13/11/2024
So excited to see that the Grand Universe Project is moving forward! After announcing the development to our west just a few weeks ago, this 66+ acre BILLION dollar project lies just to our EAST. So many amazing things happening in Westfield!!
City Council Update 11/11/24
Happy Veterans Day to all of our residents and their families who have served our country!
-Misc. Items-
⢠We swore in two new firefighters. Welcome to the team!
⢠Comprehensive Plan Update: Caleb Ernest, our Long-Range Planning Manager, gave a presentation regarding the timeline for updating our Comprehensive Plan. More details are in the presentation on the agenda. In brief summary, Rundell Ernstberger Associates (REA) was selected to be our partner in the process, and all the steps entailed with updating a Comp. plan will last until at least Feb. 2026.
*Opinion*
I again want to say how much I appreciate Caleb, as he is a tremendous asset to the city. I continue to learn from him as well as the whole planning team. Simply put, our staff is awesome!
⢠Recommendation from Audit Committee: Tonya Hyatt, who is a member of the Audit Committee, presented the rankings of the three possible firms to be the outside auditor for the city. The three firms were Forvis Mazars, Crowe, and Baker Tilly. Forvis was the preferred choice and approved, 7-0.
-Old Business-
⢠Ordinance 24-65, Maple Knoll PUD Amendment (Maple Glen): Located on Ditch Rd. at the current bus barn. Once the new WWS Transportation Facility is completed, the old bus barn at Maple Glen will be turned into a consolidated district maintenance facility, with a total investment of $17M in improvements. Approved, 7-0.
⢠Ordinance 24-66, Lyons team PUD Amendment: Located in the Centennial neighborhood behind the Cornerstone Bible Church. This would permit church uses on the property. Approved, 7-0.
-New Business-
⢠Resolution 24-152, DORA Addition: Kayla Arnold, Director of Communications, presented earlier in the meeting that our request to the state for a DORA District was approved on Oct. 28, 2024 as well as what the city will be implementing. More details are in the presentation on the agenda. This resolution was to add Gringtinos to the approved DORA vendor list. Future restaurants that wish to be added will go through a similar process. Approved, 7-0.
⢠Ordinance 24-70, Park and Poplar PUD: Located at the SE corner of Park St. and Westfield Blvd, directly across from the library, where there are now temporary parking lots. Park and Poplar is a $120M mixed-use investment by Old Town Development that includes 301 multifamily units, a 523 shared space parking garage, a boutique hotel, and 35,000 Sqft of office/restaurant/retail space. More details are in the documents on the agenda. The neighborhood meeting is on Wed. Nov. 20 at 6:30 PM at the library, and it will be at APC on Dec. 2.
*Opinion*
It's exciting to see the blue sky art that was shown earlier this year is now coming to life. This is a beautiful development that will be a wonderful capstone to the Midland Trail and Park St. corridor. The parking, gathering space, and business opportunities are all needed additions to creating a downtown. Although this would bring more apartments to our community, density should be in a downtown as opposed to where they've gone elsewhere. It might be a small detail, but my favorite part is the Westfield green highlights in the main building.
⢠Ordinance 24-70, Grand Universe PUD (Pictured): Located generally between Tomlinson Rd. and Chad Hittle Dr. Grand Universe was originally approved at the Feb. 10, 2020 City Council meeting under the Links PUD which would have also included an entertainment center. Unfortunately, those plans were derailed due to the world shutting down, but Grand Universe is back in a big way as they now own all 66+ acres, and, collectively, the proposed project has the potential to be a BILLION+ dollar investment! The new development would be divided into four districts: Grand Universe, Resort, Town Center, and Sports Entertainment. First, Grand Universe (Phase 1) is the epicenter for STEM edutainment including an observatory, planetarium, event space, and more with activations by both NASA and SpaceX. Next, the Resort would include a futuristic hotel and a 2,000+ capacity convention center. Then, the Town Center is a mixed-use residential district with multi-family and restaurants/retail. Last, but not least, is the Sports Entertainment. One word, COSM. As part of this project, Tomlinson would be vacated by the city, turned into a traffic-calming blvd., and an improved Chad Hittle Dr. would instead become the main thoroughfare for traffic. More details are in the documents on the agenda as well as GrandUniverse.org. The neighborhood meeting is on Mon. Nov. 25 at 6:30 PM at the library, and it will be at APC on Dec. 2.
*Opinion*
Having been on APC when Grand Universe first came through, this has been a long time coming! Words cannot describe my excitement for how blessed we are to have this kind of development in our community, and I am hopeful that it will come into fruition. From a planning perspective, it is also appreciated that they have scaled down the uses to only fit this proposal. As I said in 2020, adding STEM next to Athletics creates a STEAM district, so let's STEAM ahead!
If you have comments/concerns for developments on the agenda, please send them to [email protected] or attend the scheduled public hearings. If you have general misc. questions regarding the city, I am happy to help in the comments below, by a message to my page, or through my email, [email protected]. Have a blessed week!
Full Agenda: tinyurl.com/WestfieldDocumentCenter
Watch Meetings: youtube.com/
Projects Approved: tinyurl.com/WestfieldWhatsBuildingHere
Projects Being Considered: tinyurl.com/WestfieldWhatsHappeningHere
Community Requests: weconnect.westfield.in.gov
Capital Improvement Plan: tinyurl.com/WestfieldCIP24
2025 Budget: westfield.in.gov/budget
City Newsletter: tinyurl.com/WestfieldNews
