A concept plan for the Pleasant Creek Planned Unified Development. Submitted photo
A proposed residential development with approximately 430 homes may be coming to New Whiteland.
The New Whiteland Town Council unanimously approved a concept plan Wednesday for a planned unit development dubbed Pleasant Creek PUD. The concept plan shows approximately 430 homes of five different housing products located north and west of the Whiteland Road and Sawmill Road intersection on several parcels surrounding the wastewater treatment plant.
Mostly ranging from $270,000 to $325,000, the five proposed housing products are 46-foot wide lots, 52-foot wide lots, 54-foot wide lots, attached townhomes and detached townhomes, according to the concept plan. Homes to the west will be built by Ryan Homes and ones to the east will be built by Lennar Homes.
“We want to get a variety of clients. Not every resident wants the same thing, so to have a variety of products in an area that has 400 homes, allows us to meet a much wider range of buyers,” said Adam Mears, land use and project facilitator for the Indianapolis-based developer Gradison Land Development.
Mears said New Whiteland doesn’t have a lot of architectural standards in its zoning ordinance, but Gradison Land Development has discussed standards like minimum vinyl thickness, lights and roof pitches. There are also color and elevation standards that “create a really nice streetscape,” he said.
The developer also plans to build a pool and pool house for the neighborhood and potentially other amenities. With the number of homes, the developer wants to provide a significant amenity, Mears said.
Before the development can move forward, the area will have to be rezoned from agriculture to PUD and annexed to the town of New Whiteland. At Wednesday’s meeting, town council members emphasized they wanted to give recommendations for the development as it moves through the process. John Purdie, vice president of the town council, said he would like to see a trail that goes along the outer edges of the development.
“We can tell them ‘Well, we want to have a zip line in this thing,’ and we’re not going to get a zip line, but there are reasonable things we can say we want to have in this,” Purdie said. “I don’t know how much leverage we have, but we could potentially say ‘We’d like to see some playground equipment on that.’ There are things like that that we can say as a council or as a town.”
Before it reached the town council, development was given a favorable recommendation by the plan commission at a special meeting on Sept. 4.
Commission member Jeff Weaver had concerns about the town’s ability to handle the development, though he ultimately voted for it.
“They haven’t convinced me that (this is) gonna work the way it’s supposed to … I just don’t know that area is going to be able to support what you’re (proposing).” Weaver said, “I’m talking traffic, I mean I just know what Sawmill looks like. So I just see it because I live right there … I know you’ll sit there sometimes and watch car after car after car after car.”
Chairman Matt Gillock said there are more checks and balances that will happen later on in the process that will find a way to handle the traffic. The traffic study will determine how to best address traffic from the new neighborhood, Gillock said..
Weaver wasn’t the only one concerned about traffic. Although no one spoke during the public hearing on Sept. 4, some community members have taken to social media to express their concerns with the town’s ability to handle the traffic and additional kids that would be coming to Clark-Pleasant schools.
Gradison Land Development has already hired a company to determine traffic counts. The study indicates there should be two outbound lanes and one inbound lane, among other recommendations, Mears said.
Mark Gradison, co-founder of Gradison Land Development, said the company calculated the number of units coming and going from the property for all entrances. In the peak hours of the morning, there would be an estimated 69 units entering and 205 units leaving the site. In the evening, an estimated 231 units would enter and 138 units would exit.
Town officials said they will complete an additional road study before the development is finalized.
Town officials are also considering the neighborhood’s impact on its wastewater plant. A study shows adding the approximately 430 homes would put the plant at approximately 76% to 78% capacity. The town is currently at approximately 62% to 63% capacity. Acknowledging the growth that could happen in the next 20 years, the company recommended adding another 500,000-gallon plant to accommodate the growth they see a decade down the line.
As the project continues, the water company will also be part of future discussions, according to the developer.
With the plan commission and the town council’s approval of the concept plan, developers will now create a preliminary plat to go before the plan commission.
The Daily Journal will continue to follow the project as it progresses.
