<p>A new subdivision was approved in Greenwood, but not before the city council made last-minute changes to ensure the builder would not use vinyl siding.</p><p>Fishers-based Premier Land Company plans to build 175 single-family houses and 83 attached two-family duplexes on 152 acres of farmland at the northwest corner of Worthsville and Griffith roads.</p><p>To build on the property, the developer needed approval to rezone the land to residential medium and residential attached from agriculture. The Greenwood Advisory Plan Commission gave it a favorable recommendation, and the Greenwood City Council heard it Monday night.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]<p>The single-family houses would be zoned by the city as residential medium, which requires a minimum lot size of 7,700 square feet, according to city documents. The duplexes would need a minimum lot size of 5,400 square feet. Home prices are still to be determined.</p><p>Before voting, council member J. David Hopper requested an amendment to require all the homes be constructed with cement fiber, or HardiePlank, siding, prohibiting vinyl siding.</p><p>Hopper, who in past meetings has said he would do anything to “get rid” of vinyl in Greenwood, said HardiePlank siding fits better with the overall design look the city is going for now, although the requirement is not listed in the city’s recently updated zoning code.</p><p>He said the council also asked Arbor Homes to not use vinyl siding in its new 500-home subdivision between Honey Creek Road and State Road 135, which was approved earlier this month, so it was fair to do the same for Premier Land.</p><p>Richard Henderson, of Henderson Engineering and Consulting, was not explicitly opposed to the request, but asked the amendment not go in to allow the builder more flexibility, since Greenwood’s design standards allow for vinyl siding anyway.</p><p>In the recently overhauled zoning code, there are three pathways for exterior design of all single-family and attached homes.</p><p>All three require masonry be used on the front and rear of the homes. But the first pathway allows any of the following siding materials: stone, brick, fiber cement siding, heavy-gauge vinyl, engineered wood siding or stucco.</p><p>The options were intended “to give property owners flexibility for meeting the exterior materials requirements for single-family dwellings,” the ordinance reads.</p><p>Both Henderson and Keith Blais, vice president of land for M/I Homes, the builder attached to the proposed subdivision, cited the ordinance when asking the council to not add an amendment restricting certain building materials.</p><p>“Richard alluded to the new ordinance, which allows flexibility for customers to pick and choose what they want to do,” Blais said.</p><p>Council member Mike Williams suggested only requiring cement fiber siding on the single-family houses, and not the attached duplexes. Blais agreed that vinyl siding is typically used for the attached houses. The cost difference between vinyl siding and HardiePlank is about $6,000 per house.</p><p>Other council members rejected that idea though. Historically, vinyl siding does not hold up over the years, Hopper said.</p><p>“Clearly, cement fiber board holds up a lot better and just looks better,” he said. “It’d be my preference to have the whole thing without vinyl.”</p><p>Council member Dave Lekse agreed, saying it was fair to ask for the change since the council is granting the rezoning request.</p><p>“We’re being asked for a favor, so I think it’s OK to apply a condition. It’s a customary tradition here in Greenwood,” Lekse said.</p><p>Council members unanimously approved the amendment as well as the rezoning request for the subdivision.</p>
