Richmond Common Council last year approved a zoning change for the Smith Hill planned unit development on 80 acres south of Backmeyer Road between South 37th Street and Garwood Road.
Bryan Stumpf of 11th Street Development returned June 16 to update council about the project’s progress. He talked about challenging financial and market changes that resulted in negotiations with a builder about including 100 rental homes for senior citizens. At that, Larry Parker, council’s president, balked.
“There are none,” Parker said about rental properties, “because your application asked for owner-occupied only and that’s how this was passed. All the homes in the neighborhood will be for-sale homes, no rental properties.”
Last year, council originally denied 11th Street’s zoning request when the project included 220 apartment units and a possible childcare center. A compromise removed the childcare center and replaced the apartments with 100 for-sale townhomes, leading to council’s 7-2 approval vote Aug. 5 with Parker and Lucinda Wright opposing. Council then this year created an economic development area for the 80 acres and approved issuing bonds through the Indiana Finance Authority to fund the $4.33 million match required for Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative money.
Stumpf said the state has not yet released the READI money and state legislation passed this year reduces by 10 to 25% the tax increment finance revenue for bond payments, anticipating the developer will be responsible for $675,000 annually beyond TIF funds. He said senior rental homes would be constructed more quickly than the project’s other single-family homes or townhomes, boosting TIF revenues for bond payments.
“That would be a rental component,” Stumpf said, “which would be helpful because it provides that additional revenue that will help meet that revenue obligation for the bond repayments.”
Stumpf and Chris Hamm of HWC Engineering said that after council approved the land’s rezoning, the city’s planned unit development ordinance and zoning regulations permit them to put rental properties in the project, if they so choose.
“It would be inappropriate for us not to explore every opportunity to make sure that this project is successful,” Hamm said.
Parker, though, said council approved the project’s zoning with the understanding there would be no rental component. “Did you mislead us? Yes,” he said.
The rezoning application, which is signed by Stumpf, says in part: “All of the homes in the neighborhood are for-sale homes.” Then, Stumpf said during his Aug. 5 project presentation to council: “The entire project is for-sale residential.”
Council members Anne Taylor, Jane Bumbalough, Justin Burkhardt and Jerry Purcell changed their votes that night, enabling the necessary zoning change.
“This was turned down by this council initially because of the rentals, the apartment buildings, and that was something that was compromised in order to please everyone involved. I think this is an important project, but I do think that this brings about some questions by adding rental properties back into it,” Purcell said June 16. “It is definitely in conflict with what we agreed to as a council in our compromise.”
Burkhardt recommended the issue be assigned to a committee, “so that we can get this on some sort of track.” Parker said a four-member committee will form to investigate whether the developer discovered a loophole that will leave at least some council members feeling duped or whether 11th Street must amend its zoning request and again come before council.
Other actions
- Council approved 8-0 appropriating $12,000 in the fire department’s pension fund to cover the cost of Richmond Fire Department candidate medical testing. The additional funding will put enough in the line item for 10 candidates, with the expectation nine positions will be filled this year. State regulations added three tests to the process, increasing the cost per candidate from $1,694.36 to $2,300.76.
- Council approved 8-0 appropriating the $23,000 received from the sale of Berryfield Park to restore docks at Middlefork Reservoir. The city committed to spending the sale proceeds at Middlefork, which is the closest park to Berryfield. The Berryfield Park land will be used for a Chester Heights Apartments expansion.
- Council will form a committee to consider contents of an ordinance that amends the part of city code regulating the process of providing the public with access to meeting agendas, notices, meeting minutes and memoranda associated with city boards, commissions and committees.
A version of this article will appear in the June 25 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.