HANCOCK COUNTY — A developer has plans for a neighborhood of larger, more expensive homes northwest of New Palestine.
Borgmann, LLC wants to build 21 single-family houses on 54 acres on the north side of County Road 300S west of Mt. Comfort Road, abutting the western side of Doe Creek Estates. Called Zion Estates, the new neighborhood will be across 300S from Zion Lutheran Church & School.
Harold Gibson of Greenfield-based H. Gibson Land Surveying, Inc., representing Borgmann, LLC, said at a recent Hancock County Area Plan Commission meeting that Zion Estates’ homes are anticipated to be a minimum of 2,000 square feet and likely will be priced at $450,000 to $500,000.
Borgmann, LLC is managed by Amy Borgmann, a Greenfield-based Realtor. Gibson said the firm recently finished developing the third section of the Village Green neighborhood at the northwest corner of Mt. Comfort Road and 300S and has sold all the lots there.
“The market here in Sugar Creek Township right now is desperately in need of larger estate lots,” Gibson said. “…People are anxious for lots like these to become available.”
Plan commission members unanimously approved a primary plat for the proposed development.
Zion Estates will have private on-lot septic systems and wells. Its drainage system will include a retention pond. Gibson said Borgmann, LLC will commit to adding an easement giving Doe Creek Estates an opportunity to tie into a subsurface drain.
Several residents of Doe Creek Estates expressed concerns at the plan commission meeting on how Zion Estates would affect drainage in their neighborhood. Drainage there already is poor, they said.
“I’m confident, as I stand here tonight, we’re not going to make it worse,” Gibson said.
It led to a discussion at the end of the meeting during which plan commission members talked about how proposed developments often draw concerns from neighbors about drainage. Officials said those concerns usually come from residents whose properties were built before the county’s drainage standards were raised.
Brad Armstrong, a plan commission member and county commissioner, said the county’s technical committee scrutinizes drainage and other aspects of a development before signing off.
“That isn’t getting developed without proper drainage,” Armstrong said of Zion Estates. “To meet our county’s drainage standards and make it out of tech, that subdivision will drain better than it is now as farmland. It will be better.”
Concerns about Hancock County’s changing landscape are also often raised during discussions about new developments. During the dialogue about Zion Estates’ plat, Maria Polston, who lives near where the new neighborhood will be, talked about how she’s been a resident of the New Palestine area for 20 years.
“I moved from Indianapolis, Indiana, basically because it was a quiet neighborhood out here in New Pal,” she said. “If I wanted to move to Carmel or live with the rich people, or live with a lot of traffic, a lot of trash, a lot of noise, I would’ve moved to Carmel. But we didn’t; we came out here.”
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Zion Estates
- 6392 W. County Road 300S
- 54 acres
- 21 single-family lots
- Houses minimum of 2,000 square feet
- Prices ranging from $450,000 to $500,000
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