Eastside Carmel residents are expressing concerns about a proposal for 249 new homes in The Legacy development, many of them duplexes.
The development would include 155 detached units and 94 attached units on 38.733 acres at 14200 Community South Drive, according to documents submitted to the Carmel Plan Commission. The 94 attached units are in 47 duplex buildings, which have led some neighbors to send letters objecting to the project based on density concerns.
The project is called The Grove at the Legacy and is proposed to be built on remaining land in the Legacy planned unit development that isn’t reserved for tree preservation or open space. The PUD already contains homes, apartments, a church, a daycare center and various retail establishments built.
The petitioner has asked for waivers because the plan doesn’t mean minimum requirements for lot width, lot size, front yards, side yards and rear yards.
The minimum lot size request of 3,500 square feet is 1,500 square feet less than the PUD requirement, and the minimum front yard of 10 feet is 15 feet less than the requirement. The plan commission pointed out that these are still larger than other lot sizes and yard sizes allowed in the PUD from previous waivers.
“I am opposed to the various requests which will damage my property value and increase traffic in an already congested area,” stated Kathy Zeller, resident of Meadows at the Legacy, in a letter to city planners. “I would have never purchased in this area if this proposed plan had been in place.”
Beth Bragg, resident of The Legacy, wrote that traffic is already heavy on Community Drive and she believes the proposed development will increase it. She also writes that it’s nothing like what is already in the subdivision.
“The green space will be impacted as well as our property values due to adding multiple family housing and ‘cheaper’ quality homes,” she writes.
City Councilor Bruce Kimball, a member of the plan commission, said he’s looking very closely at this project because he’s concerned about how quality of life might be affected.
