Plan Commission OKs GE District on city’s Eastside

Commercial Place. The Avenues. The Greater East Side.

Whatever Greencastle residents wish to call the area nestled between Percy Julian Drive and 10th Street from Avenue B to Avenue F, that part of town is in the process of getting a new designation: Greater Eastside (GE) District.

Introduced at the September meeting of the Greencastle City Plan Commission, the proposed new GE zoning district was unanimously approved by the commission at its recent February meeting. That means the measure will go before the City Council with a favorable recommendation from the Plan Commission. After a public hearing, the Council will have to endorse the change in ordinance form at two separate meetings.

The proposed district is represented by the area east of the centerline of Percy Julian Drive, south to the centerline of Avenue B, west of Warren Drive (10th Street) and north of the original plat boundary (essentially Avenue F), including all vacated alleys.

Motivation for the Commercial Place discussion came from three separate developers who had been looking to build in The Avenues. City officials met with them late last year and got feedback on some issues that might change development standards in the area.

Mayor Bill Dory said developers know there’s opportunity in that part of town, noting at a prior meeting that more than 50 buildable lots exist in the area.

However, with all the standards required, making it work has been called cumbersome at best.

Dory explained that one developer looked into a 40-foot-wide lot where he hoped to build a standard house but couldn’t fit the building on the lot with a driveway while conforming to parking standards, setbacks and other requirements.

The GE District is intended to provide development standards to promote appropriate development of the area known since the 1950s as The Avenues

These lots are typically narrow and are not accessed at the area by alleys. Averaging of setbacks, parking and minimum living area, which may be appropriate in other Traditional Neighborhood districts, creates a development burden in the district, City Planner Scott Zimmerman noted in his recommendation. Rezoning to the GE District will promote consistent housing development but still in keeping with the existing character of the neighborhood.

Zimmerman previously noted that with the need for starter or entry-level housing in Greencastle, Commercial Place could be a solution since it is ”situated right between the schools and industrial area.”

It can’t happen, however, without new development standards, he said.

Mayor Dory stressed that there is no requirement to bring existing properties up to the new standards.

“We’re trying to create an opportunity for some in-fill development,” he said alluding to a chance to put new homes in gaps that currently exist.

About 10 Eastside residents were on hand for the Plan Commission session.

Tonya Spencer, 1140 Avenue B, suggested that allowing 40-foot lots with three vehicles parked there “just isn’t feasible.”

In her neighborhood, she said, cars end up parked along the narrow street, creating traffic hazards, “which is bad.”

Besides parking dangers, Eastside residents in attendance also addressed drainage problems, which really aren’t included in the development standards but are certainly a side issue in Commercial Place.

On Avenue B, for example, water from the Taco Bell blacktop and adjoining parking lots, runs down the street to the west, eventually into the rocked ditch at Pizza Hut, Spencer said.

Chris King, 1153 Avenue D, said “it floods so bad, I need a kayak just to get out of my house.”

Mayor Dory was sympathetic.

“We know we have some drainage problems out there,” he said, noting that in several places the street is higher than the lot.

“Zoning isn’t a solution to storm drainage problems,” the mayor added. “Hopefully, we can address that on a case-by-case basis and can make some improvements over time.”

Plan Commission member Wayne Lewis recalled how when the sidewalks were put in along Avenue D, it was concrete in “waves,” going up and down in elevation.

“It all takes time, money and patience, “ he told the audience. “You people have been very patient, I’ll give you credit for that.”

He added that such improvements take the combination of money, timing, city administration and residents.

“I think, some times in the past, there was no communication, they just did it,” Lewis said.

“I’ve lived here since 1955,” Lewis added, “and I’ve never known anybody who was happy out there because of the water.”

Part of the problem, Mayor Dory suggested, “is our forefathers only gave us 40 feet of right of way (in Commercial Place streets) where now a minimum of 50 feet is now required.”

In addition to two lanes of traffic, such right of way often carries sidewalk, curbs, water lines and sewer lines.

“My concern,” City Attorney Laurie Hardwick interjected, “is people can build on these lots.”

“The irony,” City Planner Zimmerman responded, “is all this started with the owner of one of those 40-foot right-of-way properties knowing that parking and drainage were going to be issues.”

Commission member Eric Wolfe, a realtor by trade, said “the hope is there can be properties developed on these lots.”

“Any sort of development or growth will usually increase property values,” Wolfe added.

Zimmerman assured that the zoning change does nothing to make it easier for a developer to apply for multi-family housing.

“We’re not promoting density,” he said.

Most of the property lot sizes are conducive only to single-family residences or duplexes.

“But 40 feet is not feasible to put a single-family (home) with vehicles,” Spencer again stressed.

Lewis concurred.

“No matter what you do,” he said, “it’s going to be an engineering nightmare.”

On motions by Wolfe, measures for designating the GE district and defining the area involved were passed unanimously.

Mayor Dory and City Planner Zimmerman were joined for the nearly 90-minute meeting by Chairman Doug Wokoun, Lewis and Wolfe, with Tim Trigg, Emily Knuth and Jeff Mahan via Zoom. Matt Welker, Mark Hammer, Donnie Watson and J.D. Miller were absent.

The commission also elected officers for 2021 with Wokoun continuing as president and Wolfe taking over as vice president.