Frankfort Plan Commission Clears 26 New Homes, Grants Developer Five-Year Extension

The Frankfort Plan Commission approved a secondary plat clearing the way for 26 new single-family home lots in the Meadowbrook subdivision while also granting the project an unusually long five-year extension after slower-than-expected home sales pushed back its construction timeline. The commission’s votes, taken during a special meeting August 19th, allow the developer to move forward with Section Two of Meadowbrook Phase Two, a 12.77-acre area east of Buckeye Boulevard and Hoke Avenue. Commissioners also extended the deadline for the subdivision’s remaining, unbuilt sections to 2032, on the condition that future phases include wider, wheelchair-accessible sidewalks.

Secondary Plat Clears Final Hurdle City planning staff told commissioners the section met all requirements under the subdivision ordinance, including completed roads and water and sewer lines already inspected and accepted by the city. A lift station serving the area is not yet finished, so the developer posted a performance bond worth 125% of its estimated cost to cover the remaining work.

Five-Year Extension Granted Over Slow Sales The subdivision’s original primary plat, approved in January 2024, was due to expire in January 2027 for the two sections not yet covered by this week’s vote — an outlot area and a section labeled Section Three. Wildcat Resources requested a five-year extension, saying lots have not sold as quickly as anticipated and it needs more time to generate the capital required for further infrastructure.

Commissioners approved the five-year extension unanimously, but attached a new condition: any future secondary plats for the remaining sections must follow the city’s current sidewalk standard of five feet, rather than the four-foot sidewalks already built in earlier sections under the old rule. Wildcat’s engineering representative said the developer had no objection to the change.

Drainage Question Resolved Before voting, commissioners questioned why four lots backing up to a floodplain lacked a rear drainage easement found on neighboring lots. The Wildcat Resources representative attending the meeting said that he had confirmed with the developer that the omission was intentional, not an oversight. “They did not intend to put a drainage easement through the back there because of the flood plain, and the drainage ditch easement is already there.” County surveyor Dan Sheets had already signed off on the plat as drawn, staff said.

The discussion also touched on regional flooding this year in Indianapolis and Richmond. Staff clarified that Indiana’s floodplain regulations, which require two feet of “freeboard” above the 100-year flood elevation, do not protect against far larger, rarer storms. “If these houses flood at the elevations we put on here, we’re all flooded — the whole city’s flooded,” the engineer said.

Staff said three more public hearings are scheduled for next week, including a rezoning request for Meadowbrook’s outlots and initial zoning designations for two annexed properties, including a factory building near the interstate.

Frankfort Plan Commission Clears 26 New Homes, Grants Developer Five-Year Extension

Comments