A replat of certain lots in the Gateway Grove subdivision approved by the Warsaw Plan Commission Monday will allow them to be slightly bigger.
Gateway Grove, located on the former Madison Elementary School and Gateway Educational Center site at 201 N. Union St., Warsaw, is owned by Groninger-Groninger Group LLC. The original plan is for 62 homes to be in the development. The YMCA is renovating the former Madison gym at 575 W. Fort Wayne St. to be the Downtown YMCA.
At Monday’s Plan Commission hearing, City Planner Justin Taylor explained to the board that the petition before them was for a replat of phase I of the Gateway Grove PUD (planned unit development).
“The preliminary and final plat for the Gateway Grove subdivision PUD was approved in 2021. Some of you may remember that. It was approved by this board and the city council. The petitioner is now requesting approval of a proposed phase 1 to accommodate development by reducing some of the lot sizes for lots 10 through 25,” Taylor said. “The proposed replat will change the side yard setbacks from 5 feet to 4 feet and some of the corner lots from 10 feet to 9 feet.”
He said though some lot lines are shifted in the proposed replat, it does not change the number of lots in the PUD. The replat will enable the petitioner to modify the floor plan for stacked units on lots 16 through 25.
“This replat is a relatively minor modification to the plat that was approved in 2021 and aligns with the city’s comprehensive plan. I recommend that the Plan Commission grant final approval for the Gateway Grove subdivision PUD replat of phase I,” Taylor concluded.
Innovative Communities President Tim Saylor, representing the Groninger Group, said they were looking to replat certain lots to make them bigger - not smaller as Taylor had said.
“We are taking some of the common area and allocating it on lots 16 through 25 to make them a little bit bigger. And the purpose of all of this is simply to adapt to what the marketplace is calling for,” Saylor. “We’re trying to provide a product at a slightly lower price point. The original housing was - in some cases over $300,000 - and we’re trying to reach a different price point. So to do that we need to adjust the building envelope just a little bit.”
He said the total number of lots is exactly the same, and there is no new public infrastructure involved.
Asked about some of the common area in the development, Saylor said it will become smaller with the common area around the perimeter becoming smaller by 6 feet.
City engineer Aaron Ott said between lots 7 and 8 is a sidewalk that goes through there. “Is the intent of the walks and common areas that they are only to service the residents of the addition, or is there a thought that those more would be a right-of-way to the public usage?”
Saylor said the walks and the common way are intended for the residents of the neighborhood that would be owned and maintained by the homeowners association.
Plan Commission Vice President and Councilwoman Diane Quance asked if “stacked units” meant two-story units or did it mean multiple persons and multiple-family units.
Saylor said they are two separate units but they’re stacked. From the exterior, he said they will look like a single-family home.
With no remonstrators present, the Plan Commission approved the petition for the replat by a vote of 6-0.
The second petition before the board was from The 2525 LP for a preliminary and final replat of the affordable apartment complex at 2525 Durbin St., Warsaw.
Taylor explained, “The preliminary and final replat of Winona Park 7th Amended and additional plat has been submitted in a timely fashion and reviewed for its conformity to the Subdivision Control Ordinance. The proposed plat meets the development standards for a subdivision within an (Industrial-2) zoning district. This replat merges a series of lots to create one 3.15-acre lot. This replat also cleans up right-of-way misalignments along Hendricks Street. The proposed replat will help facilitate the 60-unit affordable housing complex known as 2525 Durbin.”
He recommended the Plan Commission grant preliminary and final approval.
No one representing the petitioner was present for the meeting and there were no remonstrators. No one from the board had any questions.
“The city actually requested that they do this. It makes their setbacks on the north side - Hendricks - conform so that right-of-way alignment is pertinent. Otherwise, they would have to seek a variance for that setback,” Taylor said. “The housing project is pretty much wrapping up as far as construction goes. It’s just one of those loose ends that we had to tie up. The city actually initiated the process of this replat, but with the new ownership we had to delay it for a year, so this is just tying up that loose end.”
The commission approved the preliminary plat unanimously, approved to suspend the rules and then approved the final plat.
The Plan Commission also approved their 2024 meeting schedule. Meeting dates are set for 7 p.m. on the second Monday of every month, which are: Jan. 8, Feb. 12, March 11, April 8, May 13, June 10, July 8, Aug. 12, Sept. 9, Oct. 14, Nov. 11 and Dec. 9.