The red area has been annexed into the Town of New Palestine.
NEW PALESTINE — Officials with the Town of New Palestine agreed to annex two parcels of land, just more than seven acres, near the northwest corner of U.S. 52 and CR South 600W, during the most recent council meeting.
The property at 3985 S. 600W was zoned with the county as a commercial neighborhood, and the developer needed it switched to the New Palestine (R-3) single-family residential zoning. The long term plans by Keller Development Inc. call for a subsidized two-story senior apartment building which would have caps on monthly rent fees for residents 55 and older based on income.
While the annexation did happen July 5, the decision was not unanimous as council president Clint Bledsoe was the lone vote against in the 4-1 tally.
“In my opinion, the apartments, you don’t know what it is going to bring,” Bledsoe said. “The location of it makes it difficult as far as traffic is… We already know there are going to be more police runs there so basically I am against it.”
Council vice president Brandee Bastin and secretary Bill Niemier, along with council members Chris Lytle and Angie Fahrnow, voted in favor of the annexation. Although, Fahrnow noted she agreed with Bledsoe in principal about his concerns for the project moving forward and wondering if it is the best place for the proposed senior apartment complex.
Prior to the vote during public comments, one county resident, Dale Wagner spoke and told town officials they need to keep in mind the burden of adding more development into the town and area and what that does to first responders.
Wagner had a problem with the town’s approval of the fiscal plan for the project without considering what type of impact the decision will have on the town’s police department. He noted town officials have already approved 282 new apartment units; and other neighborhood developments as well as the 55 new proposed apartments that will come if the senior complex is officially approved.
“It’s still saying there is no impact to the police and there is no impact to the fire department and I’m not buying this,” Wagner said of the fiscal plan for the project which was accepted by town officials in May.
Wagner wants town officials to make changes to current and future fiscal plans that will at least consider the responsibilities the developments will bring to agencies.
During discussion before the vote, Bastin recognized Wagner’s concern and stated their fiscal plan might be a boilerplate that needs updating. However, the town’s attorney noted until there is a development on the property coupled with the fact there is not a fiscal impact currently associated with approving annexation or with the fiscal plan about future services needed, the annexation is legal.
If the land were developed, the lawyer noted that would be a different story.
“I understand what Dale is saying,” Bledsoe said. “We’ve had 14 or so different fiscal plans and they never need police or anything, but we have five or six more police than we had when we started all of this so.”
Bledsoe noted fiscal plans should include something that foresees what is going to or could be developed to help town officials with official planning.
Police Chief Bob Ehle noted during the meeting while the annexation of the land currently doesn’t require a service from the police department, the development of the senior apartment complex will be a different story.
“This is an issue we’ve had for many, many years,” Ehle said. “Plans say we don’t need any officers but when it’s all said and done we need two officers to cover the area so if you’re doing undeveloped property, we all know what the end game is going to be.”
Town manager Jim Robinson noted it would be good if developments in future fiscal plans would speculate and go into more detail of what kind of town services will be needed.
Niemier noted the town’s current format for fiscal plans meets state requirements. However, he agreed with the others and noted in the future their consultants, O. W. Krohn & Associates LLP, need to add a section that talks about additional prospective services needed.
“In many situations we do know as the annexation is part of a development,” Niemier said. “If we do that, the document (the fiscal plan) is a much more useful tool… For us, it will give us some guidance which we haven’t had before.”
