April 18, 2006

Plan changes to aid fire protection

       Concerns from local firefighters have helped ensure that residents of a planned Center Grove apartment complex receive adequate emergency response in case of fire, according to a fire official.  The proposed apartment complex, The Village at the Grove, would be northeast of State Road 135 and Stones Crossing Road. White River Fire Department firefighters were concerned when they learned a main access road to the apartments wouldn’t be wide enough for their trucks to easily reach the development.

         Last month, the developers of the planned 304-unit complex met at the site with fire marshal Eric Brown to discuss the department’s concerns.  Brown said Indianapolis-based developer Bennett & Reindl agreed after the meeting to widen a stretch of Demaree Road north of the complex by 3 feet, making it 20 feet wide.  The new width would comply with the minimum requirements for fire access roads according to the International Fire Code, which Indiana adopted three years ago, Brown said.  Without widening the road, larger vehicles, such as dump trucks and school buses, have to stop and pull off the road to pass each other, Brown said.  Johnson County usually tries to build roads at least 24 feet wide with a shoulder on each side, according to planning director Bill Peeples. But the county sometimes builds rural roads, such as Demaree, more narrow to save money.

         The board of commissioners doesn’t have plans to widen the road to that standard, Peeples said. Usually, when a street such as Demaree is close to a municipal boundary, the county waits for the city to annex the surrounding land, he said. Then the city is responsible for the road.  Peeples said the policy is a matter of setting priorities about which roads get the most long-term use out of county money.  “The roads that are going to be county-owned for the next 20 years are the ones that we are going to want to spend our time and money on,” he said.  The technical review committee was scheduled to look at plans for the apartments last week, but the developers withdrew the plans until they finalized details of the proposal, Peeples said.  The 25.85-acre development would include a playground, tennis courts and a clubhouse.  Officials with Bennett & Reindl could not be reached for comment.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)
 
    
 

---