HAND adjusts plans for Tipton senior apartments

Construction of five rental units for low-income seniors in Tipton is expected to begin this spring after several months of public meetings and legal proceedings caused HAND to adjust its plans.

HAND originally planned to build nine rental units on five residential lots it owns on Southwood Drive, just east of the Tipton High School football field. But a Boone County special judge ruled in November that the nonprofit developer cannot build duplexes that cross platted lot lines, sending HAND and its design team back to the drawing board.

New designs are being finalized and cost projections are being updated in order to resubmit the project to the Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority, which awarded HAND $2 million for the 9-unit development in 2019.

The Tipton Board of Zoning Appeals ruled in June 2020 that HAND could build seven units on the site, more than the five allowed by the city’s development standards. To build nine units, HAND needed a zoning variance reducing the minimum lot size from 8,000 square feet per unit to about 4,500 square feet per unit. The BZA agreed to a compromise of 5,275 square feet per unit, but neighbors objected and asked for a judicial review of the decision.

The revised plans call for one stand-alone rental unit to be built on each HAND-owned lot.