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September 12, 2012

Work stoppage ordered at Cobblestone

Commissioners halt controversial expansion

Arthur Foulkes The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — The conflict between Woodgate, a southside subdivision, and Cobblestone Crossings, a neighboring property development, took a dramatic turn Tuesday when county officials issued a stop-work order for current construction at Cobblestone.

The move appears to be a significant victory for Woodgate residents, who oppose the construction of new, two-story apartment buildings near their backyards.

“We believe it’s well overdue,” said Mike Poinsett, president of the ad hoc Woodgate and Viscaya Point residents group that has been battling Cobblestone’s newest apartment construction for months.

On Tuesday, during their weekly 9 a.m. meeting in the county Annex, Commissioners Judy Anderson, Paul Mason and Mike Ciolli released a statement ordering the Vigo County Area Planning Department to halt work at Cobblestone Crossings effective at 6 a.m. Thursday.

“We have never had to be involved in anything like this,” Anderson said Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday’s order came in the wake of word last week that one of the members of the Vigo County Area Plan Commission, Norm Froderman, may have owned a share of Cobblestone Crossings in 2007 when he cast a vote affecting the development. If that’s true, that could amount to a conflict of interest – “the law is quite clear on that,” Anderson said.

Froderman, reached Tuesday, said he is not sure whether he owned a share of Cobblestone in 2007 when the critical vote took place. In addition, he had no contact with the commissioners prior to their stop-work order being issued, he said.

According to their two-paragraph statement, the County Commissioners are requiring that Cobblestone come back before county zoning officials for approval of the new construction. This would seem to put the future of all of the Cobblestone apartment buildings currently under construction, about seven in total, into doubt. Indeed, Woodgate residents view this as an opportunity to see the actual dismantling of the newest apartments, something they previously wanted but considered highly unlikely.

“We are asking for the entire zoning [of Cobblestone] to be null and void,” Poinsett said.

In 2007, Cobblestone received permission from the Area Plan Commission to construct apartments in an area originally designed for single-family homes and condominiums. Woodgate residents have been arguing for months that that change was made “illegally” because it did not go before the Vigo County Commissioners as rezoning matters in the county must.

But now the Woodgate residents have a new argument against the apartments: the alleged conflict of interest of a member of the Area Plan Commission.

“This is a game-changer for us,” Poinsett said.

Today, attorneys for both sides – Cobblestone and Woodgate – are reportedly scheduled to hold discussions. However, Poinsett said he did not expect a resolution to be achieved from those talks.

In their Tuesday statement, the commissioners again appealed to both sides to reach a mutually agreeable resolution. In fact, the stop-work order will be lifted when such a resolution is reached, their statement said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Area Planning Department officials had not issued a stop-work order to Cobblestone, said Jeremy Weir, director of the Area Planning Department. Weir said his department is working to issue the order by 6 a.m. Thursday as the Commissioners have directed.

Nearly 48 hours of notice was given to Cobblestone Crossings to halt construction. That will give workers a chance to put away their equipment and winterize their projects, Anderson said.

“With all the contractors out there, we needed to give them the courtesy,” she said, adding that the commissioners’ main concern in issuing the stop-work order was with the construction and other workers it will affect.

Thompson Thrift, the general contractor at Cobblestone Crossing, could not confirm the number of employees working at the job site. However, Anderson estimates up to 100 workers could be temporarily out of a job.

“This was a hard call,” Anderson said. “There was a lot of discussion. Our big concern is the people that are going to be put out of work for some time.”

Reporter Arthur Foulkes can be reached at 812-231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

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