HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter #140 Mark Henning
Butler, Bric
From:Mark Henning <mjhen76@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday, November 18, 2024 10:30 AM
To:Butler, Bric
Subject:Stout Farm Development Opposition
Dear Mr. Butler,
My wife, son, and I have lived at 13329 Dumbarton Street in the Village of West Clay since August of 2016. I am writing to you
to express our concerns regarding the proposed Stout Farm development.
As a native Hoosier from the farm fields of southwestern Indiana and a graduate of Indiana University Bloomington with
bachelor's and master's degrees in geology, I have spent much of my professional career moving around the US working for
energy companies. I was working in Bakersfield, CA, in 2012, when I met my wife, Melanie, soon after which I was relocated to
Houston, TX, for a new work assignment. Our residential community in Houston proved to be much like the residential
community in Bakersfield from which we moved whereby we lived among professional, affluent families in our own
subdivision but were adjacent to neighboring developments that did not share the same. Our house in Houston was nestled in
the quiet, peaceful Woodwind Lakes subdivision, yet it was broken into in 2014 by vandals from a less affluent neighboring
area who had been canvassing more well-to-do communities. Fortunately, Melanie and our son, Jonah, had been in the
medical district of Houston that afternoon attending medical appointments; the break-in occurred at a time when they
typically would have been upstairs at home taking an afternoon nap.
When I had an opportunity in 2016 to move anywhere in the US and work remotely for a Silicon Valley tech startup, there was
only one choice for us: West Carmel. We had had enough of living in cities and communities where poor planning and
development standards resulted in unsafe living conditions, even within top subdivisions.
Our concerns regarding the proposed Stout Farm development are as follows:
The proposed project is not consistent with homes in west Carmel.
The proposed project is not consistent with Village of West Clay property values.
The proposed greenspace and common area are inconsistent with the Village of West Clay and neighborhoods in
west Carmel.
The proposed density is too great and inconsistent with the Village.
The proposed development may lower property values.
The proposed development has limited set back and screening or buffer.
The proposed development has 90% or greater lot coverage.
The proposed development has architecture inconsistent with the Village of West Clay.
As residents of the Village of West Clay, we are concerned this will become a rental community. Please refer back to
my story above.
We ask that you and the Planning Commission please take our experience to heart when making a decision on the proposed
Stout Farm development and stand with us and the residents of West Clay and greater West Carmel in opposition to the
project.
Sincerely,
Mark Henning
832-444-6128
13329 Dumbarton St, Carmel, IN 46032
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