My privacy fence once bordered a woodland paradise – but my neighbor’s ‘gut punch’ move could destroy our home for good
A COUPLE'S privacy fence runs alongside approximately 200 acres of a greenery-filled paradise in Indiana but they're worried that their neighbor's "gut punch" will be destructive.
Jacqueline and Kevin Shaffer, who have been living in the Hoosier State's Pike Township for 12 years, have been grateful for the forestry that lies between their home and the I-465 freeway.
The massive wooded area alongside their property line used to be farmland but it's now the target of a $500million development called The Crossing at Traders Point - a project which would make the wooded paradise something of the past.
According to the Indianapolis Star, the eyed land near the Shaffers' home is being targeted by Cornerstone Companies (an Indianapolis-based healthcare real estate firm) and Johnson County's GCG Investments LLC.
The real estate and investment companies' intended project would entail a hotel, senior living space, apartments, retail, medical facilities, office space, and life sciences research, as per Indy Star.
The development, which would take place if the area gets rezoned to commercial from residential, is also expected to bring in $4million in real estate taxes to the area.
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Cornerstone Development made the following statement to IndyStar: "We are working with the neighborhood groups on a weekly basis to hear their concerns and help navigate those issues as future stakeholders in the Traders Point area."
At a public meeting this past spring, Cornerstone Companies president and CEO J. Taggart Birge said the project would take about 30 years to complete.
He reportedly said: "This is the last significant piece of ground that is undeveloped in Marion County along I-465.
"It will be a great long term development with this mixed use high end component."
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Planning documents obtained by IndyStar reveal the land will include 200,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, 100,000 square feet for a 125-room hotel, 270,000 square feet of inpatient and outpatient medical facilities, and 400,000 square feet of office space and life science facilities.
The documents also noted that the development will include 600,000 square feet of "light business," 350,000 square feet of residential and mixed use space, or 350 apartments or townhomes, in addition to 200,000 square feet for 200 homes for 55 and over residential living.
And just as the Shaffers aren't supportive of this move, Pike Township Residents Association President Susan Blair is concerned about the amount of traffic that will come from the development.
Additionally, Pike Township residents Martin and Jan Risch, who moved to the area about three years ago to be closer to nature, are both upset with the new plans.
Martin Risch dubbed the project, which would be across the street from his residence, "a gut punch."
He told the IndyStar: "When you spend your career and get a little nest egg, you want it to be spent on something that really reflects your own values.
"For us this did, and that's why we felt lucky to get the house."
Meanwhile, Jacqueline Shaffer is worried about what the potential development, which has not yet been approved, will do to wildlife in the area.
Shaffer said: "We enjoy the wildlife that visits our yard, and we have a fox who has babies every year.
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"Why are we gonna give that up?”
As the residents continue to hope for the best and stand up for what they believe, a Metropolitan Development Commission hearing is scheduled for July 27, where the developer will deliver its petition.