HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter #180 Sandra Pirkle
Butler, Bric
From:Sandra Pirkle <skpirkle@indy.rr.com>
Sent:Monday, January 6, 2025 4:00 PM
To:Butler, Bric
Subject:Stout Farm building plan initiative
Mr. Butler, this is Sandra Pirkle a resident of the Village of WestClay and have been for eighteen years. I know you are
asking for our input concerning the Stout Farm building plan that is being proposed next to The Village of WestClay.
I am very active in the Village of WestClay community along with the Carmel Symphony and their community
outreach programs, the Hamilton County Parks and Recreation, Inc., Coxhall Guild, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church,
and a supporter of many of Carmel’s various activities, not so much financially but as a planner, participant, and
volunteer along with various communications that are sent out. I have a special and strong pride in Carmel and all that it
represents as one of the most outstanding cities to live in Indiana and really the nation.
When I was a professor at Butler University in the 1990’s, I worked with the Carmel Schools. At the time I lived in
Greenwood. Carmel then was still at such an infancy stage of development. We have had such strong leadership in our
city who had this vision of what they wanted to see in their city and for the residents of their city. When I was driving
and visiting schools in Carmel, and rode through the Village, I told my husband that if we ever had a chance to move
again, the Village of WestClay was the place I wanted us to live.
As I became more familiar with Carmel and the area of the VOWC, I discovered that it, too, was a vision of two
developers George Sweet and Tom Huston. They had researched, planned, visited similar types of communities, and
made a commitment to follow through on this unusual “chancy” type of community out in the middle of nowhere in
Carmel. Because of their vision, it, too, has brought Carmel to a state of pride and recognition nationwide. This is a very
diverse neighborhood socioeconomically, ethnically, and age and stage of life. All that is offered in this community was
planned out in such detail to include residents that are at various stages of their lives- young professionals, families with
young children or many children, empty nesters and parents who have followed their children here to keep family
relationships together, first time home buyers, condo owners, apartment owners and renters, and a retirement home.
I have been retired for several years now. It is really difficult to become involved and stay active after retirement and
as your children leave home. Well, that is probably the strongest benefit of living in the Village of WestClay. I have as
many friends in their twenties, thirties, and beyond as I do friends my age. That brings me to the strongest point. This is
one of the biggest and most outstanding visionS both George and Tom had in designing this unusual community-
ACTIVITIES, RESTAURANTS, COMMUNITY, SMALLER OWNED BUSINESSES, MEDICAL SERVICES, LOCATION TO SCHOOLS,
PARKS, WALKING PATHS, NATURE, SWIMMING POOLS, AND WORKOUT CENTERS. A TRUE SENSE OF COMMUNITY
WHICH CARRIES OVER TO THE CITY OF CARMEL.
That brings me to the point of the Stout Farm initiative. This type of community is offered everywhere now!
Reading their and listening to their plans, it’s not a vision from the heart. It is just another group of homes being planted
on some vacant property by a group of builders who want to come in, get these homes built, and then, leave. Both
George and Tom stayed here, lived here and passed here. They monitored everything continually.
It is really sad. That type of neighborhood will again like so many other neighborhoods build, sell, and then what.
People will come home, put their garage doors down, and go into their homes with no contact with neighbors.
Nothing is being planned and developed for a sense of community and relationships. There are so many of these types
of homes that really all look alike and not built well being tucked into small spaces around various cities.
We don’t live in a high dollar home. No one cares what your home is like here. It may sound corny but it is such a family
feel. The bottom line is that Stout Farm will depend on the Village for it’s amenities. The location at the round-about
couldn’t be any worse because of the traffic to the schools and from the neighborhoods farther north.
Thank you for taking time to read this and consider your decision carefully.
Sandra Pirkle 317-910-1839
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