Hallie Gallinat, Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Ind.
·4 min read
Logansport citizens received the opportunity to voice their opinions on potential future plans for development at the corner of Chase and Davis roads Tuesday night at an open house.
Over a dozen citizens, including City Council President Dave Morris and fellow City Council members Suzy Wamsley and Hayley Zinsmaster, attended to see concepts for the land. Four concepts were shown by representatives from American Structurepoint Inc., who the Logansport Redevelopment Commission has been working with to develop master plans for the area and complete a land use study.
Luke Kessler, landscape architecture project manager for American Structurepoint Inc., said the property consists of 60 acres, with around 40 of those being usable for development and 20 remaining as forests. He said the company spoke with Logansport business leaders who expressed a need for housing in the community, both high end and worker housing, and that the city of Logansport was looking for as much input as possible.
“The big point to us is everybody at every price point needs housing in Logansport. So then, our task is, ‘okay, well, everybody needs housing, Logansport is short on all housing types, what works on this site?,’” Kessler said in his presentation. “Because we can’t solve all these housing problems on this site, so what is the vision for this site? What is the land uses that work for the city, the residents, the neighborhood and the community here?”
The four proposals were also displayed on poster boards, where neighbors of the surrounding area and Logansport residents could say what sections of each proposal they liked the most using stickers. They could also voice any concerns they had with the design and layout on sticky notes.
The first concept had the densest amount of housing, according to Director of Landscape Architecture Mark Underwood. It would be comprised of 163 total mixed-use or multi-family units and 97 total single-unit residential, adding up to 260 units.
The first 400 feet off of Chase Road is marked as mixed-use or multi-family. Kessler said it could be used for commercial development similar to Parker Dentistry, Area Five and the Fisher Funeral Chapel that are already nearby. He said they could serve as some type of group home, senior housing or apartments, but it is still up in the air on what it would be.
“Some of the feedback we’ve gotten so far was that there needed to be more local commercial opportunities in that area and they had to go down Davis Road to the other side of town to do some stuff that maybe you just could do right here,” Kessler said in his presentation.
The second concept would have a total amount of 143 units, with 79 of those being total mixed-use or multi-family and the remaining 64 being single-unit residential. Concept three would also have 79 total mixed-use or multi-family, but would have 94 single-unit residential for a total of 173 units.
Lastly, the fourth concept would have the lowest amount of total units with 136, which would consist of 79 total mixed-use or multi-family and 57 single-unit residential. Kessler said the amount of units for mixed-use/multi-family on all four proposals is just the maximum of what is allowed there.
“So, that’s not saying that that’s what we’re proposing there, that’s just saying that’s the maximum that you might see there,” Kessler said in his presentation. “So ... part of this conversation is, ‘okay, is that maximum realistic for here? Does it need to be commercial, what about a group home? Is a group home okay?’ Those kind of nuances are what is really useful for us to hear.”
In all of the proposals, Kessler said the company is suggesting a new road that would direct traffic onto Smith Road rather than Chase Road. He added it is also looking to provide trail connections in the future. All four proposals also feature green space that could serve as common areas and a handful of ponds.
After the presentation, citizens could comment their thoughts and concerns on the proposals, with comments concerning traffic and access points, neighborhood retail and the site layout being brought up and addressed. Logansport resident Ron Blackman raised concerns about drainage at the site, energy consumption and how to handle it efficiently, and the housing wage gap.
“I think, what people have been telling you, it’s going to have to be affordable,” Blackman said.
The next step for American Structurepoint Inc. will be to take the feedback from Tuesday’s open house and craft refined alternatives, as well as reporting the feedback for the city’s benefit. Kessler said it was great to see people come out and be interested in what’s going on in their community.
“Some communities just don’t have very good turnout for public things, like nobody cares what happens in our communities, so it’s really great to see in Logansport that people love their community and are willing to participate in the public process of just a city doing business,” Kessler said after the meeting.
