Plan commissions sends RE/MAX proposal to city council, 8-1

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Although the Fisher Plan Commission forwarded a proposal to rezone a residential property into a commercial property to allow for a RE/MAX Complete real estate office, one plan commission member didn’t support the idea.

Plan commission member Pete Peterson, who also serves on Fishers City Council, cast the lone no vote against the proposal at the March 6 meeting.

The petitioner plans to rezone a residential property at the southwest quadrant of 126th Street and Olio Road and remodel the property into a real estate office. Planning and zoning staff specified if plan commission and city council approved the project, the petitioner will submit to a voluntary annexation and the building will be restricted to office use only.

Even with those conditions, Peterson said he doesn’t want the corridor to become commercial use because of its proximity to Hamilton Southeastern High School.
“I worry about this corner,” Peterson said. “I don’t have issues with RE/MAX itself. I just think that whole corridor needs to be relooked at. It’s just a corridor, for me, that’s rather sacred because we’ve got a lot of school kids up and down that road.”

Several residents spoke during a public hearing prior to the plan commission’s vote. Larry Smith, who lives across the street from the proposed project, was among those who spoke against the proposal.
“This is the camel’s nose coming in underneath the tent to start to break that corner up from residential to commercial,” Smith said. “My concern is you (RE/MAX) don’t need this particular location in a residential neighborhood. If there’s other spaces the individual wants to develop, he can find someplace else. I’m opposed to it. Nobody contacted us in regards to this. Nobody explained what you’re going to do other than the announcement from the city. I don’t want to look at a commercial strip across the street from my home.”

The petitioner explained remodeling would be done to the residential property, including widening the driveway and keeping parking in the rear of the home.

Plan commission member Brad DeReamer, who also serves on the Fishers City Council, said because the Olio Road and 126th Street corridor is busy,  homes are difficult to sell, so a commercial business operated out of a residential-style building may be a good transition.

“This is not a bar, not a grocery store. It’s offices,” DeReamer said. “He took all the parking to the back. There’s nothing to the front, left or right, so the view across the street will not change. I think these kinds of things, I know they’re tough on the neighbors, but (the houses in that area) are not going to sell. They’re just going to deteriorate.”

The plan commission forwarded the project to Fishers City Council, 8-1. For more, visit fishers.in.us.


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