The Portage Plan Commission offered favorable recommendations for rezoning for Timberstone subdivision and the future site of a new fire station on the city’s southeast side.
The 1.195 acres for the new fire station is in the 3600 block of Airport Road, in the northwest corner of the 42-acre Timberstone subdivision.
Olthof Homes plans a total of 268 housing units with a mix of styles, including 34 single-family paired cottages, meaning 68 units; 88 single-family two-story townhomes with attached one-car garages, aimed toward people moving out on their own for the first time; and 112 single-family, two-story townhomes with attached two-car garages.
“This will be the first Porter County project that we’re offering this product in,” Olthof’s Kevin Paszko said at Monday’s meeting. The idea is to allow members of the workforce to live near where they work. “We strongly believe that this fills a void in the housing market,” he said.
Market conditions call for multiple product types, a wider variety of products and more attainable housing, Paszko said. “We think projects have a much wider appeal than just providing one product type.”
He expects empty nesters to favor the paired cottages and singles or couples the other homes.
Each unit would have its own deed, being marketed and sold as owner-occupied units. An exception would be for renting out the homes in narrow circumstances, such as to a family member.
Timberstone would include 16 acres for open space and amenities, including a shelter, gas fire pit, seating areas, dog park and a walking path around the detention pond. The dog park would be for subdivision residents only, requiring a code to enter, but anyone could use the sidewalks.
Resident Michael Cooper asked whether the city has plans to extend Sterling Creek Road, “a meandering, curvy road,” until it becomes a straight stretch of road in the proposed subdivision.
East of Timberstone is private homes, Planning and Development Director Tom Cherry said, so Sterling Creek Road is likely to remain a dead end in Timberstone. “We’re kind of landlocked there where the private residential properties begin.”
The rezoning next goes to the City Council for approval.
The commission also gave its blessing for a 7 Brew Coffee location across from Portage High School.
Who Brew LLC, the second-largest franchisee for 7 Brew, plans to open a 510-square-foot coffee shop with a separate 238-square-foot cooler building at the site of the former NAPA Auto Parts store.
The coffee shop would have a two-lane drive-through. No facilities are planned for consuming beverages on site.
The only food option on the menu would be a muffin top, not baked on site, joining various nonalcoholic beverages, representative Laura Pacino said.
Access to the 7 Brew will be from Scottsdale Street. Up to 45 cars could be stacked up, she said, with order takers using iPads and orders delivered in three to four minutes to keep the lines moving quickly.
“We will never turn away a customer. That means we would direct them to the non-drive-through side of the building,” if the shop is particularly busy, Pacino said.
In the Chicago area, the average stacking is 30. The Portage location would definitely be in Who Brew’s top three for stacking if not the largest, she said. At the Dyer location, the traffic flow is a zipper, so it starts as one lane and moves into two. “We will never do that concept again.”
Who Brew has opened locations all across Northwest Indiana. “Our team is fully aware of how our concept has taken the Chicagoland/Northwest Indiana area by storm,” she said.
Plan Commission President Victoria Vasquez asked about pedestrians and teens on bikes coming after school.
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“You’re dealing with one of the largest high schools in Northwest Indiana. You could end up with a mob if you’re not equipped to deal with walk-up customers,” commission member Bill Moran said.
“It’s a closed campus. What they do after school is up to them, but we don’t want walk-ups,” Cherry said.
“As we know, we’re dealing with adolescents. What we tell them and what we do are two different things,” Moran said.
“It’s not something that we have as part of our business model,” Pacino said.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.