HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter #167 Jim Zieba
Butler, Bric
From:Jim Zieba <james.zieba@gmail.com>
Sent:Thursday, December 5, 2024 10:05 AM
To:Butler, Bric
Subject:Please OPPOSE the Stout Farm Development Plan
Follow Up Flag:Follow up
Flag Status:Flagged
Carmel Planning Commission Members:
My name is Jim Zieba and I have lived in the Village of WestClay for almost 18 years. For the reasons
stated below, I urge you to OPPOSE the development plans for the Stout Farm, located southeast of the
intersection of Towne Road and 126th Street.
This is the second attempt of the owners of the Stout Farm to maximize profit from their land by seeking
to build a high density housing development consisting of cheap homes. Neither of their plans are in line
with the character of existing developments in the area and both place personal profit over the security
and value of the adjoining neighborhoods. In short, the owners of the Stout Farm hope to cash in and
leave the rest of us with lower property values and potential victims of higher crime.
Stout Farm owners claim they are seeking to build a high density, low cost development in alignment
with Mayor Finkam's to build affordable housing in Carmel for the elderly and first time home
buyers. Nothing in the proposed plan is suited to tailor this development to at least one of these
groups. What elder wants to live in a concrete desert? What the plan will ensure, if approved, is that
Stout Farm will become a nest of rental homes that will quickly develop into a cancer for our
area. During a recent homeowners association meeting, a participant claimed that a similar
development in south central Carmel was overwhelmingly owned by out-of-state companies and
individuals to profit from rent revenues. If true, your approval of this plan will eventually doom our
area. Rental homes are almost never maintained to the standard of residences in which the owners
live. Over time, rental homes become dilapidated and decrease in value. With the decrease in value
comes lower rents and usually higher crime.
What makes Carmel great and what has brought the city international fame is its exceptionalism. Please
do not lose sight of this for this or any other project that comes before you. Mayor Finkham's affordable
housing plan, which the owners of Stout Farm are using to thinly conceal their greed, is a fallacy of its
own. If Carmel wants or needs employees, they will come. Why should Carmel risk its exceptionalism
and lower its standards when the center of Carmel is only a 10 minute drive from Fishers, 15 minutes
from Zionsville, 10 minutes from Whitestown and 9 minutes from Indianapolis? For most of the time I
lived in Carmel, my wife and I both commuted 40 minutes one way for each of our jobs. Don't destroy
what has become a safe and amazing city to cater to the greed of the Stout Farm owners or to the
Mayor's misguided initiative.
Please OPPOSE the Stout Farm development plan.
Thank you.
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Sincerely,
Jim Zieba
1943 Broughton Street
Carmel, IN 46032
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