Brownsburg UDO Review Process

Staff gave a brief review of UDO and asked some basic questions to the group including:

1. What is the value of having zoning regulations?
2. What do committee members see as the most crucial elements of the UDO that need addressing?

We will use the top issues as the jumping-off point for UDO modifications.

The members were then asked to set a regular day/time to meet. The majority of members present (and those polled afterward) chose Wednesdays at 3 p.m. as the most convenient time.

Staff gave a brief review of the previous meeting and discussed the top issues to ensure the majority of members agreed. The top issues from Meeting 1 were:

• PUDs
• Architectural standards
• Residential standards/districts
• Amenities
• Landscaping
• Signage

Members present added:

• Enforcement
• Process/procedures
• Definitions
• Redevelopment

After discussion, committee members boiled the list down to the 2 most important:

• Zoning districts (residential, commercial, and industrial)
• Processes and procedures

Committee members spent the majority of the meeting time working on zoning district refinements. There is a desire to simplify and reduce the number of zoning districts (currently 24). We discussed building more flexibility into the districts to perhaps reduce the reliance on planned developments.

A proposal to regulate by density was proposed. Instead of having minimum lot sizes, allow differing densities. For example, ER and R1 could be 1-2 units per acre; R2, 3, and 4 could be up to 6 units per acre and the highest density district(s) could allow up to 12 units per acre (these numbers were taken from the comprehensive plan).

Committee members suggested other communities to take a look at:

Greenwood                     Carmel              Zionsville

Shelby County               Whitestown        Avon

Plainfield                        Fishers              McCordsville

The next item of business was stakeholder interviews. As mentioned at an earlier meeting, Staff intends to gather as much input into the document as feasible. To that end, we plan to conduct periodic surveys, 1 or 2 open houses for the general public, and stakeholder interviews. Members were asked for names of colleagues to interview and get thoughts on regulations, ease of use, and general feelings on processes.

There was a lot of general discussion during this meeting. Members discussed many peripheral topics such as "what would be the result or impact of doing 'X'". They reiterated the importance of focusing on regulating density to reduce reliance on PUDs and offer increased flexibility for residential and commercial developers.

Staff presented some examples of residential districts and density and provided a preferred format. Avon and Whitestown both use charts showing all the districts as a snapshot with the standards. This will be a more efficient and effective way to present information than having users page through the entire residential and commercial/industrial district to find information.

Members also discussed the need to carefully define density and spoke on some permitted uses. Much of the discussion at this point revolves around residential, but it is important to become comfortable with the format before moving on to details on commercial, industrial, or mixed-use districts.

Staff repeated their request for stakeholder names for the interview sessions. The proposed stakeholder groups are:

• Government (town staff, public safety, schools)
• Residential developers/builders
• Business/industrial developers/builders
• Technical users (engineers, architects, landscape architects)
• Boards/Commissions/Council

Proposed questions:

• What are the most important issues regarding development in Brownsburg?
• What does the UDO do well?
• What specific improvements need to be made to the regulations?
• Are the processes easy to manage?

Finally, staff noted the potential to have occasional evening steering committee meetings to facilitate wider participation. Members present stated their desire to keep with the same schedule and wondered if there could be a call-in option for attendance. We will most likely have every third meeting be an evening one but keep the Wednesday day.

Group members stated they are interested in building flexibility into District standards to reduce reliance on Planned Developments, and to take a close look at existing sign regulations to see where those can be streamlined.

View Meeting Notes