HANCOCK COUNTY — A property management company is heading back to the drawing board on plans to expand an apartment community after county officials recommended against the proposal.
Indianapolis-based Renewing Management, owner of Eastway Court Apartments on the north side of U.S. 40 east of County Road 700W, had proposed expanding to the north of the existing community with 74 new townhome structures totaling 222 units.
The company’s plans called for each townhome to have three units, and the units would’ve been one- or two-bedroom. Two-bedroom units were sized at 713 square feet; one-bedroom units would be 578 square feet. The exteriors of the townhomes were planned to have included cement fiber board siding and flat roofs made from a poly-fiber membrane.
Gathering areas, walking trails, benches, a dog park and playground were also planned to be part of the development.
To accomplish it, Renewing Management had sought to have the 30-acre property of undeveloped farmland rezoned from its current residential zoning classification to a planned unit development, which would have established its own development standards.
Earlier this week, the Hancock County Plan Commission voted 6-1 to send the request with an unfavorable recommendation to the county commissioners, with Bill Bolander, Wendell Hester, Byron Holden, Michael Long, Renee Oldham and Bill Spalding voting for the unfavorable recommendation and Tom Nigh voting against.
But the plan, as it currently stands, anyway, won’t be considered by the commissioners, as Renewing Management has indicated it intends to make changes before coming back for approval.
Ethan Fernhaber, president of the firm, told the Daily Reporter in an emailed statement that the company listened very carefully to the concerns expressed at the recent plan commission meeting “and are currently working to amend our initial plans to help alleviate anxiety surrounding the project.”
“We want to be a good neighbor to all and are proactively seeking a remedy to bring peace of mind to our friends in Hancock County and remain true to our vision to build positive relationships in the community,” Fernhaber said.
Several residents who live near Eastway Court Apartments, including those in Glen Oaks to the west of the community and on Woodcrest Drive to the northwest of it, spoke in opposition to the proposal at the meeting. Their concerns over the plans included density, drainage, unit sizes, impact on the woods to the north of the site, the aesthetics of the planned buildings and the impact on traffic on County Road 700W.
“We should not allow this to be developed as proposed,” said Michael Franceschini, a Glen Oaks resident. “If there’s a different proposal, one that cuts the (amount of) units in half, maybe that’s something to be considered.”
Officials of the nearby town of Cumberland voiced concerns as well. Lt. Roger Waggoner with the town’s police department referred to how eastbound U.S. 40 lacks a left turn lane in front of Eastway Court Apartments, which could lead to high-speed rear-end collisions with the addition of new residents to the community.
Waggoner and Breck Terheide, a Cumberland Town Council member who serves on the Indianapolis Police Department, expressed concerns over the community continuing to have just one entrance after expanding.
“I can tell you from being on the road, taking runs in developments that have single entrances, it does pose a problem, a true safety problem,” Terheide said.
Edward Loud, a Cumberland Town Council member, said he felt the design standards of the proposed townhomes would clash with those of the single-family homes coming to a residential development at the northwest corner of U.S. 40 and County Road 700W.
The county planning department received multiple emails in opposition to the proposal as well.
Bolander told the Daily Reporter he doesn’t like the way the proposed buildings look.
“They just seemed like it was an awful lot of residents crammed together,” he added.
He also referred to Spalding’s comment during the meeting that Eastway Court Apartments represents Sugar Creek Township’s biggest need for financial assistance for residents.
“We don’t want to take on more than we can in the county because we’re not geared like a city to take care of those things,” Bolander said.
David Gilman, principal with Indianapolis-based Land Development Services, which is assisting Renewing Management with the project, called it a logical extension of the existing development.
Gilman said estimated monthly rents stood at about $700 for a one-bedroom unit and $900 to $950 for a two-bedroom. They’d be ideal for tenants making $15 to $20 an hour, he said, like jobs at the new Amazon fulfillment center in the county and so many other large logistical operations coming to nearby Mt. Comfort.
“There’s a market demand, a pent-up demand in this community that needs this type of affordability,” Gilman said.
Because the units would be one- and two-bedroom, he said he didn’t see them drawing many families with school-age children and having a substantial impact on schools.
Tom Nigh, the sole plan commission member to vote against the unfavorable recommendation, admitted he was lukewarm toward the proposal but agreed the county needs more lower-cost housing.
“Not everybody can afford $250,000 houses,” he told the Daily Reporter.
Renewing Management has done a good job with Eastway Court Apartments since buying the property several years ago, he continued.
“I feel the management’s pretty good, the ownership’s pretty good; maybe they could make it work,” Nigh said.
Mike Dale, executive director of the plan commission, supported the proposal as well, albeit subject to several conditions.
