Proposed 36-home development raises concerns among Bargersville neighbors

“Say no to rezone” signs are up around Bargersville encouraging residents to protest a new 36-home development.

A group of Bargersville-area residents put up the signs after they heard the 40-acre development is planned on land known as the Fulmer property. The new custom home neighborhood on Morgantown Road, across the street from Hickory Stick Golf Club.

The group of residents have publicly shared grievances about the proposed neighborhood during the November Bargersville Plan Commission and plan to do so again at the Dec. 13 town council meeting, when the development is set for a public hearing.

Greenwood-based home builder J. Greg Allen and Associates received a favorable recommendation from the plan commission. Under the proposal, the property would change from being zoned for agricultural use to R-1 residential. J. Greg Allen has developed homes and commercial properties in the Greenwood area over the past several decades including the Claybrooke Commons, Greenwood Springs and Emerson Pointe shopping centers, according to past Daily Journal reporting.

The developer told the plan commission the homes will be upscale, custom homes valued at $750,000 to $1.2 million.

The average lot size would be 0.81 acres, though R-1 zoning allows up to two homes per acre. The proposed layout includes 36 lots and two small drainage ponds on the 40-acre parcel, according to documents filed with the town.

Plan commission members pointed out at the meeting that the proposed development has a relatively low density compared to others in Bargersville, as the town’s comprehensive plan allows up to six lots per acre in other zoning classifications.

Infrastructure concerns

Residents who live to the north, east and west of the site shared their concerns about the development with the Daily Journal.

One of the common concerns residents shared involved traffic on Morgantown Road. Traffic headed to several nearby Center Grove schools would pass by the development and residents fear this would further exacerbate traffic backups on the one-lane road.

“It will have an impact on the traffic pattern on an already busy road during construction and after the homes are occupied,” said Mary Lollar, who lives in a neighborhood around Hickory Stick Golf Club. “Morgantown Road cannot handle existing traffic. We have teenagers speeding down this road from Center Grove. It’s a dangerous area, and traffic increased when they built Walnut Grove.”

Another concern is the impending traffic increase from Interstate 69, she said.

“Now there are very few connection points to I-69. The main artery, (State Road) 144, connects to Morgantown Road and people exit and go up our street,” Lollar said. “There are 65 buses a day, traffic for football fields, soccer fields, three schools. They’ve diverted funeral processions down Morgantown because everywhere else is closed. It’s slow at midnight but other times, it’s dangerous.”

Plan commission members pointed out the development would bring in money from the I-69 Road Impact fee, which Johnson County and the town have jointly implemented to improve infrastructure in the I-69 corridor. The fee would collect around $92,579 for the 36 homes included in the subdivision.

Quality of life concerns

Residents were also concerned their homes would lose value with a neighborhood located nearby.

Kristina Boye, who lives in the Persimmon Woods subdivision to the west of the proposed development, said the new homes would decrease her and her neighbors’ quality of life, if approved. She’s also skeptical about the prices the developer has mentioned.

“The builder was saying these homes would be $750,000 to $1.2 million. For that subdivision, we’re wondering how that’s possible when there are homes with larger lot sizes not at that higher value,” Boye said. “Quality of life is going down and home values are going down.”

The development will also cause a disruption in the rural environment of the area, said Josephine Secnik, who also lives in the Persimmon Woods neighborhood.

“The whole look and feel we have in Bargersville, we want to maintain that and we aren’t convinced that’s what the builders are proposing,” Secnik said. “We want to maintain the look and feel we have, rural-looking, sparsely populated and low-density.”

At the meeting, one plan commission member said the idea the land would never be developed is unrealistic and this is a more favorable outcome for neighbors than it could be with another zoning classification.

“The idea farmland would never change is just not a realistic expectation. I live surrounded by farmland, and many developers are constantly looking at land around my property. I know it will develop, it’s the natural course of things. The comprehensive plan would’ve allowed as many as 180 to 200 homes in that amount of land. It seems like a win for the community,” the member said.

James Ward, who lives just north of the Fulmer property, owns 40 acres of farmland just west of it. If the Fulmer property is developed, it will make it next to impossible for farm equipment to access his land, as those vehicles would likely have to go through neighborhood streets instead of driving from Morgantown Road through the Fulmer land, Ward said.

“If they do this and we’re landlocked, our income is done,” Ward said. “The farmers pay us rent, so this will affect us financially. You can’t drive farm equipment down a driveway.”

Future of the project

If the land has to be developed, nearby residents would rather see it zoned Rural Residential, they said. That would minimize density and maintain a rural feel while still permitting some homes to be built, Mary Lollar said.

“They want to move it not to Rural Residential, which would be the next one up, but R-1,” she said. “Rural Residential would protect natural features and single-family homes permitted within it would be low density and compatible with the openness of the setting.”

The town council will hold a public hearing at their December meeting, which is at 7 p.m. on Dec. 13. The council will vote on the rezoning later in the month.