Carmel weighs rewriting housing rules
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Photo: Justin L. Mack/Axios
Carmel residents urged city leaders to make room for more housing choices while warning them not to sacrifice the character and privacy of existing neighborhoods in the process.
Why it matters: The fast-growing suburb is nearly built out, and officials say its housing stock increasingly doesn't match the needs of the people who live there or desire to move there.
- Now, the city is examining whether its own zoning rules are limiting new development.
Driving the news: The Carmel Plan Commission held a public hearing Tuesday to gather feedback on the city's Unified Development Ordinance, zoning regulations and land development rules under Indiana House Enrolled Act 1001.
- The law requires municipalities to review their zoning and development regulations with the goal of increasing housing production.
State of play: City attorney Sergey Grechukhin said HEA 1001 asks municipalities to evaluate nine specific reforms, from allowing duplexes and fourplexes in single-family zones to waiving setback and parking rules.
By the numbers: Planning administrator and Carmel Housing Task Force member Adrienne Keeling said 76.8% of the city's land allows only single-family housing.
- About 70% of the city's housing stock is detached single-family homes, and 72% of all units have two or more stories. More than half have four or more bedrooms.
- But 35% of homes include someone aged 60 or older, while 19% are people living alone, meaning current options are a mismatch for Carmel’s growing share of empty nesters and single-person households.
What they're saying: Residents who provided feedback generally agreed that the city needs more choices, but differed on how and where to add them.
- An empty nester living in a four-bedroom house said older residents looking to downsize, young professionals and workers such as teachers and first responders struggle to find suitable housing in Carmel. He championed “gentle density,” as a way to add housing “without upsetting neighborhood character.”
- A young renter took to the podium to advocate for accessory dwelling units, cottage courts and multiplexes as alternatives between apartments and large single-family homes.
- A property manager for the LEO at Carmel build-to-rent community pitched rental housing built to blend into single-family neighborhoods as a way to add supply without competing for owner-occupied homes.
Yes, but: Charles Demler, who has lived near Carmel's Arts & Design District since 1980, pointed to a six-story development near his home as a warning about the consequences of taller buildings and smaller setbacks.
- He showed before-and-after photos of his backyard pool, saying the development approved near his Johnson Addition property altered his daily life for years and cut $100,000 off his home's value.
- “My privacy is gone,” Demler told commissioners. “Think about (if) this is your house. How happy would you be?’
What's next: City staff will continue evaluating the Unified Development Ordinance while the Mayor's Advisory Commission on Housing finishes a separate study of “missing middle” housing.
- Any zoning changes would have to go through the planning commission and city council, creating more opportunities for public debate.
- Carmel must submit its HEA 1001 report by Jan. 1.