Up to $1M homes near SK hynix, a plea for solar farm moratorium and (finally) rail crossing work
Out there today: Estridge Homes wins rezoning for 336-acre Millbrook. Neighbors ask county to shut out solar farm heading their way. And three crossings scheduled for work in Lafayette
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REZONING FOR MILLWOOD, WITH 771 HOMES AT $400K-$1M NORTH OF SK HYNIX SITE, OK’D BY COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
A series of zoning changes that clear the way for a 344-acre residential development, featuring 771 homes ranging in price from $400,000 to $1 million and another 400 to 500 multifamily units north of West Lafayette, sailed through the Tippecanoe County commissioners Monday morning.
Millbrook, a 344-acre residential and neighborhood business project, is proposed by Estridge Homes, a Carmel-based builder. The project would go up over the next decade north of the Purdue Research Park to County Road 500 North, stretching from County Road 50 West to Morehouse Road.
The mix also is expected to include townhomes, according to plans that went to county commissioners Monday.
Clint Mitchell, CEO of Estridge Homes, recently told Based in Lafayette that the development would be similar to projects the company has done in Westfield, designed to include what he called a development heavy on amenities, with several pools, parks, trails and ballfields. Mitchell said it would be aimed, in part, at people who work in Greater Lafayette but now live and commute from suburbs closer to Indianapolis.
He also said the company’s interest in the project was spurred by growth at Purdue, as well as the arrival of SK hynix and its plans for a $3.87 billion semiconductor facility expected to bring 1,000 jobs along with 3,000 more for related suppliers.
“There's obviously some nice neighborhoods and custom builders and local builders serving that, but just not at high volume,” Mitchell said in a March interview. “What we have heard over and over is, because there's not enough of that supply, those would be buyers are looking out of market. Some of them probably are going out into the county a little bit and building something, occasionally. But they’re actually living and commuting in kind of a reverse commute, coming to West Lafayette to work while living in Westfield or Carmel or Zionsville.”
Mitchell said in March that the plan would be to start moving dirt in fall 2025 with construction starting in spring 2026. He said building the subdivision out could take 10 years, similar to other large-scale projects Estridge has done in Westfield.
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COUNTY URGED TO INSTALL MORATORIUM ON LARGE-SCALE SOLAR FARMS
Residents starting to rally against a proposed 1,200-acre solar farm in western Tippecanoe County on Monday asked county commissioners to consider heading off the project with a moratorium until zoning codes written in 2021 can be reworked to deal with what they considered massive projects.
“How can the county claim to protect prime farmland while leaving a loophole in current ordinances open that allows utility-scale solar to industrialize huge tracts of farmland, which are also adjacent to over 100 residential properties?” Kenny McCleary, a Shelby Township resident, asked commissioners during a public comment portion of Monday morning’s meeting.
McCleary was joined by a dozen other property owners who live south of Montmorenci, near where plans are being developed for a private solar project.
In play there, North Carolina-based Geenex’s has indicated it has plans to build a solar project on 1,200 acres in western Tippecanoe County, one that would be big enough to power 20,000 homes. Dubbed the company’s Rainbow Trout Solar Project, the project would have Geenex leasing land for arrays that are expected to produce 120 megawatts and stand for up to 40 years, based on information the company released on its website and at a public information session in March. Earlier this year, Geenex sent flyers to residents in the area that indicated construction could start in 2026 and be ready for operation by 2028.
As of Monday, no plans for a large solar project had been filed with the Area Plan Commission, Amanda Esposito, APC assistant director, said.
Tippecanoe County approved an addition to its zoning codes in 2021 that calls for anyone proposing large-scale solar projects to lay out a decommissioning plan that would need approval from the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals. As of now, no hearing is listed on Board of Zoning Appeals agendas.
Commissioner David Byers also said a solar project of that scale likely would require plans for drainage. That would put a solar farm in front of the Tippecanoe County Drainage Board, which includes the three county commissioners.
McCleary and others told commissioners that the county should be doing what it can to protect and preserve prime farmland, pointing to a proposed massive rezoning being prepared by the APC to move land zoned agricultural to “select agricultural” for large swaths of Tippecanoe and Wabash townships.
“Residents have repeatedly called for the commissioners to implement a temporary moratorium on mammoth utility-scale solar projects until these loopholes are resolved through proper ordinance updates,” McCleary said. “If the commissioners truly support the APC’s land use goals, the need for a moratorium is clear and now is the time to act – before the first application is submitted and the damage is done.”
Company officials weren’t immediately available for comment.
Byers said he understood what the residents were talking about, saying he’d received letters from three companies asking about his farmland for potential solar projects.
“I know they’re out there knocking on doors,” Byers said.
Byers said after the meeting that things got more complicated for a potential moratorium, because things likely were already in the works based on the zoning ordinance the county finalized four years ago.
“We’re hesitant, to a point,” Byers said. “Some of those landowners have been getting retainers. If we all of a sudden put brakes on it, then are we responsible to cover those? … If all of a sudden we change the rules, does that really change what’s happening?”
Byers said questions about federal funding for solar projects might do what the residents want, anyway. Until then, he said, he was willing to meet with residents and talk through what they had in mind.
The county has a standing temporary moratorium on large water transfers from the county’s aquifers, in response to Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s plans at one point to pump and take as much as 100 million gallons of water a day from western Tippecanoe County to feed industrial projects at the 9,000-acre LEAP district 35 miles away in Lebanon. First passed in late 2023, the moratorium was extended in August 2024.
The county also adjusted zoning codes in 2019 to effectively ban large-scale wind turbines in unincorporated parts of the county. The county commissioners passed that measure to keep land available for other industrial development in the county.
FINALLY: REPAIRS COMING FOR NORFOLK SOUTHERN CROSSINGS
Three Norfolk Southern rail crossings in Lafayette notorious for potholes and rough rides will be closed for repairs in the coming weeks, the city announced.
According to the city, the rail company will have road closures for maintenance:
May 19-23: South Ninth Street, near Armstrong Park.
May 27-30: Concord Road, between Daugherty Drive and Olympia Drive.
June 2-4: South 18th Street, between Brady Lane and Normandy Drive.
The rail company also is expected to make upcoming repairs on County Road 900 South in Dayton and Wyandotte Street in Mulberry.
“These crossings have been a consistent concern for drivers, and we’re pleased to see Norfolk Southern taking meaningful steps to address them,” Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski said in a city release. “City officials have elevated these concerns for several years, and it’s encouraging to see that feedback reflected in upcoming repairs. We thank the community for their patience during these short closures and look forward to smoother, safer roads ahead.”
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I will tell you this: I am just old enough to remember when Lafayette had really rough rail crossings before railroad relocation and a bunch of roads like Union and Greenbush were rebuilt and widened in the 1990's. So, yeah they are kidof rough, but we had much worse back then.
Matt,
I'm with you, but then back in the day our Moms didn't much care if we are slices of actual mud pies.
Not sure if they were indiscriminate or read the new-fangled scientific articles that eating a certain amount of dirt gave us gradual immunity to a variety of antiboxins.