By VICKI URBANIK

The new housing along Meridian Road that began with Fox Chase Farms and then the Timberland subdivision will continue – in a very big way.

By a 8-1 vote Wednesday, the Porter County Plan Commission approved the primary plat for Timberland Farms. To be located immediately south of Timberland, the new subdivision will straddle both sides of Meridian Road, with 56 lots on a 20-acre parcel on the west side and 183 lots on the east side.

The planners’ approval of Timberland Farms Wednesday came just after they approved another major subdivision in Liberty Township during a meeting that also resulted in the surprise resignation of Alan Hewitt from the county’s drainage board (see related stories).

Timberland Farms, to be developed on property now owned by long-time Liberty Township farmer Loren Dzur, was first proposed more than a year ago, and along the way has prompted opposition from neighboring residents concerned about increased drainage and traffic problems.

Neighbors spoke out again on Wednesday, but so too did Dzur, who told the plan commission that he wants to sell and leave this area and its poor air quality problems.

Dzur questioned why residents in the nearby subdivisions are speaking out against Timberland Farms, saying that it was because of the other developments that so much water has been dumped on his property, making it unable to be farmed.

“They’re the ones who created (the problems),” Dzur said.

Timberland Farms will set aside 48 acres of open space, qualifying the development for the “intensity bonus” allowing smaller lot sizes. The open space will include the large hill on the southern part of the property. In addition, plans call for a pedestrian trail to extend south from Timberland Farms, partially along Meridian Road and partially veering into the new subdivision.

For, Against

During Wednesday’s public hearing, a number of people spoke in support of the primary plat. They included builders and others who have worked professionally with Jack Barkow, the developer of both Timberland and Timberland Farms.

Among those who spoke in support was Mike Anton of Anton Insurance in Chesterton, who said he has found Barkow to be a person of high integrity and someone who will develop the type of subdivision that Porter County wants to see.

Also speaking in support was John Gaither, property owner of the site at Meridian and C.R. 900N that has been prone to severe flooding. As part of the approval for Timberland, the county required Barkow to help resolve that corner’s drainage woes, and Gaither commended Barkow and Charlie Ray of the Duneland Group for ensuring that the flooding is corrected.

But others had a vastly different view.

Timberland resident Diane Hobbs said she finds it amazing that people who don’t live in the area can speak in support of Timberland Farms. She said she has had many problems at Timberland that haven’t been addressed. She said she has one word to describe Timberland Farms: “Bamboozle.”

Hewitt, representing the Liberty Landowners Association, said he finds it ironic that in an unincorporated rural area, Timberland Farms will have lots smaller than what’s allowed in some towns. “Such dense (development) is destroying our rural character,” he said, as he called on the plan commission to reconsider the small lot sizes allowed as a bonus for open space.

Liberty Township resident J.F. Schrader said he feels sorry for Dzur. “Porter County’s done everything they could to chase him off his farm,” he said.

Like Hewitt, Schrader raised questions about the drainage, noting that the water will be directed into Damon Run instead of the Swanson Lamporte Ditch as it naturally would.

Timberland resident Don Wilhelm also said drainage is a major concern, in particular citing a failed drain tile on the south end of Timberland that has yet to be fixed. He said Timberland residents have many concerns about their development and that if Timberland Farms is approved, they want assurances in writing that Barkow will carry out what he’s promised to do.

“We don’t believe half of what’s told to us,” he said.

‘Dam is Broken’

Barkow, along with his attorney William Ferngren and representatives from the Duneland Group, said the broken drain tile will be fixed in the first phase of the new development. Plan Commission attorney Scott McClure noted that the work will be bonded, so it must get done or else the county can pull the bond.

The only plan commission member who voted against the primary plat was Elizabeth Marshall, who said she was appalled by how the drainage board handled Timberland Farms. The drainage board accepted the proposal to have the Damon Run Conservancy District handle the stormwater drainage instead of making Damon Run a regulated drain.

Another plan commission member, Herb Read, noted that he opposed the original Timberland subdivision and that the entire area, due to its natural features, is identified in the county’s land use plan as a conservation district.

But Read also said that while he would have preferred to see the area remain rural, the approval of Timberland opened the door for more development. The county, he said, couldn’t wait for a conservation group to buy the land to turn it into a park.

“Folks, the dam has been broken,” he said.

With Marshall voting no, the planners who approved the primary plat were Read, Tim Cole, Kevin Brietzke, Robert Harper, Rita Stevenson, Rick Burns, Todd Hutson and Robert Detert.

Posted 6/26/2008