The Carmel City Council on April 19 voted 7-1 to rezone 37 acres on the southeast corner of 146th Street and Shelborne Road to accommodate up to 82 single-family and two-family homes.
Known as Albany Village, the neighborhood includes single-family homes along the east and south sides of the site with two-family attached villas on the northwest portion of the land. The council rezoned the land from S-1 residential to a planned unit development to accommodate more than one type of housing on the site.
Councilor Laura Campbell cast the lone opposing vote.
“This is a premium piece of land. I feel like we’re settling by allowing attached homes with a monotonous look, in my opinion,” Campbell said. “I think it looks very cheap. If I voted in favor of this, I would be settling.”
Campbell also said she would like to see a connection to 146th Street to decrease traffic flowing through Tallyns Ridge, the neighborhood to the east. As approved, Albany Village can only be accessed from Shelborne Road or through Tallyns Ridge or the Albany Place neighborhood to the south.
Other councilors originally shared that concern but changed their mind after meeting with nearby homeowners and finding that very few thought a connection to 146th Street should be required in Albany Village.
“If the neighbors are happy, then I’m happy,” councilor Jeff Worrell said, adding that a connection to 146th Street could encourage motorists to use the new neighborhood as a shortcut.
Developers of the neighborhood will add a crosswalk on Shelborne Road to connect it with the future Bear Creek Park and create a linear park using open space through the middle of the neighborhood. Albany Village also will include a multi-purpose field with benches and bike racks.
Albany Village is being developed by Indianapolis-based Logan Group. Previously, the developers stated that the single-family homes are expected to start in the mid-$400,000s, with the two-family villas starting in the mid-$300,000s.
