Ever since the Carmel City Council approved the Monon Lake development on Sept. 15, Elizabeth Baach, Carmel Green Initiative board member and junior, said she has contemplated the overall outcome of the project. According to The Indianapolis Star and Carmel Council member Ronald Carter, the M/I Homes of Indiana proposed the project of constructing homes west of the Monon Trail and north of I-465 that would eventually cause the removal of preserved land. As the CHS environmental club president, Baach said she believes the project is more detrimental than beneficial.

“I would stop this project,” she said. “It is not worth the price. I would change the area in which this project is happening in.”

“The development project not only hurts the environment but also the reputation of the Monon area,” Baach said. “In my case, I feel the less human intervention the better the area will be. Ecosystems, especially when surrounded by cities like Carmel, are very fragile, and any disturbance can dramatically change the dynamic of the area and cause many organisms living there to be hurt.”

Carter said he agrees because the development would cause more traffic around the streets, especially in the neighborhood that adjoins it.

According to Carmel Council Member Luci Snyder, several of the residents in the neighborhood vocalized their complaints about the project.

“I, personally, received about 50 emails from concerned residents…and carefully answered every one. Because the residents did not want the land developed, although it was not theirs, we tried to respond to their other concerns about traffic,” Snyder said via email.

Despite this, she said complaints and disapproval towards a development project are often issued whenever a new one is proposed.

“Almost every new subdivision that is proposed, has remonstrators from adjacent neighborhoods…no one wants change. We often point out that when their subdivision was proposed, it was also opposed by the neighbors,” she said.

In addition, the Monon Lake project was approved because Carter was the only member who voted to preserve the land against the six other Council members.

Nevertheless, Carter said there are some benefits in carrying out this project since more residents will be added to the community, and they will be able to purchase more goods and services from Carmel businesses once the development is completed in 2015. According to The Indianapolis Star, the developers of the project promised to include a tree preservation area and donate unused land between the Monon Trail and lake to Carmel Play Parks and Recreation.

Despite their attempts to compensate for the removal of preserved lands, Baach said the final results do not benefit the environment in any way.

“By suggesting to have a tree protection is basically the ‘fulfilling the two steps backward, one step forward’ analogy. Yes planting trees is good, but cutting down to build these houses will be no dent into the loss of trees,” she said. “The project will cause a bigger dent in the earth than this little area can ever refill.”