Dear Neighbors:

The Marott Island Community Association (MICA) - a coalition of neighbors from Oxbow, Winston Island Woods, Spirit Lake, and other residences and neighborhoods on the island - wants to provide a brief update to you on the proposed development at the former Willows site.

Unfortunately, even after sharing our strong and legitimate concerns with the developers about the excessive density of their project, they have filed a new application which proposes a total of 208 units (192 apartments and 16 townhomes) on the site. As you may recall, their previous proposal was for 225 units (209 apartments and 16 townhomes), which is NOT a significant (or appropriate) decrease in size that the developers claim. In reality, the kind of density that their proposal of 208 units requires on a small 8-acre strip of land, off of a two-lane blind curve, is still unacceptable and we have shared our continued opposition with the developers. This level of density is not consistent with the Indianapolis Comprehensive Plan or the surrounding developments. We have numerous times stated that we are not opposed to development or apartments and that we simply want a development with reasonable density on this site that follows the guidelines set forth by our City.

However, the developers continue to state that more density is required, so they can build a bigger project...and essentially admit that it's required for their desired profits. Since their last proposal, we have discovered some disturbing news we want you to be aware of - what we refer to as "The Double Dip". When the developers filed their zoning petition about 20+ years ago to build Spirit Lake, they included the 13 acres of the actual lake on the property so that they could claim a larger area to build the condos and give them a certain per acre density to meet the City's Comprehensive Plan requirements. In other words, to get approval for more condo units and more profit as a result, they expanded their development footprint by using and counting the lake acreage - in addition to the land where the condominiums sit - to justify their desired density.

What is egregious is that now, the same development applicant is trying to use the same acreage (the lake) a SECOND time to manipulate the calculated per acre density to again gain approval from the City for a project that is much larger than is appropriate for the 8 acres of land. (They are claiming their site is 21 acres by combining the 8 acres of land with the 13 acres of the lake. They then calculate their density as if they have 21 acres of buildable land rather than the actual 8 acres of buildable land). Constructing 208 units on 8 acres of land as they propose - rather than the approximate 50 units we think meets the City standards - is a density that is approximately 4x what the per acre Comprehensive Plan calls for. This recounting/usage of the lake for a second time- the "double dip" - provides an unfair advantage to well-connected developers to the detriment of our area and the hundreds of residents that live here. It is simply wrong.

We plan to vigorously fight this and need you to help Stop the Double Dip! We need your support, your signature on petitions, your presence at city zoning hearings, and whatever it takes! Please be on the lookout as we send out additional information on how you can get engaged. We need EVERYONE!

Thank you!