Housing project hit temporary roadblock

Twenty-five years ago this week, there was a hiccup with a planned housing project.

The Oct. 13, 1998, edition of The Commercial Review featured a story about a roadblock in the planned construction of a housing subdivision off of the east side of Blaine Pike on the south side of Portland.

A public hearing had been scheduled on the project — it called for 33 new homes — but could not be held because residents who were supposed to be notified had not been contacted. (By law, all property owners within 500 feet of the proposed subdivision needed to be notified in person or by certified mail by the developer.)

Because property owners had not been notified, the meeting was rescheduled for the following month. But local officials and developer Biggs Inc. indicated they did not expect the delay to be an issue.

Corey Williams of Bonar Group, Fort Wayne, which was the city’s consultant for the project, said he would make the notifications.

Bidding for the infrastructure improvements was still planned for December 1998, with permitting to follow in early 1999. A $500,000 Community Focus Fund grant from Indiana Department of Commerce was being used to pay for the infrastructure.

Ralph Biggs of Biggs Inc. said he was hopeful construction could begin that spring.

“We can’t actually build any new homes in there until they get some curbs and such started,” he said.

He explained that the majority of the homes in the subdivision would be between 1,100 and 1,300 square feet plus a two-car garage. The terms of the state grant called for homes to be listed between $75,000 and $92,000.

Several Portland Plan Commission members had expressed concerns about surface water drainage, but Williams noted that separate sanitary and storm sewer systems would be installed in order to address that issue.