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Indianapolis-based Platinum Properties Management Co. LLC is seeking approval from the city of Westfield for a new residential development that would result in nearly 300 new homes on the city’s west side.
Jon Dobosiewicz, a land-use professional with the Carmel-based law firm Nelson & Frankenberger, told members of the Westfield City Council on Monday night that the Towne Road Crossing Planned Unit Development would be built on 144 acres on the south side of State Road 32, north of 166th Street, northwest of Little Eagle Creek Avenue and west of the realigned Towne Road.
If the development is built according to its current plan, it would feature 296 single-family houses and town houses, and commercial space.
Platinum Properties, founded in 1997 by Paul Rioux, is seeking to amend the original Towne Road Crossing PUD to add 26 acres to the original 118-acre site. The Towne Road Crossing PUD was originally passed in 2007, but it was never developed following the Great Recession. Members of the Westfield City Council heard an introduction about the development at the council’s meeting on Monday.
“The amendment proposal is to incorporate and update development standards [that] are more aligned with tendencies of development in Westfield today, rather than 20 years ago, when the controlling ordinance was compiled,” Westfield Associate Planner Ryan Collingwood told council members.
(Story continues after site plan)
A new Westfield middle school and bus transportation facility is under construction on the north side of S.R. 32, across from the Towne Road Crossing PUD site. Westfield plans to route Towne Road along the east side of the proposed development site to intersect with S.R. 32 and continue on to 186th Street.
The current site plan for the Towne Road Crossing PUD shows the northern section of the project along S.R. 32 would be devoted to commercial development with town houses along the future route of the Midland Trace Trail and single-family houses to the south. The development would also feature a 12-foot-wide trail along the east side of the site.
During discussion about the project, some councilors said they would prefer the commercial space be extended to the future Midland Trace Trail and to remove town houses from the proposal.
The Midland Trace Trail follows the abandoned Central Indiana Railway, which runs parallel to and just south of S.R. 32. Westfield has constructed about 4.8 miles of the trail, and the trail will stretch for eight miles when it is completed.
“I don’t think this is the right area for townhomes,” City Council member Joe Duepner said. “I kind of have that philosophy in general right now, unless the project was right. I’d like to see that entire top quadrant be designated as commercial.”
The Westfield Advisory Plan Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing about the Towne Road Crossing PUD on April 7, a workshop on May 19 and to vote on a recommendation on June 2. The development could return to the City Council for a final vote on June 9.
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I love that drive along Little Eagle Creek. So serene. Enjoy it while it lasts, I suppose.
I love how know-nothing city councilors love to play development and seemingly always ask for more commercial space. They think it is great for future taxes but have no clue that commercial users are dwindling – go by any retail or office center and see how many leasing signs there are trying to fill empty spaces. Geniuses…
It’s a disguise so they don’t have to say “I’m against more density/less expensive homes.” Which of course would provide more tax dollars per acre than their 1 house/1 acre/$1 million development framework.
Yet another development within three miles of Indy Exec Airport. Remember, it was already there and growing before you complain about the noise.
I’d like to ask this city councilor who do they think patronizes retail/commercial spaces? How do you think those spaces make money?
They do it by being conveniently located to their customers. If you have people nearby, that gives them a built-in customer base!