CAMBY, Indiana — When Kari Mann sits on her porch in the evening, looking out at the golf course that sits across the street, she finds a sense of peace. Over the course of an hour, only one or two cars passes by.
The golf course, The Links at Heartland Crossing, has long drawn families like Mann’s to the Heartland Crossing neighborhood, a massive 2,500-home development that took shape almost three decades ago. Many kids who live in Heartland Crossing received their first paychecks from part-time work at the golf course, and the Mooresville high school golf team practices on the green.
But a petition to rezone the golf course to residential use could soon change the neighborhood dramatically.
Heartland Crossing sits 16 miles southwest of downtown Indianapolis in Camby, Indiana, a town at the intersection of Marion, Morgan and Hendricks counties. The community is separated into roughly a dozen subsections, with each area home to different style of residences, from starter homes to ranch-style senior living houses. Construction on the newest section finished earlier this year.
In recent years, uncertainty has lingered over the future of the golf course, as numerous developers have approached the current owner, Ron Overton, seeing a large piece of land ripe for development. Overton, 72, bought the golf course in 2018 after a career in manufacturing. It’s the only golf course he owns.
Over the past three years, none of the offers to buy the course materialized into solid enough plans to reach the Morgan County Advisory Plan Commission, which must approve any potential rezoning.
Then in June, Indianapolis-based Gradison Land Development submitted a proposal to rezone the land for residential use before they would buy the land for redevelopment. It’s the first time a rezoning petition for the land was submitted to the county.
Heartland Crossing residents quickly banded together against the petition.
Their top concerns include the density of the proposed development. In a rough plan submitted to the county and provided to Heartland Crossing residents, developers envision building 600 homes on the 200-acre golf course.
On the street where Mann lives, roughly five houses would occupy the same space as Mann’s property on the opposite side, according to the proposal.
“We can’t be complacent,” Mann said. “This is not how it should be done.”
The Links at the Heartland Crossing golf course. (Courtesy photo)
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