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WINONA LAKE – The developer of a 33-lot subdivision presented his proposal to the Winona Lake Plan Commission Tuesday.
While the board didn’t take any action on it, they agreed by consensus that they didn’t see any problem and were fine with it. At its May 8 meeting, the Plan Commission could approve the preliminary plans, with the project beginning as early as that month or in June.
The developer, Jeff Thomas, co-owner of Oakmont Development, Fort Wayne, said “Tuscany” subdivision will be on 12 acres on South CR 250E. He said the proposed 33 lots will have water on the north side of the road that goes through the subdivision, with sanitary sewer on the south side. The developer is working through its storm drainage, with a couple of options in mind.
Most of the homes will be slab construction. There will be street lights and a lighted entrance sign. An interior road will connect it to another nearby subdivision, with a stub road connecting to another piece of property owned by a church for future possibilities.
“We do have a storm detention system,” Thomas said, pointing to the area on a map for the commission. “This is where everything will flow through before it’s released. With everything we do, we retain everything on the site and then release it at a rate probably less than what it’s flowing in at.”
He said the development will be able to handle all the storm water and won’t be adding any problems to any of the neighbors.
The project will be done in one section and the construction will not be divided up.
Commission member and town Councilman Rick Swaim asked what the size of lots and cost of the homes would be.
Thomas said lots would be about 65 to 75 feet with a depth of 140 feet.
As for the price of the homes, he said he didn’t know exactly yet where they would end up at because engineering and other work hasn’t been completed. BrianPeterson, of Brian Peterson Real Estate Group, Warsaw, who does a lot of Oakmont’s real estate in the area, said the homes probably will be priced between $180,000 to $280,000.
“If you look at Park Ridge, over off Ranch Road, the lots will be similar size to that and the houses will be similar to what they’re doing in there,” Peterson said.
He also said, “That’s what the market is looking for and wanting right now.”
Thomas said the area has a substantial need for housing right now.
“We haven’t been here yet. We’re excited to be. This is a great opportunity, we’re excited about this. There’s a few more other projects in the area we’re looking at, but this is the beginning. Like I said, the market here is really needing it – new construction – pretty bad,” he said.
After some questions about issues like subdivision covenants, parking, storm drains and retention ponds, Swaim asked what the timeline for the development was.
Thomas said he’d like to be going on it in June, but maybe sooner if he can though there’s still planning and work to be done. “We’ll see what the weather brings,” he said.
Dave Turner, commission president, asked about the lot sizes and if they met the town’s ordinances. Gene Seiman, Winona Lake building commissioner, said they all exceeded the minimum size. Town Coordinator Craig Allebach added, “The other thing is, being on sewer and water, they can have smaller lot sizes, too.”
Seiman also informed Thomas and the Plan Commission that the property did not need to be rezoned for the subdivision.
Allebach said the preliminary plat approval could be given at the May 8 meeting. The final plat would be approved when it’s all completed.
When asked by the commission what he thought about the development, Seiman responded, “The concept looked like it was well thought out. Excellent layout.”
Turner told Thomas, “By consensus, at this point, we don’t see anything ‘Oh No,’ but until we see the final plans, the specs, it’s kind of hard to say, ‘Yep, you’ve got our blessings.’”
Thomas said he just wanted to make sure conceptually the development was good. Turner agreed conceptually it was.
