Comprehensive Plan -- Another Milestone to Celebrate

2002	Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations

.....
click here to return to November index

The opinions expressed in these articles and features are those of their author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of McANA or the opinion of its Directors or Officers.

Comprehensive Plan -- Another Milestone to Celebrate
by Keith Holdsworth

[Principal Planner, Comprehensive Plan, City of Indianapolis]

Indianapolis Insight, the update of the Indianapolis-Marion County Comprehensive Plan, continues to make progress. The land use mapping process has been completed for the Wayne Township Planning Area, marking the second township planning area to be concluded.

Meetings in the Wayne Township Planning Area began in June and ran through October. Excluding City staff persons, 77 different persons attended at least one meeting in the process. Total attendance for the seven meetings was 176, which makes for nearly 350 hours of volunteer time given to the process. Average attendance at the meetings was 25. Similar to the Pike Township meetings, attendance built as the process went on. The average participation at the first three meetings was 17. The average attendance at the final three meetings was 36.

The Wayne Township Planning Area also included portions of northwestern and southwestern Center Township. A separate meeting for the northwestern portion of Center Township was held in September and was attended by 22 persons.

There are numerous changes from the 1990-1993 Comprehensive Plan for Wayne Township. Among the differences are the areas designated as Village Mixed-Use, a land use category being used for the first time in this Comprehensive Plan. In Wayne Township, the Village Mixed-Use category was used in two locations: the Town of Clermont and along Main Street in Speedway. The Airport-Related Mixed-Use category was used in proximity to Indianapolis International Airport. This category expressly excludes residential development due to airport related noise. Several existing residential areas were given this designation, so as not to encourage further residential development in them. Ten Critical Areas were established. These areas were designated as critical for a variety of reasons. Two were established to provide more information about the two Village Mixed-Use areas. Other Critical Areas were created to call attention to:

*a major street realignment,

*redevelopment of a declining industrial area,

*the interface of residential and industrial uses for the protection of both,

*the interface of residential and commercial uses for the protection of both,

*future park space, and

*a potential rapid transit station.

Adoption of the new Land Use maps for the entire county will take place upon the completion of planning processes for all eight Planning Areas. This is likely to occur in mid to late 2004.

Look for the comprehensive planning processes for the Lawrence and Perry Township Planning Areas to begin in January 2003.

www.indygov.org/indianapolisinsight