Plan commission forwards rezoning for 12 townhomes at Jackson's Grant to city council

The Carmel Plan Commission Committee voted Feb. 4 to forward a rezoning request for Jackson's Grant Village Phase 2 to the Carmel City Council, recommending approval with two edits to the proposed Planned Unit Development (PUD) language.

The petition (Docket PZ-2024-00221) seeks to rezone a vacant parcel along 116th Street for a 12-unit townhome infill to be incorporated into the existing Jackson's Grant Village PUD. The committee's recommendation applies two changes requested by staff: (1) strike language that would have reduced required plantings along the 116th Street frontage "by half," and (2) delete a redundant sentence in the PUD text that referenced Section 12.4(b) of the Jackson's Grant Village PUD. The motion to forward the rezoning with those modifications passed on a voice vote and will go to City Council for final action.

Why it matters: The parcel has been vacant for years and has seen multiple proposals. Approving this rezoning would allow 12 townhomes to be built on the site and align the design and landscaping requirements with the rest of Jackson's Grant Village. Residents and commissioners emphasized landscaping, sidewalk connectivity and compatibility with adjacent uses during the committee discussion.

Staff presentation and agreed changes John Dolbashiewicz of Nelson & Frankenberger, representing the petitioner Homes by Mackenzie, told the committee that staff had reviewed a revised draft and recommended forwarding the rezoning request to council with the two edits to the PUD language. "We would ask that the committee consider making a recommendation," Dolbashiewicz said, summarizing the changes.

Rachel Kiesling of the Department of Community Services described the proposal as "filling in this parcel with 12 townhomes." Kiesling said the six southernmost units (labeled 75–80 in project documents) were reoriented to face 116th Street and that the townhomes will follow previously approved design standards for Jackson's Grant Village. "We do recommend that you send it to the city council tonight with a favorable recommendation," Kiesling said.

Landscaping and tree preservation Commission discussion centered on landscaping along the 116th Street frontage and how plantings removed from that frontage would be relocated into an adjacent tree-preservation area. Staff said the change avoids reducing the overall number of plantings; instead, plantings that cannot be placed directly in front of the townhomes would be placed in the tree preservation area to the east, subject to the Urban Forester's approval. A staff memo cited a typical planting standard of about eight shade trees, three to four ornamental trees and roughly 55 shrubs for the buffer, and commissioners asked that final spacing and species selection be resolved during development-plan review.

Sidewalk connectivity and site plan review Staff and the petitioner noted remaining details related to pedestrian connections: committee members were shown (in the materials and in handouts) where an existing sidewalk on Keaton Drive intersects the path along 116th Street and where a second internal sidewalk should connect before reaching the 116th Street path. Kiesling and the petitioner said those items would be resolved during the later development-plan-review process and the administrative site design/landscape standards (ADLS) review for the site.

Parking and other site features The petitioner and staff said the rezoning will maintain the existing Jackson's Grant parking standards; site materials indicate the count of parking spaces on site (the documentary count shown to the committee was 35 additional spaces when the phase is included), and staff said those spaces would be allocated between residential/guest parking and existing commercial parking so that commercial parking is not reduced. The existing monument sign at the subdivision entrance on 116th Street will remain; no new signage was proposed with the rezoning. Final site layout, landscaping and lighting will return to the commission as part of development-plan and ADLS review if the council approves the rezoning.

Vote and next steps A motion to forward Docket PZ-2024-00221 to City Council with the two text revisions (remove the "shall be reduced by half" landscaping language in Item A and delete the redundant sentence in paragraph B referencing section 12.4(b)) was moved and seconded and passed on a voice vote. The committee did not take final action on a development plan; staff and the petitioner said a separate public hearing for development-plan review is expected if the council approves the rezoning.

Community context Committee members noted the parcel has been vacant for years and said townhomes are a plausible fit for the lot given its size and surrounding development. Commissioners emphasized the importance of high-quality landscaping along the 116th Street frontage and the Urban Forester's role in approving any substitution of planting locations.