A proposed housing subdivision that stalled last month over lot sizes may be back on track following last Tuesday’s Crothersville Town Council meeting.
Chase Murphy of CC Murphy LLC wants to build houses on a 4 acre parcel he owns on the northside of Crothersville. Access to the housing development would be from Armstrong Street (US 31) and INDOT has not yet approved the access plan.
At April’s meeting the council was not pleased with Murphy’s plans to construct 29 homes on the acreage because the proposed lot sizes would be about half of what the town’s ordinances specify. Current town ordinance calls for a minimum lot size of 6,200 square feet with 65’ of road frontage.
Murphy told the council that home buyers today want smaller lots with less lawn to maintain.
However, councilman Jamy Greathouse said Murphy’s original plan would look like a “stick built shotgun trailer park.”
Murphy told the council that abiding by the town’s ordinance would mean going from 29 to 15 lots. “The math is not going to work,” he said about the financial viability.
He suggested that the town should consider updating its ordinance for new home construction. But that idea was met with resistance from the council.
“We’ll discuss variances but not changing our ordinance,” said council president Terry Richey.
To gain more local housing the council has varied from the ordinance minimums in the past.
Murphy suggested redrawing the development for 20 lots with 50 feet of road frontage. “Any less than that and I’d have to shelve the project,” he said.
“Houses need to be built that people want to buy,” said Greathouse.
In the end, the council and Murphy settled on average lot sizes at 5,000 square feet. Murphy is to re-draw his plans accordingly and re-submit to the council for consideration.
In other matter, the council was told that as a result on a bridge replacement project on Preston Street this summer, a water line will need to be re-located. According to utility superintendent Mason Boicourt, King’s Excavating entered a proposal of $17,362.50 for the work.
However, Boicourt said All-Star Paving was awarded the CCMG contract for the bridge work ad paving and should be able to take care of the water line re-location during the bridge deconstruction.
The council approved getting a price from All-Star for the work and approved a not to exceed cost of $17,362.50.
In another spending matter, the council approved trading in a 2023 Dodge Durango and purchase of a 2025 Chevrolet Tahoe for the police department from Bachman Chevrolet at a price not to exceed $51,000.
In final matters, the council
•Appointed Braydon Crater to the Unsafe Building Hearing Board.
•Approved street closures and parade route ad closing Bard Street for fireworks for next month’s Red, White & Blue Festival.
•Approved the submitted tax abatement compliance forms for AISIN Drivetrain and AISIN Chemical IN.