The Nickel Plate Review Committee of Fishers City continued action on Mayfield Townhomes (NPRC 25-2) on Oct. 29 after staff and the petitioner presented three townhome elevation types and committee members asked for stronger streetscape treatments along East 116th Street.

Ross Hillary, Fishers City staff, told the committee the application requests approval of three townhome elevations submitted by Old Town Design Group for the Mayfield (also referenced in the packet as Mapledel/Mabeledale) Subdivision. The site is zoned BC (Village Center) and is located generally south of East 116th Street near the intersection of Taubman/Hollott Drive; the full submittal includes a mix of single-family lots and townhomes with a single vehicular access point off Collin Drive. Hillary said staff recommended approval with one condition: that all tax comments be addressed.

Hillary described the three elevation families: the East 116th Street (street-facing) elevations, alley-loaded elevations and front-load elevations. Materials shown include masonry and hardy plank with board-and-batten detailing; some building sides will have brick wrap and several units include rear "outdoor living" areas that cantilever over garages.

"We do recommend approval with the one condition that all tax comments shall be addressed," Hillary said while listing three waiver requests staff expected the committee to consider, including reductions in required masonry percentages and certain façade and setback standards.

Matt, representing Old Town Design Group and the petitioner, said the builder planned three distinct product types to reach different market price points and to provide a range of options. He said comparable products in Carmel and Westfield had sold quickly and estimated the local price bands for these units would fall roughly between about $550,000 and $800,000 depending on interior upgrades.

Multiple committee members praised the overall site plan but repeatedly criticized the street-facing East 116th Street elevation as "too plain" compared with the alley-loaded elevations. Committee members asked for more articulation on the 116th Street façades'for example, porches, awnings, upgraded garage doors, additional landscaping, and other treatments designed to improve the pedestrian experience and the corridor's appearance.

"I am not comfortable with that. I would like there to be something more," one committee member said, asking the petitioner to enhance the units that front 116th Street.

The developer explained some constraints. Utility easements and site depth limit the ability to shift building pads or provide full front porches on some lots; the developer said structural porches and integrated roofed porches increase construction cost materially compared with the cantilevered outdoor living spaces proposed above garages. "The outdoor living on the Hundred Sixteenth is actually just protruding. It's cantilevering outside over the garage, so I don't have to mitigate the stormwater in the same sense," the petitioner said, describing a cost differential between the two porch approaches.

Committee members also discussed mechanisms such as homeowner association covenants or design controls to prevent ad-hoc porch clutter on visible balconies, and encouraged attention to lighting, upgraded garage doors with windows, and a stronger landscaping edge between sidewalk and units. Staff confirmed that an earlier-proposed emergency access drive had been removed after discussions with Fire Department staff and that the area remains a common open area, not a vehicle access.

With revisions requested, the committee moved to continue the item so the petitioner could return with updated elevations and a revised landscape/garage-door proposal. The committee asked staff and the petitioner to try to produce renderings for the next available meeting (the parties discussed a tentative Tuesday or Thursday meeting next week at 5:00 p.m.). A motion to continue the item was made, seconded and approved by voice vote (ayes). No final approvals were recorded.

The committee also elected officers at the start of the meeting: Amanda was elected president of the Nickel Plate Review Committee and Jamie was elected vice president. The committee approved staff recording secretaries Kate Frang, Kelly Luark and Ross Hillary for the record earlier in the agenda.

The petitioner agreed to provide revised elevations addressing the committee's comments; staff will schedule the continuation and circulate materials in advance.