Commission approves conceptual PUD for 83-acre Taft Street development; traffic study and wetland permits remain

The Maryville Planning Commission voted 6-0 to approve a conceptual planned unit development for a mixed residential and professional-office development on roughly 83.3 acres along Taft Street, but commissioners and staff stressed several outstanding technical items must be completed before final approvals.

Doug Ehens of 4 Star (presenting for Forrester Real Estate Group and Maryville Residential LLC) told commissioners the petitioner had submitted the concept plan previously and “nothing has changed from the study session we were at 2 weeks ago.” He said the project team had sent the plan to HWC Engineering for a traffic study and planned to submit the completed study to INDOT.

Staff described the project as a mix of single-family residential and professional office uses. The staff report said surface water will be directed to detention facilities and ultimately discharged off-site to Turkey Creek to the north of the development. The plan shows multiple detention ponds; commissioners and staff counted five detention basins on the concept plan. The petitioner’s wetland consultant recently marked existing wetlands and will send a report to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine federal versus state jurisdiction and any mitigation needs.

Commissioners repeatedly raised traffic and emergency-access concerns. “I’m mainly concerned about the traffic flow with this new subdivision,” said a commissioner who lives in a nearby neighborhood. Commissioners asked whether traffic signals, turn lanes or other INDOT-required improvements might be necessary once the traffic study is complete. Doug Ehens said the traffic consultant is updating prior work and that the updated study should be submitted to INDOT within a few weeks; he estimated the project would be a spring/early-summer 2026 construction timeline, pending final engineering and studies.

Questions also addressed interior street widths and building separations around townhomes, fire-department access and maintenance responsibility for streets and shared parking. The petitioner said streets shown on the concept plan were drawn to the town’s approved cross-section and were intended to be dedicated to the town, with parking courts and outlots typically retained and maintained by a homeowners association.

A motion to approve the conceptual plan was made and seconded; the commission approved it on a roll-call vote, 6-0. Staff said the petitioner must complete the traffic study, coordinate wetland permitting with the Army Corps of Engineers, and adhere to applicable town ordinances and checklists during engineering and subsequent reviews.