A mixed-use senior community and commercial district could be coming to Whiteland.
The Whiteland Plan Commission, at its meeting Tuesday night, heard a petition to rezone a C-2 designated property located off of U.S. 31 and Whiteland Road to mixed-use PUD, or planned unit development. Rezoning to PUD would allow for a senior cottage community and a commercial district on the almost 21-acre site.
Concepts for what that could look like were presented by Mike Surak, president of the Indianapolis-based development, construction and property management firm RealAmerica LLC, at the commission’s meeting Tuesday night.
The plan commission forwarded a favorable recommendation to the town council, with recommended commitments from the petitioner. The town council makes all final decisions regarding applications for zoning map amendments, and the petition will be introduced at the council’s next scheduled meeting Aug. 11.
This development, titled “The Grove at Whiteland,” would include a senior cottage community, a clubhouse and amenity area, a stormwater amenity pond and a commercial district, according to the master plan concept from RealAmerica.
The cottage community for seniors 55 and older would consist of 54 units total across 14 buildings, with four units in each. One building would consist of two units, and the community would also have private drives, walking paths and green spaces. There would be 1.25 parking spaces per resident.
Cottages within the community would feature pitched roofs, covered entries, fiber cement and stone veneer, attached garages, and enhanced trim and articulation on every public-facing elevation, according to the conceptual plan presented by Surak. All exterior materials are required, per staff recommendations, to comply with Whiteland’s R3 code.
“It’d be their long-term home, and we are long-term owners and we manage what we build,” Surak said. “There’s certainly a quality or a level of detail that goes into any of these developments that we propose because we know we will be owning it and we’re not looking to go in and do improvements each year. We want them to be sustainable.”
The development would also include a stormwater pond with a fountain, a walking trail and seating, and native landscaping. A clubhouse and amenity area, including a leasing center, outdoor seating, a pavilion and event space, would be located near the front of the development.
The commercial district would be located directly east of the cottage community on the property and would include a medical/professional office, a restaurant with a patio, a coffee shop and a fitness center, according to the master plan.
Commercial usage is conceptual and hypothetical at this point, and no tenant or developer is under contract. Surak said they envision this entire property functioning naturally as a shared, larger development interconnected with trails and a pond. A northern part of the property is also marked as a future residential village district; however, Surak said they don’t have any immediate plans for it.
Under staff recommendations, motor vehicle sales and service, motor vehicle service, including body shops, motor vehicle wash or detail shops, and self-storage facilities would be listed as non-permitted uses in the commercial district. The commercial district proposal would also have to mirror the C-2 requirements of the town’s current zoning ordinance.
As the property sits on the road to the Town of Whiteland Sewer Department and the wastewater treatment facility, a 50-foot access easement to the treatment facility would be located to the west of the community.
The existing gravel drive from U.S. 31 to the wastewater treatment plant would be required to be installed as a local non-residential and be dedicated to the town.
Gary Howard, president of the Whiteland plan commission, raised a concern about that road, as it serves as access to the sewer plant and has heavy trucks driving on it regularly. He also said that, for safety concerns, an electric gate would need to be installed at the front and back of the sewer plant.
A manual gate currently exists at the plant, but he said the gate needs to shut immediately.
“I know we’ve had a lot of issues with people coming into a sewer plant, and if you know anything about a sewer plant, it’s a highly dangerous place for children and/or elderly to come into, and for liabilities’ sake, that needs to close upon exit and entry of every vehicle that ever comes to it if residential is up against it,” he said.
In addition to having RealAmerica install and pay for that electric gate, other staff recommendations include the petitioner working with the town’s sewer superintendent, building commissioner, and town manager to determine a restrictive donation amount for the proposed off-site wastewater improvements in the town.
An eight-foot asphalt path would be installed along the frontage of U.S. 31 after commercial is placed on the property. Acceleration and deceleration lanes would need to be shown on plans for U.S. 31, though Billy Patrick, Whiteland building commissioner, said that is the responsibility of INDOT.
As included in the staff report, the proposed PUD directly implements the vision established in Whiteland’s comprehensive plan for this property and advances and supports land use and housing goals.
One strategy for their housing goals includes promoting diverse housing options for all ages, incomes and lifestyles as services expand within the town. It is also consistent with their economic development goals to encourage mixed-use development between Graham Road and U.S. 31.
This development would be a first for RealAmerica. The company has done mixed-use developments and commercial and apartment developments, but the 20-acre property allows them to build on a larger scale than they’ve done in the past, Surak said.
“But it really presented a lot of opportunities not only for a lower density apartment style development like what we have proposed on the residential piece, but also the creativity around the outlots along 31,” he said. “And so after we really dug into the (comprehensive) plan that … lays out a lot of the goals for the town, we saw a lot of opportunities.”