A rezone for one development and an amendment to the plan for another were approved recently by the Cedar Lake Town Council in Indiana.
Officials approved a rezone from resort to planned unit development for the Pine Crest resort planned unit development that would enable the project to move forward. The plan calls for building a 40-foot-tall building for boat storage, Council President Nick Recupito said.
“There is a great need on the lake,” Recupito said.
The development will include a cold storage facility that is expected to be substantially constructed by Nov. 30, according to town documents. Along with the cold storage facility, the developer anticipates undertaking marina enhancements and improvements from summer 2024 into summer 2025. Improvements including a marina boardwalk, lighting and landscaping improvements are expected to be complete by July 1, 2026 with all parking lots and boat storage areas to be complete by or before July 2027.
Pine Crest Marina will continue operating during the development. Cedar Lake is in Northwest Indiana, just east of the Illinois state line and southeast of Chicago.
Since the varying uses require different zoning, the developer is seeking the PUD zoning, which was unanimously approved by the council after a positive recommendation from the plan commission, officials said.
Council Vice President Greg Parker, who serves on the plan commission, said he looked at the plan and vetted it heavily at the plan commission. Some issues included drainage recovery. Parker said the only question remaining was whether or not there would be some scraping of the lake tied into the project that would be included in the bill for the town’s current dredging project.
A representative for Pine Crest Development said there would be some scraping away of the edges of the sea wall so it can be shored up and replaced and could not recall any discussion at the plan commission or with the town’s engineer indicating it would part of the dredging project.
“That clarifies it. You’re on the record,” Parker said.
Officials also approved an amendment to a long-dormant residential development project that first appeared for consideration in 2006.
The Centennial PUD sits on 16.2 acres and is being developed by 133 LPM LLC, Richard Anderson, the developer’s representative, said. The amendment includes revisions that will reduce the density of the townhomes in the development by more than 50%.
The original approved plan called for 20 units per acre. The amendment reduces density to 8.03 units per acre. The amendment brings the original plan up to the current town standards such as including increasing the front and rear yards of the project’s townhomes from 10 to 20 feet.
Plans also call for the installation of a vinyl fence to the north and west. The area on the west side of the development across the railroad tracks is zoned industrial. Anderson said anyone buying a lot will get a notice they are purchasing across from an industrial area so there are no surprises.
Parker said the project has been hanging out there for 18 years.
“Nobody’s crazy about this type of development these days,” Parker said. The amendment will let the developer finish up the subdivision the way it was zoned and platted at that time but with the density significantly reduced.
Carrie Napoleon writes for the Post Tribune.
