The construction of the Willow Haven memory care facility in Carmel is in limbo.
It has been halted by a preliminary injunction granted in November 2022 by Judge Matthew Kincaid. The ruling was appealed by attorneys for Willow Haven owner James Miles and is pending in appellate court.
HaIi and Saranya Nagireddy, who live next to the semi-completed facility at 2080 W. 106th St., requested injunctive relief in July 2022 and contend that more than 60 other nearby residents also oppose the project.
The Willow Haven facility is planned to include housing for up to 10 residents, an entry vestibule, a staff office and a 10-car parking lot. Miles declined to comment on the pending litigation.
In 2019, Willow Haven attempted to secure a variance to build a 12-bed assisted-living facility in a Service Industrial-zoned residential district in Carmel because assisted-living facilities are not permitted in Sl residential districts. Willow Haven’s request for a variance was denied after a public hearing.
Kincaid’s injunction states that having failed to obtain a variance for its proposed facility in 2019, Willow Haven did not seek one for its new location, instead applying for a permit to build a single-family home. Accordingly, the Nagireddys never received notice of Willow Haven’s attempt to build the facility and were not able to pursue an administrative remedy, the lawsuit states.
The injunction states when the Nagireddys learned about the issuance of the permit to build the Willow Haven Facility, more than 30 days after the fact, they appealed, but the City of Carmel denied it as untimely. The Nagireddys object to construction of the Willow Haven Facility and contend that it does not resemble a single-family home.
According to the suit, at least 62 other homeowners in the surrounding neighborhood also object to construction of the Willow Haven Facility, stating it would negatively impact their property values and that they would have remonstrated against it if they would have been afforded an opportunity to do so.
The Unified Development Ordinance classifies the Willow Haven facility as a nursing, retirement, or convalescent facility,” not a group home, and such a facility cannot be built in a Service Industrial district without a variance.
