Carmel-based Pyatt Builders wants to develop 97 single-family lots in Fortville west of CR 200W and north of the Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation campus.
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FORTVILLE – A Carmel developer wants to bring nearly 100 homes to Fortville’s south side.
Pyatt Builders is pursuing the 97 single-family lots on about 41 acres of farm ground west of CR 200W and north of the Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation campus.
If approved, the neighborhood would be named Cushman Farms after the family that farmed the land for several generations dating back to the 1830s. Paul Claire of Pyatt Builders pointed out at a Fortville Town Council meeting earlier this week that the Cushmans also have ties to Cephas Fort, after whom the town is named.
“As Pyatt Builders, we’d like to honor the legacy of the Cushman family having been in this area for that many years,” Claire said.
Pyatt Builders is asking the town council to rezone the site to a planned unit development, which would establish specific development standards for the project. Some of the proposed standards include prohibiting vinyl siding and requiring that the lots on the north and east sides closest to existing homes in the area be at least 80 feet wide, and that the remaining lots be at least 65 feet wide.
When considering rezonings in the past, Fortville Town Council has often had a first vote before the matter heads to the town’s plan commission for a public hearing and recommendation. Then the rezone request returns to the council for a final vote.
Robert Holland, a town council member, moved to approve the rezoning on first reading but his motion died for lack of a second. It heads to the plan commission for its public hearing and recommendation next week. Town council can still have two votes, but it only has to have one.
Fritz Fentz, Fortville Town Council president, told the Daily Reporter that the proposal did not initially impress him.
“Just didn’t look good,” Fentz said. “In my eyes it looked pretty bland.”
He added he feels the proposal is inferior to the Mt. Vernon North development underway across CR 200W.
The 41-acre site is part of a piece of land that’s over 114 acres. The Cushmans are breaking up the parcel, and Pyatt Builders is only eyeing one piece.
Fentz said he wishes the entire 114-acre tract could be developed into a bigger housing addition.
He added he feels 97 homes is a lot for the single proposed entrance to the neighborhood.
