BOONE COUNTY Apartment plans hit snags
The Zionsville Town Council is set to vote Oct. 6 on a rezoning request involving a 224-unit apartment complex developers are planning for Bennett Technology Park.
Locally based Anderson Birkla Investment Partners LLC wants to build the Lofts at Bennett Park on about 12 acres west of Michigan Road and south of Advent Evangelical Lutheran Church.
But city officials aren’t convinced the development serves the best interests of the technology park. The Plan Commission voted unanimously in August to send an unfavorable recommendation to the Town Council, which tabled a vote on the rezoning earlier this month to gain input from nearby property owners.
To get the apartments built, Anderson Birkla needs to convince city officials to rezone the property from business and industrial to multifamily residential.
The challenge is that the property is within a TIF district, which means property taxes generated by new development within the district are used to fund improvements there. And an apartment complex might not generate as much as a business.
The project would target renters in their 20s and 30s. Rent for a one-bedroom would range from $750 to $930 a month; a twobedroom would cost $1,100 to $1,500.
Public comments will be sought on Boone County’s proposed comprehensive plan beginning at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 15 in the community building at the Boone County 4-H Fairgrounds.
The county’s Area Plan Commission and Economic Development Corp. worked with consulting firm American Structurepoint Inc. in Indianapolis to prepare the draft.
The plan, which sets 32 goals for the county, will govern development in rural areas in addition to the towns of Advance and Whitestown. Lebanon, Jamestown, Thorntown and Zionsville have their own planning agencies.
Copies of the 206-page plan are available at the commission office in Lebanon, at town halls and libraries throughout the county, and online at www.boonecounty.in.gov. Visitors can click on “departments” and “area plan” to access the document.
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