Plan Commission sets public hearing for 82-home PUD; drainage easement and maintenance highlighted

The Burns Harbor Plan Commission voted to set a public hearing in May on a proposed planned-unit development (PUD) for approximately 82 single-family homes at the southeast corner of State Road 149 and Hagglin Road and directed staff to continue working with the developer to resolve outstanding drainage and infrastructure questions.

Todd Cleven, vice president of Land Homes, presented the project concept and a draft PUD ordinance. Cleven said the site contains a regulated drain with a 75-foot easement on each side that, as currently mapped, consumes nearly four acres of the parcel and creates a major development constraint. He said his team has completed a wetland delineation and proposed petitioning the Porter County Drainage Board to reduce the combined easement to 50 feet (25 feet each side) or to transfer jurisdiction to the town so the easement could be reduced. "We're preserving that whole corridor as stormwater management. We're maintaining the wetlands. We'll probably end up enhancing the wetlands," Cleven said.

The applicant also requested multiple development variances: reduce minimum home square footage to 1,800, increase density modestly (from three units per acre to about 3.25), reduce minimum lot width (from 70 feet to 46), and lower some setback standards. The developer said all roads and sidewalks would be public and homes would be single-family; a homeowners association would assume routine maintenance for landscaping and the wetland corridor, and the developer expects to record covenants and HOA documents as part of final platting.

Commissioners pressed on key dependencies: written letters of capacity from the sanitary board and Indiana American Water, INDOT review if access near State Road 149 is affected, parkland requirements (donation of land vs. fee), and whether the town would accept jurisdiction of the regulated drain if requested by the county. Staff said those items should be addressed before final approvals and recommended including clear HOA maintenance obligations in the ordinance. The commission voted to set the ordinance for public hearing and to direct staff to work with the applicant; the motions passed by roll call.

Next steps: the developer will pursue county-drainage relief or transfer-of-jurisdiction and obtain the required utility capacity letters; staff will refine the draft ordinance language, request park-board input on parkland/donation options, and include HOA covenant language to specify maintenance responsibilities.