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95-home development in planning stages just outside city
A housing development that could see 95-97 units built on 16 acres south of Greencastle is perhaps just a city sewer agreement away from becoming a reality, the Board of Works learned Wednesday evening.
Developer David Drake and builder James Carrell, both of Heritage Lake, made a brief presentation to the board, hoping to lay the groundwork for access to city sewers for a project on land they have acquired along the south side of South Street, west of Zinc Mill Road.
The property line of the proposed site, which is located in what used to be the two-mile fringe of city control, is about 10 feet from the city sewer line, Drake said, requesting to be allowed to connect to city sewers.
Without city sewers, Drake said “Plan B would drastically reduce the number of homes we can put up in there” by relying on septic systems.
“It’s a key piece for us as we move forward with the county on rezoning,” Drake said, noting that the developers are targeting completion of the project in the 2026-27 time period.
Water isn’t an issue, the developer said, because of the presence of South 43 Water Corp. lines.
City Attorney Laurie Hardwick noted that with the project being outside city limits, Greencastle would not be responsible for roads, sidewalks, fire hydrants or police protection without annexation.
The sewer would be a different story, she added, noting that extending it outside city limits has been done a couple of times, including when Putnam County Hospital was built south on U.S. 231. In such cases an agreement was always required by the city that the property owners would not oppose annexation in the future.
Streets emerged as a concern for Board of Works member Thom Morris, who wants a guarantee that regardless of being outside city limits, they be built to city standards if annexation is considered a future possibility.
“We’ve had situations in the past,” Morris said bluntly, “where the streets put in were crap.”
He wants to be certain “some sort of contractural agreement” is put in place to require the streets in the development meet city standards.
“At some point, if we annex that, we’re not going to want to put in new roads and sidewalks,” he said.
Morris suggested tabling the request for sewer access. That was unanimously approved on a motion by Trudy Selvia.
“It’s not that I’m opposed to what you’re asking for,” he noted, “but we want to have all the information.”
Selvia questioned whether the addition of 95-97 new homes would put a strain on city services.
“Can our utilities handle that?” she asked. “I don’t want to put a strain on it.”
Utilities Superintendent Oscar King Jr. said he was not sure because he had not seen any details about the project. It was suggested that he and Drake meet to discuss what is needed before the Board of Works conducts a special meeting on the matter at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7 at City Hall.
Drake said he and Carrell need to go before the Putnam County Zoning Board for rezoning, hopefully before the end of the year.
Drake and Carrell are the developers who, known as Aspire Building Group, sought a planned unit development for a 21-acre site between Fawnview Drive an Albin Pond Road on the city’s northeast side in 2022. It was voted down 6-1 in September of that year after the Plan Commission conducted a more than four-hour meeting before a full house at City Hall earlier in the proceedings.
Asked if that project was dead, Carrell told the Banner Graphic the partners’ plan now is to do the South Street project first “and then go back to the other one.”
Other items from the October Board of Works meeting will be included in a later article.