Marion plans new community neighborhood

Plans are being unveiled for what is envisoned to be a city-within-a-city to built over the next several years in the wide-open area in the northeast part of town.”

“We're looking for explosive growth in that part of Marion.” says Planning and Development Director Tom Treharne. “And we're doing detailed planning upfront before development takes place to create what we see as a new community neighborhood.”

Being called “The Neighborhood at Indian Creek,” the 150-acre site northeast of the intersection of Indian Creek Road and Tower Terrace Road will include a mix of homes, apartments and condominiums around a large central park and a town square with shops.

Treharne says the commercial district will not only serve residents of the 500-or-so homes that may be built there over the next decade, it would serve as a hub for those who live in and around the nearby Hunters Ridge development.

And it's only the first phase of what city officials see as continuing expansion of the city over about 1,500 acres of existing farm land north to County Home Road and east to Highway 13.

One of the fast-growing cities in the state, Marion is expected to see a population of over 34,000 in this year's census, double what it was three decades ago. It's expected to grow by 10,000 more in the next decade.

What's being planned for “The Neighborhood at Indian Creek” is a throwback to a bygone era.

It's hoped that houses will be a variety of styles, colors and materials, with porches out front and alleyways in the back.

The town square business district is intended to resemble a typical Midwestern small town on the order of Marion's historic uptown district.

There will be an abundance of trails and open spaces.

Treharne says design standards will be maintained by a citizen review committee.

Although it will take several years to fully develop, the first stage will begin this summer when 35th Street is extended on a northwest diagonal to connect with Lucore Road.

The next step will be to construct a new Tower Terrace Road on a northeast diagonal from the intersection at Indian Creek Road.

The new neighborhood, then, will expand in all directions around the 35ht Street anbd Tower Terrace Road intersection.

The Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to approve some preliminary plans for development in the coming months.

“It's a pretty exciting plan,” says Treharne “It's a new way of doing things, but we think it's going to really neat.”