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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCorrespondence J'>t:-r.. (() J Date: July 15, 2003 To: Cannel/Clay Plan Commission From: Ron Carter, City COlU1cil, At-Large Subject: Rezon~ ofi)anblu,y- Estates'COIDlU()nAtea I would appreciate very much your favorable vote on the rezone of the Danbury Estates common area to the P zoning category. Following are the reasons why I hope you will vote for this rezone: P The property owners in Danbury Estates did not oppose the building oftlle Lowe's next to them. I know because I walked their neighborhood trying to persuade them to join me in opposition to Kite's plans. They told me that they were convinced by Paul Kite and Councilor Koven that this was the best deal for them and they stood up in support of Kite's plan. II The rest of the community should not have to bear the consequences for something which the Danbury Estates residents were told would be a problem and, in spite ofthat, they supported. The people of FosterEstates, on the other hand, have opposed retail development along the south side of 146th Street at all times. II The rest of the community should not have to help the people of Danbury Estates get a PREMIUM for their homes by allowing the filling of the flood plain. Run the numbers. If the Danbury Estates residents did not sell any of the cornman area, they would still get possibly $400,000 to $500,000 per acre for their huildable land. How many homes do they have per acre? As I said, do the math and you will fmd that they will get a great deal more than their homes are worth. And then they want a premium over and above that at the expense of the rest of the community. · In talking with the president of the Danbury Estates Homeowners Association last month I told him that they could and should simply tell the developers who are so eager to get their land that they want the same price for the common area, with P zoning, as they get for the rest of their property. He rather dismissed my suggestion, not because this was impractical, but bec,,"use, I suspect, this would take a little work on their parts from a negotiating standpoint. If they want a premium for their homes they should be willing to work a little harder for themselves and the rest of the community. · The City made a mistake in voting to rezone the property just west of them so that the Lowe's could be built. There is no need to compound that mistake by moving retail/commercial far enough to the east that the same property value decreases will be felt by another neighborhood. I I I t" I , ,~ I III I Our Council has maintained, some might say "paid lip service" that we will not support further retail/commercial development along the soutb side of 1461h. While it might be appropriate to have retaiVcommercial on the site where the Danbury homes are now located, it is not appropriate to allow that to spread into the Cool Creek floodplain and threaten Foster Estates. · The Comp Plan calls for transitional buffers between single-fanrily residential and retail/commercial. Those transitional buffers would normally be multi-family housing. We could not and did not follow that when we allowed the Lowe's to be built and now we are bearing the fruits of that bad decision. · Since there will be no multi-family between the possible retail and Cool Creek, the community should have the entire width of the Danbury common area as the buffer. · We already have a trail designed along Cool Creek. We have ROW already donated by a number of property owners for this trail. I don't believe any of you want this trail to be looking into the back doors and trash enclosures of a retail development. · Carmel should not have to go through the type of fight now being waged in Fishers over the filling of a flood plain..For those of you who don't know, an application has already been fIled to fill in the Cool Creek floodplain so that retail can be built on the Danbury common area. Finally, this is not a. class deal with rich versus poor. And, frankly, that type of rhetoric should not even enter into your deliberations. Many of you have told me in the past that political considerations have no place in your activities. You have told me that all you have to go on are the plans that have been put in place in the past and the ordinances. If that is really the case, then yoti should have no problem following good planning concepts by voting to rezone this floodplainlbuffer so that retail/commercial cannot be built on it. u u Foster Estates Homeownersl Association 14208 Joshua Drive Cannelllndiana46033 July 11,2003 v 01; I \ ; ~ hI' ..( Ir, ,r, TI' . t.'-. '/ I .r..O t/.' 'i'..t $'.: .{I . 'J DOCS" Mr. Paul Spranger C/Carmel Planning Commission One Civic Square Carmel, IN 46032 Dear Chairman Spranger, As President of the Foster Estates Homeowners' Association, [ have attended many hearings and meetings relating to the Danbury Estates possible sale to a commercial or retail developer. The topic of the moment is the rezoning of certain parcels of land from residential to P- I. The 39 residents ofDanbur:;y"are,- "".; resisting the rezoning claiming that it limits their desirability to the developers That appears to be the only reason the Danbury residents are resisting the C/Carmel recommended rezoning. They wish to sell their property and leave the area. The current residents of Danbuty Estates made the decision to support the Lowes Store and the accompanying development, which has affected their neighborhood adversely. Now, they are asking the citizens of Carmel and the residents of Foster Estates and Laura Vista to alleviate the situation they created. The 258 residents of Foster Estates wish to stav in this area. They do not, however, want to live adjacent to a commercial or retail development without a finn buffer between that development and their homes. The existing parcels ofJand proposed to be rezoned include a flood plain bordered by Cool Creek and its existing wildlife area. A P-l rezoning will gUilTantee that the flood plain and the natural creek bed area will not have to contend with some future structures. We can count on the flood plain to do its job and protect the homes along Cool Creek and 1461h St from flooding. There are many advantages to rezoning this land to P-l with no disadvantages. I. The flood plain will continue to provide natural relief from flooding. 2. The homeowners of Foster estates and the proposed Laura Vista residential development will be provided with a firm and pennanent buffer from any commercial development. 3. The City of Carmel will inherit a very natural parklike area requiring little maintenance. 4. A noise buffer wi II be in place for the US "31" corridor construction. 5. Any Danbury developer will enjoy an ex(;ellent natural vista. The rezoning will not effect the desirability. Furthermore, should the Danbury residents elect to stay, they will enjoy the natural area and protection from any commercial development to their East. In conclusion, we ask you to consider the advantages to the entire City of Carmel and the needs of those homeowners that will continue to live in this area versus the financial advantages of those residents who will sell and leave. Please recommend for the P-I rezoning. Thank you for your consideration. ~c;{~ President Foster Estates Homeowners' Association. " u u ') Foster Estates Homeowners Association 14208 Joshua Drive Carnlel, Indiana 46033 848-7850 June 20, 2003 Department of Community Services City ofCmmel One Civic Square Carmel, Indiana Attn: Mt,-;Qa,v,id~GFemeans ~...'''''''''.' RE:~ef'No. II cQ3' Z ~ J'2-;Q,JZ ~Re~o~ Dear Mr. Cremeans, I attended the meeting of the Planning Commission on July I ill, Tuesday last. I had a meeting with the CPD Citizens Academy also that evening and I was late for the Planning Commission meeting. 1 did note, with dismay, that the Danbury homeowners and one Commission member depicted the Foster Estates homeowners as wishing them failure and generally regarding the Danbury residents as "Lower Class", I wish to assure the Commission that this is certainly not the case. The roster estates Homeowners are interested in protecting their investment in their homes and land. We are interested in establishing a buffer zone between whatever develops at Danbury Estates. This land is now described as "flood Plain" and does provide relief for the Cool Creek, which runs on the western edge of Foster estates. A statement was made at the meeting that because of the Flood Plain status, no permanent structure can be placed there, and therefore no action is required. We have learned from previous proposals that this status can be circumvented and a parking lot can be paved over the Flood Plain. We feel that the rezone to P-I and R-I respectively will lend pemlanency to the buffer zone and also preserve the Flood Plain and the natural conditions of Cool Creek in that location. We have empathy for the residents orDanbury but do not feel that we should suffer consequences caused by their lack of action at the time the Lowes sLore was proposed. Please consider the recommendations of the Department of Community Services and recommend the rezone of both land parcels. Thank you for your time, ~~~- Albert W. Koeske President Foster Estates Homeowners 14208 Joshua Drive Carmel, Indiana 46033 ,r .------....-----~--------~.---------,-,. ~"--..---.-.-.,,....--~...Jo~-- ':'"Jo...-..........~f~~,-............-.~--=-&lt-:----- c Department of Community Services City of Carmel One Civic Square Carmel, Indiana Attn: Mr. David Cremeans \. -. u u DANBURY HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION 1950 E. GREYHOUND PASS #18-343 CARMEL, IN 46033 danburyboa@indy.rr.com Apri128,2003 ~ City of Cannel, IN ~ '\\t.Ct~t.\) Department of Community Services ,~ Vt~~ \ 1~\i~ Attn: Jon Dobosiewicz - Planning Admitiistrator' \j\jC'S One Civic Center Carmel, IN 46032 Re: Zoning Proposal Z-01-03 Jon, Per our phone conversation of this morning, the Board of Danbury Homeowners Association is formally requesting an extension on the hearing of the proposed zoning change #Z-01-03. Tms proposed change is for the common ground of Danbury Estates from R-1 to P-l. We are requesting the hearing be tabled until the June 17th Plan Commission meeting. This extension is being requested to allow us time to investigate the proposal and to hold ~ meeting with the entire membership of the Danbury Homeowners Association. As I requested this morning, we would like to have a representative from your office attend the meeting to answer questions from our homeowners. We discovered the proposal Z-01-03 on Friday, April 25th, while reviewing the proposal Z-02-03. We had received a certified letter notifying US of Z-02-03. We did not receive any notification on Z-01-03 and question the notification procedures in place. We believe that all zoning changes should require a formal notification to the landowners before hearings take place. Please advise if our request for a one-month delay on the hearing of this matter is granted and when either you or a representative from your office can be available to meet with our homeowners. Tuesday or Thursday evenings seem to work best for getting as many people together as possible. You can reach me at 317-710- 3328 or my home phone at 317 -815-6881. sincereL ~ase President. Danbury Homeowners AssoCiation Cc: Danbury HOA Board John Koven Carl Sampson -'~-l. .. ,_. ...~ '. wO'7J~ -~ ,/- ~ ~~~~~--~''-~ -.~-, 'i!!.-:\);rt.",,,,. . ,...,. I ' 'J ",'~F.,{r':',7!~~, -- ~-- -- - - . .. '---'"-' .-: . ---.--1.L DanburyHomeowners Assoc 1950 East Greyhound Pass #18-343 Cac=:~ll, IN 46033 I u U.S. POSTAGE PAID HESTFIELD, iN 46071 RPR 30.' 03 AMOUNT VNnEOSTLlTES r7~'C''''1l' s~p'v,r~ 7002 2030 DODO 7654 6732 9264 $4.42 00079183-03 RETURN RECEIP T REQUESTED City of Carmel, IN Department of Community Services Attn: Jon Dobosiewicz - Planning Administrator One Civic Center 4 E. Q:;; 2. -P...a.tl.~~I, 1tJ.-i. 46032 1,1" I,UIIII'IJ"II." 1,1.. f ,1.1.1,1111..1" 11I,1IHlUJ 1.1 Ii ..- u ~ u DANBURY HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION 1950 E. GREYHOUND PASS #18-343 CARMEL, IN 46033 danburyhoa@indy.rr.com April 28, 2003 City of Carmel, IN Department of Community Services Attn: Jon Dobosiewicz - Planning Administrator One Civic Center Carmel, IN 46032 Re: Zoning Proposal Z-O 1-03 Jon, Per our phone conversation of this moming, the Board of Danbury Homeowners Association is formally requesting an extension on the hearing of the proposed zoning change #Z-01-03. This proposed change is for the common ground of Danbury Estates from R-l to P~1. We are requesting the hearing be tabled until the June 17lh Plan Commission meeting. This extension is being requested to allow us time to investigate the proposal and to hold a meeting with the entire membersmp of the Danbury Homeowners Association. As I requested this morning, we would like to have a representative from your office attend the meeting to answer questions from our homeowners. We discovered the proposal Z-Ol-03 on Friday, April2Sth, while reviewing the proposal Z-02-03.We had received a certified letter notifying us of Z-02-03. We did not recei ve any notification on Z-Ol-03 and question the notification procedures in place. We believe that all zoning changes should require a formal notification to the landowners before hearings take place. Please advise if our request for a one-month delay on the hearing of this matter is granted and when either you or arepresentative from your office can be available to meet with our homeowners. Tuesday or Thursday evenings seem to work best for getting as many people together as possible. You can reach me at 317-710- 3328 ormyhome phone at 317-815-6881. Sincerely, Jeff Case President Danbury Homeowners Association Cc: Danbury BOA Board J oIm Koven Carl Sampson JQ Foster Estates Homeowners' Association 14208 Joshua Drive Carmel, Indiana46033 October 21, 2002 Ms. Marilyn Anderson C/Carmel Planning Commission One Civic Square Carmel, IN 46032 Dear Madam President, As a representative of the Foster Estates Homeowners' Association, I attended a Danbury Estates Homeowners' Association meeting on October 1,2002. The topic of this meeting was the purchase ofthe entire subdivision by Gershman-Brown Associates and converting the real estate to a commercial development. This firm has successfully completed a similar project where the Five Seasons Health Club is now located. Although this may be a panacea for the I-Iomeo\'iners of Danbury Estates, it places in jeopardy the investments made by Foster Estates Homeowners and the Primrose Development Co. in the Laura Vista development. Furthermore is seems that a slippery slope is being created here by the rezoning of residential real estate to commercial to accommodate aggressive commercial developers. Much of the real estate required to accomplish financial feasibil ity in this area is now classified as flood plane and presumably, not suitable for construction. A notification has been issued to certain Foster Estates Homeowners informing them of the construction ofa wall north of 146m St on the West Side of Cool Creek. This wall is being constructed in conjunction with a Kite Development commen;ial project on the north side of l46th St, west of Cool Creek. This project is being done jointly by Kite Development and the Department of Natural Resources. The construction of this wall and the removal ofa tree line screening the CICarmel water tower seem unnecessary and possibly the preparation for construction on the flood plain. We are attempting to meet with the DNR and others to better understand this project_ There have been two Carmel City Council members involved in both the Danbury Estates and the Kite DevelopmentlDNR project These members are John Koven and Wayne Wilson. We are working to secure a meeting with Mayor Brainard to discuss both projects. The Foster estates Homeowners request that the Danbury Estates real estate NOT be rezoned. CiJA€i~L Albert Koeske Secretary Treasurer Foster Estates Homeowners' Association.