Almost exactly two years after PSR LLC’s proposed planned unit development first appeared before the Chesterton Plan Commission, planners have at last scheduled a public hearing on it.

The public hearing will be held at the commission’s next meeting, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21. It is unknown at the moment whether the public hearing will be held in person or by Zoom.

At a preliminary hearing Thursday night, planners voted unanimously to approve the current iteration of the proposed PUD, which has been whittled down significantly from its earliest form, which included not only duplexes and triplexes but a pair of B-3 zoned commercial buildings.

The development would now be comprised of 36 single-family units on 18.4 acres immediately south of 1100N and west of the Stone Meadows subdivision, across the street from the Dogwood Park West parking lot. The lots on which the two commercial buildings were originally sited--on the far west edge of the acreage--have now been converted into an outlot which would be used for a detention pond, while a second detention pond would be located on an outlot fronting 1100N. The main entrance to the development has been aligned with 23rd Street and will be connected with Stone Meadows’ Pradera Trail on the far east side of the development. A series of T-driveways has also been eliminated after planners expressed their squeamishness over multiple roadcuts.

PSR is requesting seven relatively minor variances and one waiver from Town Standards:

-- Two to permit a slightly smaller than permitted minimum lot area on Lots 25 and 26: one of them 255 square feet smaller, the other 156 square feet smaller.

-- Two to permit the placement of a larger than permitted freestanding monument sign where such a sign would not normally be allowed, on Lot 1: larger by 120 square feet. Two conditions would be required: the sign may be no higher than 10 feet above the unaltered grade; and the sign must be constructed of stone material and appropriately landscaped.

-- A variance to permit a side street setback of 15 feet, 10 feet less than the required 25 feet, on Lots 3 and 31. As a condition, the homes on these lots must front 23rd Street.

-- And two variances to permit the construction of six-foot privacy fences in the side yard of four homes, two on 1100N and two on Pradera Trail.

-- The waiver: Pradera Trail Extended will be a 735-foot cul-de-sac at the west end, 135 feet longer than permitted.

The development would be built in a single phase, with the remaining 41 acres of property to the south--some of it delineated wetland--left undeveloped.

Planner Fred Owen did express a concern about the drainage, particularly on the southern most lots. Does PSR plan on installing rear- or side-yard drains? he asked.

If the engineers determine a need for those drains, they will be installed, PSR’s attorney, Greg Babock said.

Town Engineer Mark O’Dell, however, suggested that it may be difficult to install rear-yard drains on those lots. “The wetlands are pretty high back there,” he said. Instead, PSR should consider requiring sump pumps and downspouts to be directed toward the street. “But I do think they’re going to reduce the amount of run-off in the end,” O’Dell added.

Planner Dan Marchetti indicated that he, for one, is satisfied with the product as finally amended. “My position at the concept review (in October) was that this was essentially acceptable,” he said.

Prior to voting to hold a public hearing on the proposed PUD, Associate Town Attorney Chuck Parkinson noted that, going forward, the Plan Commission will need to amend its own rules, which currently require legal notifications be published in a Chesterton newspaper. With the Chesterton Tribune’s ceasing publication on Dec. 30, all legal notifications in 2021 and beyond will have to be published in a different statutorily eligible paper, probably the Times, Parkinson said.

Springdale PUD Phase I Replat

In other business, members voted unanimously to approve the re-platted primary plat for Phase I of the Springdale PUD, located immediately south of 1050N and west of Abercrombie Woods in Crocker.

Two lots in Phase I had to be removed from the plat to reduce the lot coverage of the remaining lots, whose impervious surface the developer, Olthof Homes LLC, had miscalculated, rendering them unbuildable.

Members then voted unanimously to approve the secondary plat for Phase I, contingent on the receipt of an infrastructure guarantee ensuring the installation of rear-yard drains on 11 of the lots.