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HomeMy WebLinkAboutProject DescriptionEXHIBT “D” Clay Cottages Project Description Taylor Morrison Homes of Indiana, LLC (“Taylor Morrison”) has filed a rezone application for three (3) parcels of real estate that consist of approximately 37 acres, which parcels are located at the southeast corner of Towne Road and 126th Street (the “Real Estate”), in order to develop a for-sale, master-planned community to be known as “Clay Cottages” consisting of four (4) different home product offerings. The Real Estate is located east of the Laurel Lakes community and is surrounded by the Village of WestClay community to the north, east and south. The Real Estate is currently zoned S-1 Residential, and the request seeks to rezone the Real Estate to the “Clay Cottages Planned Unit Development Ordinance” (the “Clay Cottages PUD”). As shown on the Concept Plan, access to Clay Cottages will be from three (3) locations from Towne Road: (i) along the northern portion the Real Estate at the round-a-bout at 126th Street and Towne Road; (ii) a centrally located main entrance across from the Laurel Lakes community; and, (ii) along the southern portion of the Real Estate to serve the seven (7) planned estate lots. Also shown on the Concept Plan are various common areas located within the community, including a pond feature along the southern portion of the Real Estate and larger common area that is centrally located within the community that may include such amenities as: public gathering spaces; fire pits; dog park; picnic shelter; and, recreation area(s). Further, Taylor Morrison participates in certain National Wildlife Federation programs related to new residential community construction and for the Clay Cottages community, Taylor Morrison anticipates incorporating native plantings, monarch butterfly gardens, and nature themed recreation area(s). This master-planned, for-sale community will include approximately 142 homes, consisting of Taylor Morrison’s Cornerstone series of single-family detached homes (59 lots), Encore series of attached- paired homes (36 lots), and Edge series of single-family detached homes (40 lots), as well as seven (7) planned estate lots on the southern portion of the Real Estate. The Concept Plan for Clay Cottages includes a pedestrian friendly streetscape with front porches and entryway architecture with no garages facing perimeter public streets or facing toward the Village of WestClay community to the north, east and south. Internal alleys are utilized to enhance the internal streetscape appearance within the community. For the Taylor Morrison homes, each home series includes multiple floor plans and options, and many of the homes will include a primary bedroom on the first floor. The Taylor Morrison homes are anticipated to range from the mid $400,000’s to the low to mid $600,000’s and the estate homes are anticipated to range between $1,250,000 to over $1,500,000. Included within the Clay Cottages PUD are exhibits depicting the architectural quality and character of the Cornerstone, Encore and Edge series homes, which homes have been designed to be compatible with the other existing homes and communities that surround the Real Estate. In this regard, included behind Exhibit F of the Clay Cottages PUD are the specific architectural standards and requirements for the Clay Cottages homes, which standards were modeled after the “Village of WestClay Residential Building Guidelines”. Comprehensive Plan Statement The subject Real Estate and surrounding area is designated, per the Carmel Comprehensive Plan 2022 Development Patterns Map, as “West Neighborhoods” and the Real Estate is an “in-fill” site which presents a unique opportunity for development of a for-sale, master planned community consisting of a variety of home product offerings, including smaller lots with less maintenance requirements that should expand available housing options and opportunities in Carmel. The Clay Cottages PUD provides for: (i) expanded diversity of for-sale housing products, including many home offerings that include a primary first floor bedroom or the option for a primary first floor bedroom, with enhanced architectural design and detail as is required by the architectural provisions of the proposed PUD; (ii) an appropriate transition next to the communities that surround the Real Estate; (iii) limiting the height of homes to two-stories and positioning the fronts of dwellings to create an attractive streetscape; and, (iv) internal and external pedestrian connectivity and passive open green space. 2024 Carmel Housing Task Force Statement The Carmel Mayor’s Housing Task Force Findings and Recommendations Report, dated September 10, 2024, identified certain recommendations and objectives for new housing inventory for the City of Carmel. In this regard, the Clay Cottages proposal meets many of the recommendations and objectives by: (i) providing availability of appropriately priced new housing opportunities, with many of the homes having a primary bedroom on the first floor, to the current empty-nester Carmel population who are seeking to downsize out of their larger homes, but still want to reside in Carmel as they age; (ii) encouraging empty- nester Carmel residents who want to downsize and move out of their larger existing homes, thus making those larger existing homes accessible to younger “legacy” residents with growing families to move into; (iii) facilitating and increasing the supply of “missing-middle” smaller housing opportunities that are desired by seniors (because many of the homes having a first floor primary bedroom) who are looking to downsize, in the form of well-designed, single-family detached homes and attached-paired homes on smaller lots with less home square footage and less maintenance responsibilities, but with the desired community amenities, including open spaces, gathering areas, a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood with trails and paths - the types of community amenities that allow residents to interact and from meaningful neighborhood bonds; and, (iv) proposing an “in-fill” development that should protect the existing and surrounding residential communities in the form the Clay Cottages PUD that contains specific architectural guidelines and standards, modeled after the “Village of WestClay Residential Building Guidelines”, so that the new homes in Clay Cottages will be compatible in architectural design and character to the surrounding homes in the area – which also addresses objectives in the Comprehensive Plan related to the protection of existing neighborhoods.