Park Ridge South Preliminary Plat OK’d By Commission
Park Ridge South Preliminary Plat OK’d By Commission
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Park Ridge South Preliminary Plat OK’d By CommissionMembers of the Park Ridge Home Owners Association had some questions Monday about the proposed Park Ridge South subdivision for the Warsaw Plan Commission, but not anything that kept its preliminary plat from being approved.
City Planner Justin Taylor told the Commission, “The petitioner (Granite Ridge) for the Park Ridge South subdivision is requesting to subdivide a 40.32-acre tract of land into 98 lots with an average lot size of 9,800 square feet. ... The proposed development is contiguous with Park Ridge development to the north and is harmonious in character. Sanitary sewer and water will be extended through this development from the development to the north. This development will also have a connection road that extends down to (County Road) 200 South to enhance connectivity and ease of access for emergency services.”
He recommended that the Plan Commission grant preliminary approval for the plat of the Park Ridge South subdivision.
Normally, the petitioner presents their request first to the Commission and then anyone against the petition or with questions follows suit. For Monday’s hearing, Kristen Oom, with the Park Ridge Home Owners Association (HOA), fired off a number of questions first about the new development on behalf of the HOA.
“One of them is, can we insist that the construction be limited to the 200 road access and not going through Park Ridge?” she asked. Taylor said they could make a request to the developer, and Commission President Tom Allen said that wasn’t under the purview of the Commission.
She asked if the lighting on the streets will be part of the city or the subdivision. Taylor said that depends if the light poles are put in the right-of-way or not because any lights the city would take over have to be in the right-of-way.
Oom said the closest parks are in Park Ridge and Kelly Park asked if one of the parcels was going to be reserved for a park. Taylor said the developer hasn’t designated a parcel for a park, but the developer could respond to that.
“There’s a safety concern with the railroad being up against the 15 (parcels) that are against them,” Oom said. “Are they going to put a safety fence for those houses?” Allen said they could make a request but it’s not required under city code and it’s not under the purview of the Commission.
Oom asked if the retention pond would be under the city’s control or the subdivision’s. Taylor said the HOAs generally control the green spaces of subdivisions, but the city is getting more involved with “some of these water sources before it becomes our problem.” Primarily, he said, the maintenance would fall under the HOA.
Oom asked, “Is there plans for the water supply and sewage to be improved because there is concern from the residents that if it comes off of our current subdivision that our water pressure is going to drop?”
The engineer for the Park Ridge South development, David Brown, with D.A. Brown Engineering, Auburn, responded, “We’ll be dealing with Pioneer American Water for that to determine what the flow rate is, but we will be looping it through our site down to 200. And, virtually, every time you loop a system, it increases the water pressure for everybody around. American Water, through their charter, or state code, they can’t decrease water pressure. So anything we do will benefit the system.”
The sewer system will be up to city code.
Oom’s last question was how “aggressive” the developer plans to build. She said it took 12 years to build Park Ridge (North).
Brown then took to the podium to make his presentation on the development and answer the questions Oom asked. Kathy Hartman, with the developer Granite Ridge, also attended the meeting.
He said they were planning for 98 lots in the development and they are going to meet all the zoning ordinances. The lots are a “little bit deeper” than what the original Park Ridge’s lots are, he said, because people like to build on the backside of their properties.
“To address one of her questions, we are going to build, the intent is to build houses that look very similar in nature to the existing Park Ridge. They’ll have virtually the same single-story ranch, 1,200 square feet,” Brown said. The two-story will be around 1,600 square feet.
“These houses, in today’s market, are going to be somewhere in the $300,000 range and up. It’s just where we are at in today’s market,” he stated.
The developer will have a HOA over the lots that will maintain the retention basin and common areas.
As for street lighting, Brown said they’re used to doing whatever the local jurisdiction wants to do.
On fencing along the railroad, he said they really didn’t anticipate having a fence there but they did keep some block area between the back of the lots and the railroad right-of-way, with the anticipation that they will do some landscaping mounding through that area.
He said they had no idea how long the completion of the subdivision will take, but with today’s market “we are hoping this will be a two-section. So, nominally 40-45 in the first section, and then the second one after that.” The market will dictate how quickly construction gets going and gets completed.
Commission Vice President Rick Keeven asked about greenspace or a park area.
While the HOA will maintain the common areas, Brown said, “We do not have, at this point, a designated area for a park. We can discuss that with the developer, but one of the things we’ve found is putting in a park area is not something that’s done very much anymore, purely from a liability standpoint.”
What people are doing now is putting playground amenities on their own property, which is why Park Ridge South has deeper lots, he explained.
“That’s what we’ve seen in other jurisdictions,” Brown said.
Taylor said the development does fit the requirements for a Residential-1 zoning district.
City engineer Aaron Ott said he already touched base with Brown and told him he would like to see more details of the drainage requirements.
Common Councilman and Commission member Jeff Grose made a motion to approve the preliminary plat, and Councilwoman Diane Quance provided the second. It was approved 8-0, with Commission member Michelle Boxell absent.
In one other piece of business, city attorney Scott Reust gave Ott the official oath of office. Ott is the city’s new engineer and Monday’s meeting was his first on the Commission.
