Monday, April 17, 2023
AUBURN, Ind. – New development around the city continues to flourish at a rapid rate.
Three developments moved forward after the Tuesday, April 11 Auburn Plan Commission meeting. Those development included two housing developments, which will bring over 170 new residential units to the city. The commission also approved the development plan for a Belle Tire, which will be part of the Auburn Crossing development on the west end of S.R. 8.
Belle Tire, will construct a 9,800 square foot building on the north side of Cindy Street within the development on the former Ponderosa property. Auburn Crossing will also include a new Verizon Wireless location, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Texas Roadhouse, along with an additional restaurant and two proposed hotels.
Angela Smith, a representative of Enright, representing Auburn Realty, Inc., said the new store will bring 25 jobs to the community.
The rezoning of land on C.R. 36A and to the west of Lenora Lane received a “favorable” nod from the commission, moving both of those projects forward. The rezoning of the properties will move on to the Auburn Common Council on April 18.
With the “favorable” recommendation the Fieldstone development also received approval of its primary plat, after some discussion by the commission and those in attendance Tuesday night. The one sticking point with the development was a waiver request to not have to install a trail along the C.R. 36A as part of the Auburn 2040 Plan.
After a lot of discussion between the commission and developers the two reached a compromise on the trail issue. Representatives of Fall Creek Development Corp., agreed to install a portion of the trail to the southeast of its entrance. The trail will allow residents access to the already existing trail system at the YMCA’s soccer fields at the corner of Indiana Avenue and C.R. 36A.
All members of the commission voted in favor of the trail along the southeast side of the property.
The Fieldstone development will include 26 duplex units and 15 townhomes.
Watson Estates on the city’s far west side will bring 131 new housing units to the city. It will also see the extension of Lenora Lane to C.R. 19 allowing residents another entrance into the commercial businesses along Smaltz Way.
The commission approved the primary plat for the development.
Two other developments were tabled during the meeting as developers continue to work on each project. A new Dollar General location on S.R. 8, on the city’s east side, remained tabled as the developer continues to work out issues with the Indiana Department of Transportation.
A primary plat request for the Speed Subdivision development on the south end of Ley Drive by Walmart was tabled until the May 9 meeting as developers work on finalizing their plans.
Tuesday’s meeting began with the approval of an amendment to the city’s Unified Development Ordinance. The amendment cleaned up language regarding planned development districts. The amendment will have to be approved by the Auburn Common Council.
In other businesses the commission approved a resolution, which will clear the way for a new Tax Incremental Finance District within the city, encompassing Auburn Crossing. The TIF district must still be approved by the Economic Development Commission and the Auburn Common Council before returning to the Auburn Redevelopment Commission for final approval.
The final agenda item was four address requests. The first at 3255 C.R. 46A was for a new storage building and the second provided addresses for the Auburn Manufacturing facility on Auburn Drive, which is being subdivided. The three new addresses are 992 W. Auburn Dr., 996 W. Auburn Dr., and 991 DeKalb Avenue.
A special plan commission meeting will be held at 6 p.m. May 1 to discuss the Seven/15 Development on 15th Street. The next regularly scheduled plan commission meeting is May 9 at 6 p.m.