HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter #23 Anonymous
June 12, 2020
City of Carmel Plan Commission
Carmel City Hall
One Civic Square
Carmel, IN 46032
Dear Plan Commission Members,
Please consider this letter an objection to the Estridge proposal for rezoning the property at the
southwest corner of 146th and Rolling Hill Dr., Carmel, IN or the common address 415 Rolling
Hill Dr. and Docket Number 1912008 PUD (Request). If the rezoning of this residential property
being reviewed occurs, it will pose the following problems for everyone in my area, the
neighborhood south of 146th St. and Rolling Hill Dr.
1) Further difficulty of getting onto 146th Street and accident potential:
Currently, turning either west or east onto 146th is problematic at many hours of the day since the
speed limit on 146th is 45 mph. In addition, it is a 4-lane highway. During rush hours,
progressing onto 146th east or west is particularly challenging. While there is a stoplight at
Rohrer Road, many drivers turn east from Rohrer Rd. onto 146th toward Clay Terrace and
beyond even during a red light, which during rush hours makes the traffic flow continuous and
currently makes my neighbors’ access to 146th challenging.
The townhome complex will add to the problem. A problem that the planning committee did not
bring up at its June 2, 2020 meeting is that there is only one exit for the townhomes just a matter
of feet/yards from the corner of Rolling Hill and 146th. This means that there will be a major
bottleneck for them and for my neighbors to get out onto 146th. The line-up to get out during
rush hours and beyond will flood Rolling Hill Dr., and even the Estridge complex people may
not be able to get out because of neighborhood residents having the right of way. During the
morning rush hour, there is often a line of 3-4 cars trying to turn onto 146th, and other hours we
must wait behind some cars to turn. (I hope that the traffic engineers did not do the analysis
during the corona virus quarantine since many residents worked from home and stayed in place.)
The additional traffic from the townhomes will also negatively affect the entrance to 146th St. via
John St., the neighborhood’s only other exit/entrance to 146th. Since there is a hill to the west of
John St. on 146th, it is even now difficult to turn west or even east onto fast paced 146th. That is
why most of us exit and enter our neighborhood via Rolling Hill Dr. I do not think that the
commission may be aware of this. In addition, at the June 2nd meeting it was stated that all
construction traffic will be on Rolling Hill, which will block our vital exit/entrance for some
time.
Finally, note that we have teenage and senior citizen drivers in our area, and the potential for
accidents needs to be a serious consideration. Many of my neighbors often complain about the
risk-taking involved in getting onto 146th.
2) Inevitable parking problem caused by the proposed townhome residents’ guests:
As Nick Kestner asked on June 2nd, where are additional visitors beyond the ordinance required
spots going to park? The answer was that some additional spots will be provided, but Mr.
Kestner asked what if more than one unit has a party or family gathering? In addition, since the
property is 1.26 acres, those parking spots must be exceedingly small, and the basically 17 or so
additional spots beyond the ordinance requirement (not counting the ones blocking garages) will
not suffice.
I also heard at the meeting: it will be proposed that parking be prohibited on Rolling Hill Dr.
Does that mean that overflow townhome guests can park in the rest of the neighborhood?
Consider that restricting parking on Rolling Hill Dr. will also restrict the family and friends of
Rolling Hill single-family residents from occasionally parking on the street in front of their
houses. That seems to be an infringement for long standing owners in the neighborhood.
3) Decline of property values: Putting townhomes condominiums in front of a quiet, private,
single-family residential area, will undoubtedly lower property values. Many area residents have
been so confident of the area remaining a single-family home location and a City of Carmel
residential district that they have further invested in their homes by updating and remodeling
them. In addition, the design of the townhomes is more like that of an office building than
townhomes.
In closing, I would appreciate your close review of the salient problems in rezoning the property
at the southwest corner of 146th and Rolling Hill Drive, Carmel, IN (common address 415
Rolling Hill Drive). Since there has been no in-person public meeting to assure that residents’
concerns have actually been heard and there has not even been a sign indicating when the
commission committee was meeting (since March 17), one might assume that the townhome
project is a foregone conclusion without public input. I hope this is not the case. Please consider
my neighbors’ concerns.
Respectfully,
A Concerned Resident