What is all the Hubbub at the Miles Farm Subdivision?
The petitioner is asking to open up the Parks and the Villas to allow individual rentals, as well as change architectural interests and age restrictions.
There has been a lot of concern over an amendment being proposed for the Miles Farm subdivision in Danville. Miles Farm is a 400 acre residential and commercial development on the west side of Danville. It consists of mostly residential homes but also has two commercial nodes and land set aside for parks and a future fire department.
There are five different residential districts within the Miles Farm PUD. PUD is a flexible zoning classification that stands for Planned Urban Development.
According to the approved Miles Farm PUD of 2021, the town and the builder agreed to allow up to 190 homes in the Parks district to be sold to an investment entity. That entity would have a property management company in place to rent and maintain the homes and common areas. The developer assured the town the neighborhood would be well maintained because all the homes would be owned by an investment entity and keeping the neighborhood in good condition would protect their investment.
Another district in the PUD is the Villas. The town and the builder agreed that there could be up to a 186 units built as duplex or paired patio homes. It was also agreed that this would be a HUD approved 55 and over age restricted community. HUD is the Housing and Urban Development department of the Federal Government. They allow age restricted communities if certain rules are followed.
Miles Farm, located in Danville.
“To reflect current market conditions…” is the explanation given on the application for the requested changes. The Republican has reached out to the builder and its representatives for a better explanation of what they are seeing in the current market that led them to this request.
The petitioner is asking to open up both the Parks and the Villas to allow individual rentals. The homes in the Parks would no longer be restricted to being owned by just one entity. This defeats the original intent of all the rentals being in one district and controlled by one owner protecting its investment. However, it does offer more affordable housing options in the community.
Another request is to lower the architectural commitments of the homes in the Villas. The agreed-upon standard is that first floor of all the homes in the Villas would be fully wrapped with a masonry product such as brick or stone. The request is to reduce the amount of masonry on the exterior to a four foot wainscot of only the front elevation. That is a notable change in construction costs. If approved, it should lower the price or the rent of the home to the customer.
The final request being made by the petitioner is to change the Villas from being an HUD approved 55 and over age restricted community, to being an age targeted community. An age targeted community means the builder will target the design of their homes and market those designs to the empty nesters and retirees. But it will not be age restricted and in the end, anyone will be allowed to buy/rent homes in the Villas.
Together, the two residential districts represent up to 376 of the 958 housing units in the PUD.
If all the requested changes are approved by the town of Danville, it will simultaneously lower the overall assessed value of the PUD and lower the cost of obtaining housing in the PUD. One is a negative for our local units of government and one is a positive for newcomers wanting to own or rent a home in Miles Farm.
It is also fair to reason that if the changes are not approved by the town, sales in the community could stall and all of Miles Farm declines. Like anything, there are pros and cons to the amendments being requested. It is not an easy decision and there is likely room for compromise.
This petition will be heard by the Plan Commission this coming Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at the Danville Town Hall at 49 N. Wayne Street. We wish the town leaders of Danville well as they anticipate how their decision will affect the future of the west side of Danville.