Ellettsville apartment vote dragged on for months thanks to missing members

Attendees waited on Zoom for the Aug. 23 meeting of the Ellettsville Town Council to begin. Before the body could proceed with the evening’s agenda, Clerk-Treasurer Sandy Hash needed to transfer ownership of the call to the right person.

There was a reason Hash needed more time to find her deputy clerk among the digital crowd assembled. “This is the most people we’ve ever had on a Zoom meeting,” she explained.

On the agenda was a controversial petition to rezone 6.33 acres of the new Ellis Ridge Subdivision for construction of an apartment complex. Marked by frequent absences from members of the town council, the matter lingered for months as the body unsuccessfully waited for a full council to vote.

Ultimately, only three council members were present to approve the petition and bring an end to a process that frustrated the developer, council and members of the public who felt ignored by their elected representatives.

Ridge Group seeks zone change

The Ridge Group sought to rezone land just off Ind. 46 from a C-3, general commercial rating to a planned unit development in order to build six apartment buildings totaling more than 160 units. 

The Ellettsville Plan Commission reviewed the matter, but sent it to the town council in July with no recommendation. Despite consistent objections from the public and the concerns of some of the council members themselves, the council approved the Ridge Group petition on Sept.13.

In meetings over several months, no one from the Ellettsville area spoke in favor of the project. Instead, town council members heard a consistent, focused set of complaints about the consequences of building an apartment complex on the site. Namely, that the proposed Flats on 46 would generate greatly increased vehicle traffic without the roads to safely handle it.

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Those exiting the proposed apartment complex would be limited to a right turn onto Ind. 46, away from Bloomington. The alternative would be to exit through the existing neighborhoods until drivers can make a left turn onto Ind. 46. While proposals were put forward to alleviate some of the concerns, solutions involving Ind. 46 were dismissed, as the road is under the purview of the Indiana Department of Transportation. A possible connection from the new apartments to Centennial Drive was proposed, but did not go anywhere due to legal disputes over who controls the area in question.

As the process lagged, the frustration of Tyler Ridge II, the developer, and his representatives became clear. After three meetings with no action, the petitioner's attorney Lynn Coyne expressed those frustrations at what would be the final meeting on the matter, pleading with the town council to make a decision one way or another. 

Ultimately the council did make a decision, voting 3-0 to approve. Missing from the meeting were Pamela Samples and William Ellis, chair of the Monroe County GOP. The issue was on the agenda for meetings July 26, Aug. 23 and Sept. 13, and at each of the meetings at least one council member was absent. 

Attendance issues plague council

Attendance at the Ellettsville Town Council meetings for the majority of members has been waning. As of Oct. 1, Dan Swafford has missed the most meetings, attending just 15 out of 21 meetings in 2021. Ellis and Samples have been present for 18 meetings, while Trevor Sager attended 19 meetings this year. Scott Oldham has the best record, having missed a single meeting this year. In 2020, no council member missed more than two meetings. 

For Linda Summers, a resident of Ashbrook Lane, the experience was disheartening. “We've just wanted things that affect our lives and impact our lives addressed,” Summers said. "I don't care where you are, you can always attend a meeting (on Zoom)."

"What's the point of having a town council if the town council's not there?" she added.

Councilmembers who missed meetings said, for the most part, they were dealing with personal matters. Councilmembers Swafford, Samples, and Ellis all stated they think attending meetings is important and that they would have attended each meeting if possible.

Because the petition came from the plan commission with no recommendation, the town council had 90 days from July 8 to deliver a resolution or else the measure was considered defeated. 

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The approval came with the minimum number of council votes possible under pressure from the petitioner. To Coyne, it was a "matter of procedural fairness" and "decency" for the town council to render a decision. “It takes nine months of process and still nothing, so it will then go out to 10, perhaps 11 months," Coyne said at the Sept. 13 meeting. "All we’re asking for is a decision. We understand it could go no, it could be yes. We’re just saying, please make a decision."

The council members who approved the development said they felt they could not say no. "I believe that our hands were kind of tied in the matter when it was zoned C-3 when it was brought into the town," Trevor Sager said at the Aug. 23 meeting.

Oldham said voting against the apartment complex may have opened up the land for development into something less desirable, thanks to the general commercial zoning. "The decision for me is not about traffic. It's not about a whole lot of other things that have been brought up, which are incredibly valid points," Oldham said at the Sept. 13 meeting.

Oldham added he worried rejection would result in the town having less say in what was built on the land. "If we continue to add commercial, that traffic will continue to mount and mount again."

Why was it approved?

The Ridge Group could have developed the property without a zoning change. When asked why the Ridge Group did not build the apartments over commercial space in accordance with current zoning, Tyler Ridge II suggested the pandemic lessened the demand for such arrangements and it wouldn't be profitable for their investors.

During discussion, Oldham enumerated the potential uses for a C-3 zoned property, including an amusement park or large commercial center like Walmart. Envisioning this future elicited audible laughs and groans from those in attendance. 

"It is the highest level commercial development with the highest traffic impact," said Coyne. 

Residents' concerns focused mainly on traffic impacts from the development on surrounding neighborhoods. 

Since the petition's approval, work was done to link up two previously separate sections of Centennial Drive, located to the northeast of the proposed apartments. Motorists can now drive south from the Centennial Park neighborhood to a stoplight at Ind. 46. However, apartment residents would still need to drive through nearby neighborhoods to reach Centennial Drive.

Responding to the outcome

Ellis, who was not present when the vote was taken, remains opposed to the development and suggested his fellow council members wanted to avoid conflict.

"If we are going to forge an identity of Ellettsville, independent, but complimentary to the communities around us, we have to understand there's going to be some conflict," he said. "We're going to win some, we're going to lose some. But you don't get there by just being submissive."

Ellis called on the members of the Ellettsville Plan Commission, which includes two members of the town council, to take a critical look at zoning. "These type of authorizations should have never been allowed in commercial development," he said.

At issue for Brian Thomas, a concerned neighbor, was that the council did not appear to be listening to constituents. As a condition to his yes vote, Swafford insisted upon the inclusion of more parking spaces at the complex. 

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"But really more parking means more traffic, and that's really all it comes down to." Thomas said at the Sept. 13 meeting. "The developer is going to say or do whatever he wants to try to get things pushed through. But yeah, my grandfather would always say, 'You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.'"

The Ridge Group plans to begin construction this year and finish the project in March or April of 2023. The Ridge Group and Tyler Ridge II declined to respond to several interview requests for this article over the course of months.

Overall, residents are disappointed with the process and outcome. 

"Council members are elected to represent the people and I don't see that," Summers said. "Show us that you are listening."

Patrick McGerr covers Indiana University and Ellettsville for The Herald-Times. Reach him at pmcgerr@heraldt.com.