Redevelopment All Gain, No Pain for Indy

(posted Oct 5)

Members of the Metropolitan Development Commissioners were told at their Oct 1 meeting that Indianapolis and Marion County will probably gain most of the economic benefits from the Speed Zone redevelopment project.

"It is good for Speedway, but it is great for Indianapolis and Marion County....Actually most of the economic benefit occurs outside," Speedway Redevelopment Commission Executive Director Scott Harris said the during the pre-agenda meeting.

The City's Department of Public Works is not contributing money towards road projects for the redevelopment. When asked to explain his statement to the Speedway taxpayer as to why he said that the project would only be "good" for Speedway and "great" for Indianapolis, Harris quickly qualified that the project would be great for Speedway, but during his speech he first said the word "great" for Speedway but quickly corrected it the word to "good" to match the slide presentation given to the MDC members.

"We all realize it has a greater economic impact on the State of Indiana and Marion County. There is no question," he said after the meeting. He also said the project would be great for Speedway too.

The project will be funded by the Speed Zone tax increment financing district. Harris said the timing was right to receive the roll-offs from Allison Transmission's tax abatements.

Harris needed to update MDC members about the redevelopment project because the town needs the MDC to make a favorable recommendation of two new zoning classifications in the Speed Zone. The MDC is expected to hear the petition for the new zoning classifications sometime this month. The City County Council must also vote to amend the zoning ordinance to allow the for the new classifications.

During the formal meeting that followed the pre hearing meeting, the MDC approved the resolution to create a special hearing examiner despite the public's objections that a redevelopment commissioner or staff member should not serve as the examiner. Remonstrators wanted a resident with planning or engineering background to fill the role. DMD is not requiring any special accreditation to serve as the Speedway hearing examiner, unlike the regional hearing examiner for the downtown area.

The commission had a brief discussion on whether to allow the hearing examiner requirement to be changed to "may be" a Speedway Redevelopment Commission or staff member, but this language was discouraged by Harris.

Bev Alexander, Susan Luebbert, Jo Ellen Dotlich, Deb Wilcox, and Joyce Bishop opposed the measure.

Alexander raised some other issues about the redevelopment. She did not think the realigned 16th Street beautification plan that she saw September 30 was functional. She said that there are no left turn lanes because trees are located in the median. "I have a very serious problem with that," she said.

She thinks a no left turn lane would be a hardship for Praxair's tractor trailers since Harris' announcement that Praxair is working to reroute trucks from Main Street. She said the lack of a left turn would interfere with her family's Polco Street business, Dotlich Crane. She did not think it would be practical to build store fronts on the along 16th Street due to the design limiting access for customers to get to the stores.

She also disagreed with closing Georgetown Road.

Chuck Cagann of Mansur Real Estate Services said it is not the plan to force truck traffic off 16th, "we are still trying to encourage as much truck traffic to the south side (10th Street)." The plans are being reworked all of the time. The idea is to divert the truck traffic to 10th Street to avoid the roundabouts. "It is kind of a logical thing. We can't stop it completely, but clearly that is the better situation."

Cagann also indicated that he wished the remonstrators understood that vacating roads will be with the DMD plat committee, but the remonstrators are concerned because page five in the resolution provides the ability for the hearing examiner to listen to a vacation when it is a companion to another zoning petition. Cagann emphasized that a vacation companion petition would still require plat committee and DPW approval.

Cagann believed having the Speedway hearing examiner is not really an issue for the remonstrators to have great concern over because the decision can be appealed to the MDC. He said the hearing examiner is giving more home rule.

Dotlich has no trust in the appeal process. She said "the public hearing that has not worked for us yet. Not one appeal has gone our way."

Tammara Tracy, DMD senior planner, said "a key item to remember is that there is a difference of roles and powers between the hearing examiner, the regional center hearing examiner, and the Speedway hearing examiner.The hearing examiner can hear rezoning petitions, companion variance petitions (must be partnered with a rezoning), approval petitions, and companion petitions (combination of rezoning, approval, variance, vacation, plat, vacation petitions). The regional center hearing examiner can only hear regional center approval petitions that are request approval of project that is defined as 'High Impact Project'. The Speedway hearing examiner can only hear approval petitions in the SZ-1 and SZ-2 districts. If a vacation was applied for it would go to the plat committee. If a vacation was applied for as part of a companion petition, then it would go to the regular hearing examiner - it could NOT go to the Speedway hearing examiner or the regional center hearing examiner."