Whitestown plan commission backs rezoning recommendation for PY Homes development after residents raise density and tree‑clearing concerns

A majority of the Whitestown Plan Commission voted to recommend rezoning for a 28.41‑acre site proposed by PY Homes after hearing a revised plan that cuts the lot count from 56 to 50 and adds larger open‑space and perimeter landscaping commitments.

Rex Ramage, representing PY Homes, told commissioners the revised concept reduces the proposed lots to 50, “and that represents a 1.759 uh density units per acre,” and increases open space to just under 17 acres, well above the town’s 10% Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) open‑space requirement. The petitioner also offered a minimum 5‑foot berm along County Road 500 with enhanced plantings and added written commitments prohibiting vinyl siding and capping the lot count at 50.

Neighbors who submitted written comments and spoke at the public hearing disputed the developer’s presentation of usable acreage and raised other concerns. In a written comment read into the record, resident Cameron Norman said the “real usable and building acreage for this project is approximately 19.4 acres,” and warned that treating the entire parcel as equally developable produces a misleading density calculation. Several speakers, including Abigail Garrett and Ryan Berg, said trees were cleared from parts of the site before zoning approval and asked how the town would enforce developer commitments.

At the podium, resident Mike Og criticized the presentation’s use of flexible figures, saying he felt “like I was being sold under coating on a new car,” and urged the commission to ensure any commitments have enforceable teeth through the town attorney.

Commissioners pressed staff and the petitioner for technical clarifications. Staff and the petitioner explained Whitestown’s standard density calculation uses total parcel acreage (including common areas and sensitive areas) when computing units per acre, and the rental‑cap language proposed by PY matches restrictions used previously in the nearby Peabody Farms development. The petitioner said the homes would be ranch style, roughly 1,600–2,000 square feet, and estimated average sale prices around $450,000.

The commission’s favorable recommendation included specific conditions and written commitments: compliance with the UDO and cited statutory authority (IC 367‑4‑608 as referenced in the motion), a cap of 50 lots (about 1.76 units per acre as computed by the town), rental restrictions modeled on the Peabody Farms language, exterior materials limited to fiber‑cement or masonry (vinyl siding prohibited), and the installed perimeter landscaping (a minimum 5‑ft mound with specified tree/shrub counts). On a recorded roll‑call vote the motion carried and the favorable recommendation will be forwarded to the Town Council for final action.

What happens next: the Town Council will review the plan commission’s recommendation and the petitioner’s written commitments before making any final zoning decision. If the council approves the rezoning, the written commitments will run with the land and be enforceable as conditions of zoning.