Zionsville council continues vote on Epcon's Heritage Trail PUD after hours of public comment and technical questions

The Town of Zionsville Town Council on Sept. 22 continued action on a proposed planned-unit development from Epcon Communities that would rezone roughly 180 acres for a 55-plus neighborhood called Heritage Trail and dedicate 26 acres to the town.

The petition, introduced by Dale Pfeiffer of Epcon Communities, would rezone parcels bounded by County Roads 400 South, 750 East, 500 South (Whitestown Road) and 800 East from Rural R-1 to a PUD to allow 362 age-restricted single-family lots on 180 acres and a 26-acre dedication to the town. The planning department and the Plan Commission forwarded unanimous favorable recommendations to the council; the council chose to continue action to the next meeting after extended questions.

The continuance followed extended public comment from nearby property owners and multiple council questions about sewer service, traffic impacts and the project's density. Dale Pfeiffer, who leads land acquisition for Epcon Communities, described the project as "an exclusive 55 plus lifestyle community" and said the homes and design would generate lower service burdens than many conventional subdivisions. Pfeiffer told the council Epcon projects "$200,000,000 in private investment" and asserted the development would deliver long-term tax benefits to Zionsville.

Several residents who live adjacent to the site spoke in support at the start of the public-comment period, including Georgiana Kaiser, who identified herself as a landowner on East 500 South, and Duane Jibet, who said he had moved to Zionsville to be near family and supported the younger-retiree product Epcon builds. Jeff Heck, who lives on a property that would border the Epcon community, also asked the council to approve the project.

Council members pressed the petitioner and staff for technical clarifications. Lance (Department of Public Works staff) and the town engineer (referred to in the record as Mr. Lewis) explained the site sits in a patchwork of sewer-service boundaries between Whitestown and Zionsville; Whitestown had earlier amended its master sewer plan to withdraw service for portions of the area, creating what staff described as "a little bit of a gap" in service coverage. Lance said discussions with the developer had been "very productive" and that Epcon has funded preliminary sewer investigations intended to show how the development could be served without impairing existing customers.

Council members also raised density and traffic. Staff and the petitioner discussed gross and net densities: Epcon said the gross density would be about 2 dwelling units per acre (2.0 du/acre) and that, excluding the 26-acre dedication, the net density would be about 2.4 du/acre. Pfeiffer and planning staff emphasized the age restriction would reduce typical household size and trip generation; Pfeiffer said Epcon's designs "generate 60% fewer trips than a traditional subdivision of the same size." Several councilors said they remained concerned about the jump from the current rural pattern (discussed in the meeting as roughly 1 home per 2 acres without sewer, or about 90 homes on the parcels today) to the proposed unit count.

During debate the petitioner offered a voluntary reduction of up to 40 lots (reducing the proposal from 362 to 322 lots) while keeping the proposed 26-acre dedication. The developer's representative said reducing lots was feasible but would require revisions to the PUD exhibits and likely further review by the Plan Commission. Several councilors and the council president said they wanted legal and zoning clarity on current permitted density under the inherited county-era R-1 rules before voting.

The council voted to continue the ordinance (recorded in the agenda as ordinance 20 20 5-21) to allow time for additional technical clarifications about sewer capacity and service boundaries, a final zoning/density determination from staff and follow-up discussions with the petitioner. The continuation passed on a voice vote, 5-0.

The council president said the item would return at the next regular meeting and urged staff and the petitioner to provide answers on sewer routing, lift-station and collection-system needs, a precise legal interpretation of the site's current zoning and a revised PUD plan if the developer proceeded with the proposed lot reduction.

The developer and several councilors said they would continue to meet with neighborhood representatives and staff during the two-week continuance; the planning commission's prior unanimous recommendation remains part of the record.