A petition to expand Martinique Village Apartments is facing resistance from local residents concerned about the density of the project, added traffic to the area and drainage issues.

Christian Investments, LLC, owner of Martinique Village Apartments and the adjacent vacant land to the south of the complex located at 1451 W. McKay Road, is seeking to build more apartments.

Jeff Brown photo

Christian Investments, LLC, is proposing a new apartment complex to sit directly south of Martinique Village Apartments but neighboring residents are opposing the project citing traffic and drainage concerns.

Prince Alexander Architecture, LLC, created a site plan that included 96 new apartment units. The project was discussed March 9 at the Shelbyville Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.

The board was concerned about the number of overall units for the parcel of land and made a recommendation that the unit total be limited to 50.

“That almost cut the project in half,” said Chad Christian, owner of Christian Investments. “Initially, I was not very happy with regard to that.”

Whether the project is still financially feasible is yet to be determined, according to Christian, who is allowing the architectural group to handle the project which still needs to have the land rezoned from two-family residential to multiple family residential.

That petition will be heard at the city’s next Plan Commission meeting on March 22 at City Hall at 7 p.m. The petition is online at the Plan Commission website as are several letters of concern from area residents.

Currently, the property has one access point to W. McKay Road, a heavily-traveled thoroughfare that gets congested when both Shelbyville Middle School and Shelbyville High School have families and students arriving and departing the schools.

With a housing development in the same area expanding and a convenience store/gas station in development at the corner of W. McKay Road and Miller Avenue, Christian believes it is time for the city to address the traffic issue with wider roads.

“I think the city should play a large part in this,” he said. “I feel they should consider widening those roads. Wider roads would solve that (traffic congestion) problem.”

The project plan is to add apartments to the area that fit in economically with other residences in the area.

“It’s been a little misleading, but we are building good buildings,” said Christian. “This is not low income housing. These are market value apartments. I am not trying to develop low income housing.”

Christian Investments purchased the Martinique apartments approximately a year ago and started upgrading the facility.

Both buildings have new roofs while new porches and steps have been added with more upgrades in the planning, according to Christian.

“Slowly but surely we are making progress there,” said Christian.