As plans progress to transform 38 vacant acres on the northeast corner of Pennsylvania and 111th streets into a $700 million multi-building mixed-use development, some nearby residents and a city councilor representing the area are questioning Carmel’s processes for approving certain large-scale projects.
Carmel City Councilor Tony Green, whose Southwest District includes the Penn One Eleven project site, joined councilors Tim Hannon and Laura Campbell in 2022 in voting against the city issuing developer-backed bonds to help finance the project, which includes more than 900 apartments, two parking garages, office space and more. Although many project details were yet to be determined at the time, the 5-3 vote to approve the bonds was likely the last time the massive project would go before the city council – or any other full board or commission, for that matter.
Because the project is zoned C2 (which permits buildings up to six stories tall), its development plan and variance requests go before a single hearing officer – a city employee or board appointee – for a vote rather than the full plan commission or board of zoning appeals.
Green, who voted against the C2 rezone five years ago, said he believes the process leaves city councilors, who are elected directly by voters, with little say in many of the city’s most transformative and impactful projects.
“It puts the council into cutting a check, almost, without completely knowing what’s going to go in there,” said Green, who joined the council in 2017.
Some residents living near the site of Penn One Eleven redevelopment project, a public private partnership between the Carmel Redevelopment Commission and Pedcor, also said they feel like their voice carries little weight.
Anna Maria Yarger, who has lived in a single-family home just north of the site since 1979, said she doesn’t know of a single neighbor who supports the project as planned. After neighbors learned about the plans in the fall of 2022 at a community meeting, Yarger said many neighbors felt the proposal was essentially a done deal.
“The general thought in the whole neighborhood was that (remonstrating) is a lost cause. This is what (Carmel Mayor Jim) Brainard wants and Pedcor wants,” Yarger said.
Some neighbors’ frustration grew after a BZA hearing officer voted in late November to allow the project to cover 95 percent of the lot, an increase of 15 percent permitted by city code.
Dianna Glass, who lives nearby in the Home Place area, said she felt 80 percent lot coverage was too much and that the city’s handling of the project and similar ones have led to a loss of faith in local government.
“They couldn’t care less about who lives here or what we want in our area,” Glass said. “If we wanted large-city congestion, noise, traffic and no place to rest the mind, soul or spirit, we could move to Chicago or New York City.”
Kathy Bolander, who also lives in Home Place, said she questions the point of city zoning codes if they are “so easily dismissed.”
“Our water, trash and sewer needs are going to be stretched too far. Our infrastructure will also suffer. And for what? More and more cookie-cutter developments that neighbors don’t want so close to their homes,” Bolander said. “If there’s a legitimate need, that’s one thing. If it’s just because there is an open space and money can be made and our population will reach a magic number, that’s quite another.”
Brainard, who is leaving office at the end of the year, said he’s heard from many people living near the project area who are “thrilled that major investment is going to be made” in this part of town. He said the city is following the zoning process established by the city council and plan commission decades ago and that the BZA rules are set by state law.
“The zoning process provides for public hearings at several different occasions prior to property being rezoned,” Brainard said. “The (Penn One Eleven) project will continue to be managed by our professional staff and I predict will be a beautiful award-winning project when completed a decade from now.”
Green, one of four city councilors returning in 2024, said he’s received a good deal of feedback on plans for Penn One Eleven from residents who live near it, and not all are in opposition. But there is one concerning question he’s heard repeatedly.
“People contact me saying, ‘Is there any way you can stop this?’” Green said. “There’s really no way that I know of legally that the city council can do anything at this point. But what I’d like to visit in the new year with the new council and the new mayor is looking at what can be done in the (Unified Development Ordinance) to provide more council oversight over these types of situations.”
