Town chooses city life over green acres Building boom may triple Westfield's population

By Bill Ruthhart bill.ruthhart@indystar.com

WESTFIELD, Ind. -- Surrounding the crates of squash, pumpkins and watermelons at Randy Bilskie's roadside produce stand are fields of golden corn and soybeans.

Change coming: Some farm fields will be replaced with new homes and businesses as Westfield grows. - MATT KRYGER / The Star About Westfield Founded in 1834 by Quakers, the town was once an important stop on the Underground Railroad. Westfield will become a city on Jan. 1 and anticipates its population of 24,000 soaring to 70,000 when planned homes are built.

For 10 years, Bilskie has enjoyed the rural scenery around his old Hamilton County farmhouse as he's made a living selling farm-fresh food, antiques and even a few used cars on his land west of Westfield on Ind. 32. Soon, those farm fields will be replaced with fresh concrete, neon lights and new neighborhoods as Westfield reaches the brink of a construction boom that ultimately could triple its population, making it the latest hot spot in the state's fastest-growing county. Developers have the go-ahead to build more than 11,000 housing units on more than 4,000 acres, plus nearly 4 million square feet of commercial space. "That will all be houses," Bilskie says, pointing across the street to a sea of soybeans. Then, he looks to his right, where tall stalks of corn are almost ready for harvest. "There will be a strip center over there. We'll probably get a Red Lobster or something, maybe an Applebee's. "It's nothing I really want to see, but what can you do?" The anticipated building boom is sad for those like Bilskie, 35, who moved to Westfield to enjoy its rural setting. Town leaders, though, count it as an opportunity to create a new identity for Westfield, which officially will become a city Jan. 1. It's also seen as a chance to mend a town once divided over a supermarket development and the ensuing annexation feud with neighboring Carmel. In recent months, a surge of new developments has been approved, but when and whether those plans reach fruition could depend on how soon a sluggish housing market rebounds. In the meantime, plans are in the works for redevelopment along Main Street and an extensive network of trails, which would include swinging the Monon Trail off its rail line and through Westfield's downtown. "This is the most important time in Westfield's history since 1834, when the town was founded," said 71-year-old Mic Mead, a Westfield resident and former Town Council member. "Nothing ever happened here. We were just a farm town with a railroad. Now, we're growing up."

Rough road to development

Westfield has had many growing pains along the way. They started with a vote by the Town Council in 2004 to rezone unincorporated farmland for a Kroger supermarket development at 161st Street and Spring Mill Road. The council approved the project over the protests of more than 800 residents, who wanted the town to keep a previously made promise to develop the area with homes. Many who opposed the plan had little recourse because Westfield had not yet annexed the area. Some sought annexation into Carmel, which they said would plan the area better, while others started a grass-roots campaign to elect write-in candidates to the Town Council. A yearlong annexation battle between the two communities followed. Westfield ultimately won, but only after dangling hefty residential property tax abatements that Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard refused to match. "That incident really divided the town. It put neighbor against neighbor," Town Council President Andy Cook said. "The zoning debacle, the Brainard annexation wars -- it all made most people suddenly realize that we really are on the edge of growth." Westfield annexed the land in 2006, helping to boost its population from 9,000 to more than 24,000. Residents in that area now have representation on the Town Council, which has undergone dramatic turnover. All but one of the council members in place at the time of the Kroger vote are gone, replaced by candidates who say they are committed to following the town's new master development plans and have increased the standards for developers to build in Westfield. "Before, Westfield's reputation for development was not favorable," said Cook, the Republican front-runner to become Westfield's first mayor when the town becomes a city. "There just wasn't a clear direction and a vision."

"We want nice stuff"

With the new vision have come higher standards. "The era of a developer coming along, buying cheap land, blessing the farmer he bought it from and the town fathers giving them anything they wanted -- those days are over," Mead said. "We want nice stuff." The town has approved plenty of developments recently. Ten housing projects approved by the town total 11,230 housing units on 4,266 acres, with most of the homes yet to be built. More than 3.8 million square feet of commercial space also is planned in those developments -- roughly six times the size of Carmel's Clay Terrace. In addition to those projects, Chicago-based Pine Tree Commercial Realty filed plans Thursday to build Lantern Commons, a 430,000-square-foot lifestyle shopping center at 161st Street and U.S. 31. Developers Beau Wilfong and Jose Kreutz, though, will build the largest project planned for the town: Eagletown of Westfield. That $1.1 billion development is to break ground in the spring and encompass nearly 1,000 acres with 3,000 homes and 1.5 million square feet of commercial development. When asked whether Westfield's change in leadership and standards has helped fuel developments like his, Wilfong didn't hesitate. "Absolutely," he said. "I think Westfield is beginning to show they are the apparent heir to Carmel's upscale development."

More people, more traffic

Not everyone is thrilled with the growth. Eagletown of Westfield and other projects would surround Bilskie's produce stand on Ind. 32. Losing Westfield's rural roots doesn't excite Bilskie's sister, Patty Beller, who works the register at Bilskie Farms. "No one out here likes any of this. They moved out here to be in the country," said Beller, 48. "This will bring more people, traffic, and the taxes are just unreal. We're not happy campers." Jill Butterfield, 51, a nurse, has gotten a taste of what's to come. Workers are digging a new, $14 million sewer line for future development just beyond her country home on Spring Mill Road. "This is not what I came out here for. I never dreamed it would be like this," said Butterfield, gazing at the sewer construction with Max, her 160-pound St. Bernard, at her feet. "I don't think they realize that once they take all of this away, they can never put it back." Like many growing towns, Westfield struggles to balance its small-town roots with its suburban future. Westfield's new slogan -- "Old Town Charm, New City Style" -- reflects that. "You have people whose families have been around town for generations and still see Westfield as a little, 5,000-population town outside of Indianapolis," said Jim Anderson, a local business owner. "Then you have that generation of people coming in who believe they live on the cutting edge of the growth. "Blending those two is the challenge." How fast Westfield develops will depend on a shaky housing market. Building permit statistics show Central Indiana is on pace for 7,500 new homes this year, half the total of five years ago. "Westfield probably will not experience as much growth as it would have had the housing market not fallen off," said Roger Stephens, a director for the Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis. The town's total number of housing permits has declined in recent years, from about 600 in 2002 to 405 last year, but there are signs of a rebound. Westfield is the only fast-growing community in the metro area ahead of its housing-permit pace from this time a year ago, with 296 approved so far in 2007 compared to 288 last year. "That's a good sign," Wilfong said.

Needed: bigger tax base

Westfield needs to build more than houses. The town's school district is recognized as one of the region's best, but with growth comes the expense of additional schools. The same goes for municipal services, and Westfield's tax base is largely residential, placing the burden on homeowners. Complicating the matter is the fact that Westfield stands to lose 10 percent of its commercial tax base under the state's preliminary plans to expand U.S. 31, which splits the town. Toss in four years of tax breaks for residents in the area recently annexed, and the need for Westfield to attract more commercial development to share the tax load is evident. Cook and the Town Council say they think redeveloping Westfield's downtown could be key to driving economic development. Part of the aging downtown will be wiped out when the state widens Ind. 32 in the coming years. The Town Council is considering plans that would convert downtown floodplains into scenic waterways. Westfield also plans to extend the Monon Trail north of 146th Street from Carmel. Instead of keeping the trail on its old railway, Westfield wants to cross the greenway over to the east side of U.S. 31 so it can pass through downtown. There, it would cross with the Midland Trace Trail, an old east-west railway planned as a greenway. "This new generation sees the trails as an opportunity, because right now the trails would cross in a McDonald's parking lot west of U.S. 31," said Anderson, who leads Westfield's downtown neighborhood association. "But if you bring them through here, we believe we can use the trails to help build a sustainable downtown economy." Town leaders are counting on the trails, waterways, a strong school district and new developments to redefine Westfield's image. "Right now people look at Westfield as the place that's north of Carmel, and that's about it," Cook said. "But five years from now, I think they'll look at Westfield as a place with a specific identity known for its quality of life. "It's our turn now. Stay tuned."

Call Star reporter Bill Ruthhart at (317) 444-5527.

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• Personally I think this is awsome for Westfield.  Its seems that they are looking in the right direction, and planning ahead for what is coming their way.  Hopefully, with all this new development in the office and commercial sectors it will help with the higher taxes that Westfield residents pay as of right now.  Over all I have seen a lot of negative feed back from this article, but growth is inevitable when you are sitting right next to the three fastest growing cities in the state.