Indianapolis-based Arbor Homes is asking Greenfield officials to annex over 95 acres at the southwest corner of McKenzie and Windswept Roads, where the company has plans for 230 houses.
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GREENFIELD — A home builder is once again asking officials to annex land into town for a future neighborhood, this time on the city’s west side.
Indianapolis-based Arbor Homes is pursuing the annexation of over 95 acres of cropland at the southwest corner of McKenzie and Windswept Roads, where the company has plans for 230 single-family lots.
The northern portion of the site would have 120 of Arbor Homes’ Destination product, which is targeted toward empty-nesters. To the south would be 100 of the developer’s more traditional single-family Arbor product.
Julie Smith, a land entitlement manager with Arbor Homes, told Greenfield officials earlier this week that the Arbor product has 11 different floor plans and five different elevations, or exterior appearances.
“That allows us to have a lot of variety within the floor plans and elevations in the community,” Smith said. “The last thing we would want is for all the homes to look the same.”
The Arbor product also comes in single- and two-story with living areas ranging from 1,200 to 3,200 square feet and an average sales price of $325,000.
Smith said the Destination product has five floor plans and six exterior appearances. It comes in single-story with loft options and living areas of 1,500 to 3,200 square feet. They’re also considered low maintenance, with irrigation included as well as lawn mowing and landscape management as a part of the homeowners association. Playgrounds, trampolines and basketball goals are restricted as well. Average sales are $350,000.
The two parts of the neighborhood would be separated by a natural swale that would be wet only during heavy rains, and drain into a detention pond that would be constructed on the site.
Fralich Properties currently owns the land eyed for the development. The 10 acres on which Fralich’s Landscape operates would not be part of the sale or annexation, and Arbor Homes proposes installing a 30-foot landscape buffer and 6-foot solid fence around it.
Trails are also proposed along McKenzie and Windswept Roads.
The site would connect to the Woodfield Pointe subdivision just to the south, where Arbor Homes has plans for 152 houses.
The proposal follows the annexation Greenfield approved for Arbor Homes late last year for Forest at Brandywine located south of Davis Road and west of Morristown Pike, where the developer has plans for 268 houses.
Arbor Homes seeks a zoning designation of residential moderate if the property is annexed into the city. Greenfield planning staff supports that designation.
Elizabeth Bentz Williams, a senior planner with the city, said the proposal aligns with the goals outlined in the comprehensive plan Greenfield adopted in 2015.
“This site is within the 15-year growth boundary of the city, and we feel it’s a logical extension for the city of Greenfield,” she said.
Greenfield Plan Commission members voted 8-0 to recommend the residential moderate zoning designation to city council, with Paulette Richardson, Kristi Baker, Becky Riley, Jeff McClarnon, Chris Cooper, Gary McDaniel, David Spencer and Mike Terry voting in favor. Jason Koch could not vote due to attending the meeting via phone.
Riley praised the proposal’s dual home offerings of traditional single-family and age-targeted.
“That’s the kinds of things that are coming to other cities, and that we need,” she said.
She also noted that none of the residents living near the site who spoke at the plan commission meeting outright opposed the proposal, but rather shared concerns about traffic and drainage.
“I think they have a legitimate concern about the drainage, and I think Arbor Homes is addressing that” with the swale and pond, Riley said.
She added that the zoning recommendation gets the ball rolling for more details to be worked out among city planning staff and the plan commission’s technical advisory committee.
Williams said city council is slated to hold its first vote on the annexation on March 23. A public hearing will follow on April 13, then the second and third votes on April 27.
All meetings are at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 10 S. State St.
