library.
The commission ultimately voted 5-3 to add the commitment, along with the other commitments, as part of their favorable recommendation to the city council. Walker, St. John and John Shell, plan commission president, voted against a favorable recommendation.
The city council’s public hearing on the annexation is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at the Greenwood City Center.
