Beloved Indiana golf course saved from developers — for now

CAMBY, Ind. — A beloved golf course just 15 miles from downtown Indianapolis will remain a community green space for the time being after developers rescinded a controversial plan to redevelop the course into hundreds of homes.

Indianapolis-based Gradison Land Development withdrew a petition to rezone 190 acres of The Links at Heartland Crossing, a privately owned golf course, to residential use last week, hours before the proposal was scheduled for a public hearing before the Morgan County Advisory Plan Commission.

Neighbors in the Heartland Crossing neighborhood, a massive 2,500-home community surrounding the course and spanning three counties, have been vocal and organized about their opposition to the residential development of the golf course since plans came out in June. They had plans to speak out against the proposal before the commission.

Kari Mann, who owns a house directly across from the golf course, said neighbors felt relieved the plan will not be considered as is. Mann and others leading the opposition spread the word around the neighborhood after developers withdrew their petition, she said.

Heartland Crossing residents said they believe Gradison withdrew rezoning efforts after learning of an agreement made nearly 30 years ago to keep the golf course as a green space for Heartland Crossing. That agreement was made when the housing community took shape, Mann said.

“We are encouraged by the fact that our research has provided us information that will help us ensure that the green space will remain and the relationships we’ve built with neighboring counties will continue to strengthen,” Mann said in a message to the IndyStar.

She added that the community “is confident that future petitions for development with minimal green space will not be allowed.”

Gradison Land Development representatives did not originally respond to requests for comment.

The development company cannot request rezoning for at least three months and must submit a new proposal to be considered in the future, said Morgan County Director of Planning and Zoning Laura Parker.

Heartland Crossing sits 16 miles southwest of downtown Indianapolis in Camby, 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.

Several residents, including Mann, told IndyStar their top concerns were with the density of the proposed development. In a rough plan submitted to the county and provided to Heartland Crossing residents this summer, developers envisioned building 600 homes on the nearly 200-acre golf course.

“We aren’t an anti-growth community. We are a controlled growth community,” resident Brian Wiser told IndyStar last month. “It’s not just about saving a golf course. It’s about not losing green space and not overdoing density.”

The Links at Heartland Crossing opened in 1998 and were designed by Steve Smyers, a well-known golf architect who also designed the former Wolf Run Golf Club in Zionsville. Developers attempted to convert that golf course into residential homes in 2017, but the town of Zionsville rejected the plan, electing to preserve the open space that would later become the Carpenter Nature Preserve.

In recent years, numerous developers have inquired about the golf course, said owner Ron Overton, 72, who bought The Links in 2018 during his retirement. None of the developers’ plans have materialized enough to go before the commission, which votes on rezoning. Overton told IndyStar he would consider selling if a developer received approval from the planning commission to develop.

Alysa Guffey is a business reporter covering growth and development for IndyStar. She can be reached at amguffey@gannett.com or on X: @AlysaGuffeyNews.