Controversial Arbor Homes plan gets smaller ahead of Wednesday hearing
Neighbors across County Road 500 South continue their push against the proposed 106-acre subdivision, as it goes for Round 2 on a rezoning request. Plus, remembering Lon Heide
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CONTROVERSIAL ARBOR HOMES PLAN GETS SMALLER AHEAD OF WEDNESDAY HEARING
Plans for a subdivision near the southwest corner of U.S. 231 and County Road 500 South continued to shrink this week, heading into ongoing protest expected at a rezoning hearing Wednesday evening.
Arbor Homes, an Indianapolis-based homebuilder, ran into objections from a standing-room-only crowd a month ago to its request to rezone 106 acres from agricultural land to a single-family residential zone that could make way for 306 homes.
Coming away with an inconclusive Area Plan Commission vote in February, Arbor Homes is scheduled to return Wednesday with a plan that would shave about 18% of the lots from that property.
The homebuilder also returns as residents in the neighboring Rainybrook subdivisions, across County Road 500 South, have continued to mobilize against Arbor Homes’ plans. Signs against the rezoning dot Rainybrook streets.
Among the concerns raised, including those on a petition with more than 600 signatures from Rainybrook residents, factor in increased traffic; quality of construction of houses Arbor Homes officials say will be in the $350,000 to $400,000 range; what residents say will be a lack of continuity with residential development in their subdivision, putting smaller lots in a more densely packed space; and capacities for utilities and schools.
“We understand it’s coming,” Deb Bennett, a Rainybrook resident, said about residential growth expected in the area. “We just think it should be reasonable. We don’t think what Arbor Homes wants to do is reasonable.”
The rezoning request proposed in February looked to soften appearances of the subdivision, putting nearly two dozen houses on larger lots – the equivalent of those covered in R1/single-family zone standards – closest to County Road 500 South. The rest would have been set back from the road on smaller lots in a zoning designation called R1B. That concept was knocked as “lipstick on a pig” by neighbors during the APC hearing.
The Area Plan Commission voted 7-6 against recommending the request in February. At least nine votes are required, in either direction, to send a recommendation to the Tippecanoe County commissioners for a final decision. That meant Arbor Homes had to put it through one more try this week.
An APC staff report showed that Arbor Homes had since the last meeting submitted a commitment with the rezoning request that promised to develop at least 40% of the lots to those larger R1/single-family zoning standards. How many homes that would have trimmed from the 306-lot total wasn’t clear.
The reaction from the neighbors in Rainybrook: “My initial thought is they are moving in the right direction,” Kim Loveless said. “However, the other 60% of lots would still be R1B standard. This is more ‘lipstick on the pig.’”
On Friday, Arbor Homes changed it up, again. In a letter to the Area Plan Commission, the company asked to change the request to R1A zoning, which would call for larger lot sizes than in the initial R1B zoning request. The letter also indicated that Arbor Homes would on Wednesday discuss its intent to expand the area with larger lots nearest to County Road 500 South.
Arbor Homes officials did not immediately respond to questions about that plan.
Amanda Esposito, APC’s deputy director, said that because the concept is to step down in density – “what we call ‘down-zoning,’” she said – the overall rezoning request could move forward as scheduled Wednesday evening.
Tom Murtaugh, a Tippecanoe County commissioner and an APC voting member, said he understood that that the change would take the subdivision from 306 lots to about 250.
The zoning fight near the corner of U.S. 231 and County Road 500 South comes as Lafayette pushes utilities to the south. At a recent state of the cities event, Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski outlined how more than $100 million was being spent on the city’s wastewater capacity, as well as sewer and water lines aimed to the south and southwest of Lafayette to initially feed 1,000 acres for residential and commercial lots in the next 22 months and eventually open up 5,200 acres that cover much of the land south of Lafayette.
Tracy Brown, a county commissioner who also is on the APC, said Monday he was still listening to residents and to Arbor Homes, weighing how he might vote if and when it gets to the county commissioners.
“You can understand why you’re seeing these – near roads, near schools,” Brown said.
Murtaugh said the less-dense option floated by Arbor Homes had him more inclined to vote in favor.
“It’s much more palatable,” Murtaugh said Monday. “So, I likely will be supporting it.”
If you go: The Area Plan Commission meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the County Office Building, 20 N. Third St. in Lafayette. Tippecanoe County commissioners, who would have final say on the zoning change, could see the request at their 10 a.m. April 7 meeting at the County Office Building.
TODAY’S THE DAY TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE BASED IN LAFAYETTE REPORTING PROJECT.
REMEMBERING LON HEIDE, 5-TERM CITY COUNCIL MEMBER AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE ATHLETE
This story, retold in 2021 when he stepped down midway through his fifth term on the Lafayette City Council due to health concerns, stands among the tributes to Lon Heide:
“There was a moment during the 2019 city election campaign when Lon Heide, standing at a podium in a Lafayette Jefferson High School multimedia room, was asked to name one thing Lafayette needed but didn’t have.
“Heide, a Democrat looking for his fifth term on the Lafayette City Council, thought for a bit, letting on that, in his opinion, Lafayette didn’t lack for much. Finally, he landed on something.
“‘The Chicago Cubs,’ Heide said. The line got a nice laugh and candidates on the ballot with him agreed that would be nice. But coming off the stage that night, Heide said he was serious – that the Cubs were the only thing he thought could make him love the place he lived any more.”
That otherwise forgettable debate led up to the 2019 city council elections, which would be his last campaign. Heide left the city council, replaced by fellow Democrat Steve Snyder, in November 2021 due to health concerns. But Heide rarely missed a chance to miss reference that moment, smiling and saying in passing, “Still working on it.”
So, along with a reminder of all the letter jackets and ball gloves he sold to generations of Lafayette kids in his time with Decker’s in downtown and after that as co-founder of The Athlete in 1978, Heide’s obituary made a point to note that his first trip to Wrigley Field in 1945 and that he “could list the batting order and positions of the players in that pennant-winning year.”
Heide died Friday at age 90. Read that full obituary here.
THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …
Tippecanoe County Coroner Carrie Costello reported Monday that Trace Parker, a 2-year-old injured in a March 2 crash at Sagamore Parkway and Nighthawk Drive in West Lafayette, had died in an Indianapolis hospital. J&C reporter Ron Wilkins had more details here: “Boy dies from injuries suffered in March 2 crash in West Lafayette.”
Coroner Carrie Costello also reported Monday that Kim Eberle, 77, of Tippecanoe County, was the man killed Thursday when an outdoor fire he was tending got out of control on County Road 925 West, south of Ross Hills Park and near Black Rock.
J&C reporter Jillian Ellison recently had a Q&A with Sue Scott, Tippecanoe School Corp.’s communication coordinator, about her work with the schools after she was named tops in her field in the state: “TSC's Sue Scott honored with Indiana School Communicator of the Year award.”
Indiana Capital Chronicle reporter Whitney Downard had the scene at the Statehouse Monday, where Gov. Mike Braun and Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith joined a rally pushing for a property tax cut plan: “Radio personalities headline property tax rally at Indiana Statehouse.”
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