by Gene Lausch and Bob Wilch
Is it OK for a Midtown resident to keep more than one rooster in her backyard? When do you need a permit to make an improvement to your home or business? Can your neighbor build a rental unit on his residential property? When does a developer need a zoning variance to build a commercial project across the street from your home?
These and other questions are answered in the Indianapolis municipal code, a set of stakeholder-crafted ordinances designed to promote civic harmony and purpose in our communities through generally accepted concepts of public morality and land use planning.
The City of Indianapolis began implementing Indy Rezone on April 1, the first comprehensive upgrade of the code since 1969. To understand this new version of the ordinances, it helps to consider why zoning regulations are needed and how they can evolve over time to meet changing community needs.
What Is Zoning?
Zoning ordinances are grounded in the present, taking into account the types of buildings that exist and the land uses that are common now, but primarily guided by a vision of what is desired in the future.
Land use planning is used to define this vision. Such planning involves:
- collection and careful consideration of data describing the community;
- application of planning principles (such as urban theory or best practices) to what is known about the community; and
- participation of community members in determining community aspirations, identifying options, and reaching conclusions.
Thus, planning is a collaborative process. Members of the public who know the community and what it needs and wants work with professionally trained planners who bring knowledge about what planning and regulatory approaches are effective in enhancing community health, safety, and property values. It is important to emphasize that in this effort neither community members nor professional planners do it alone. The process is akin to what happens when a lawyer is asked to prepare a contract or a will, an IT person is hired by a business to design a computer system, or an investment advisor is retained for wealth management. To achieve a successful outcome, the professional expert’s technical knowledge is applied to the client’s articulated needs and desires.
A Century of Progress
Indianapolis adopted its first municipal code in 1922. At the time, the city already had a significant amount of industrial and commercial development. Many factories and business buildings were built in the heart of residential areas so that people could easily walk to work in the era before automobiles were ubiquitous. These commercial and industrial activities did not always mix well with residential development. In particular, smoke pollution, noise, and vehicle traffic negatively affected persons living nearby.
The first zoning ordinances responded to those concerns and sought to protect property values by stipulating that a parcel of land could not be used in a way that would harm the owners of adjacent or nearby properties. The original Indianapolis code established six classes of use districts: single family dwelling and related uses; apartment and hotel; business; light industrial; heavy industrial; and uses allowed by special permit (including scrap yards, auto sales lots and cemeteries.)
The ordinance was pyramidal in terms of permitted land uses, with the base allowing all land uses in some general districts. The apex of the pyramid was the most protective district and allowed only single-family residential and other low-density uses.
As in other cities, the proliferation of automobiles had a profound impact on the development of Indianapolis and its zoning ordinances. The original ordinances did not require provision of parking spaces for any kind of land use. That changed in the post-World War II era, as more families acquired first one and then multiple vehicles. The 1951 update was the first Indianapolis code to require parking in residential, business, and industrial areas, although it wasn’t until 1966 that on-site parking was required for single-family development. Through the years, parking requirements were generally increased in most categories of land use, a change necessitated by the increase in vehicle ownership.
Midtown Surge
Between World War I and World War II the population of Indianapolis grew by more than 70,000, and with the availability of better transportation, the urbanized area expanded. In this time of growth a significant share of the population moved out of the center city and north of Fall Creek, toward Maple Road (38th Street) and into the northern streetcar suburbs now known as Midtown.
Population increased by almost 90,000 persons between 1940 and 1960. Neighborhoods and business areas became more crowded and congested. Zoning ordinances after World War II responded to the large growth in population and increases in businesses that occurred during the post-war era. More sophisticated controls were needed, so ordinances were adopted that required more separation between different types of land uses. General performance standards for some uses were adopted. For example, the 1951 code required that light manufacturing or industrial operations “shall not be noxious or offensive by reason of the emission of odor, dust, smoke, gas or noise, or by reason of vibration resulting from operation of machinery.”
In the 1960s and thereafter, developers complained that their efforts to build large creative projects were impeded by zoning ordinances. In response, the City introduced flexibility into the code. In return for being able to modify the strict terms of the zoning ordinance, the landowner or developer was expected to show how ordinance goals would be met. An example of this approach is a concept known as Planned Unit Development. The first such local ordinance, providing for a “D-P” dwelling district, was adopted in 1967 for Marion County. Its objectives included encouraging a “more creative approach in land and building site planning,” permitting “special consideration of property with unique features,” and allowing a “wider range of choices” in housing.
Mixed-Use Goals
Indy Rezone reflects a recent planning trend to make urban spaces more vibrant and visually interesting. To achieve this goal, there has been a retreat from the notion that different uses of land should be scrupulously separated; mixing compatible uses in the same building or on properties near each other is now regarded as not only acceptable but also desirable. Additional attention is given to the placement of buildings in relation to nearby structures and to streets, sidewalks, and green spaces—what planners call the public realm. Green development is emphasized by encouraging bike, pedestrian, and transit-friendly developments that are both energy-efficient and attractively landscaped.
The planning goals for Indy Rezone
- allow a mix of uses on a parcel;
- facilitate pedestrian travel;
- lessen dependence on the automobile;
- encourage “green” (environmentally sensitive) development; and
- encourage appropriate reuse and revitalization of vacant and little-used land.
What “real world” impact will Indy Rezone have on Midtown? Because ordinance standards will be more in line with current development practices, some buildings and land uses will be allowed that were not previously permitted, and the need for some variances will be avoided. This will have an important effect on undeveloped geographic areas in the county as well as in developed areas like Midtown. In Midtown, Indy Rezone will facilitate both infill development (literally filling in the gaps between structures with complementary buildings) as well as redevelopment.
Indy Rezone may make unlawful some new construction or land use that was acceptable under the previous code. However, the doctrine of vested non-conforming use—sometimes referred to as “grandfather rights”—does not allow government to retroactively impose new ordinances on existing buildings and uses of land. Existing buildings can continue to be used and current uses can continue. The new code provides a framework more in keeping with the community’s vision of a desired future and can help the City and its citizens continue to thrive and prosper in the 21st century.
Gene Lausch, a Midtown resident since 1976, is a past director of the City of Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development and a past chair of the Land Use and Zoning Section of the Indiana State Bar Association.
Bob Wilch is a retired architect and award-winning city planner who worked for the Department of Metropolitan Development, Division of Planning, where he helped with the Envision Broad Ripple neighborhood plan.
A version of this article appeared in the February/March 2016 issue of the magazine.
