Thanks to everyone who was able to attend our Village Residents Association meeting last week. We had some great discussions, and I look forward to seeing folks at our Sept 19 meeting at 7:30pm. We’ll receive a tour of the museum and hear advice from a resident about researching a home’s history.
Our annual VRA Picnic on the Bricks is September 16 from 6-8pm. We gather at the north end of Main Street starting at the intersection with Walnut. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share, and the VRA will provide hot dogs, burgers, veggie burgers, and water. Feel free to bring your own beverages and a chair.
We’re hosting two forums for candidates running for office in November. District 2 and 4 candidates face-off on October 3 at 7pm, and all of the at-large candidates will patriciate on October 24 at 7pm. Both will take place at SullivanMunce.
If you’d like more information about the form-based code discussion, a recording of the June 28 meeting can be found here.
July 26 is a special meeting of the plan commission when they’ll discuss the document in more detail. There is no information whether public comment will be allowed, but they did allow 15 minutes at the previous meeting.
The draft for the form-based code can be found here:
https://www.zionsville-in.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6765/DRAFT-Zionsville-Zoning-Ordinance—Form-Based-Code-2023-06-26
The proposed zoning map, which puts some Village homes in Mixed Use Village, some in “Neighborhood-1” and a handful of homes now in “Corridor Mixed-Use” adjacent to Sycamore Flats:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/614b412ee2218171a6168ab0/t/649afe5e02fef97044ec1894/1687879265026/Zionsville-Zoning-Map-2023-0620.pdf
ALSO – if you have thoughts, questions, concerns, etc., I’d like to compile everything into one message to make life easier for town officials collecting comments. Please send those thoughts, questions, concerns, etc. to president@zvra.com and I’ll compile the information to share with the Plan Commission, Mike Dale and Town Council. I’ll also note Village residents who provided feedback by name (unless you’d like to be anonymous). My goal is to remove duplicate questions and consolidating thoughts in order to make life easier for the town.
If you’re interested in being part of the VRA board, send a message to president@zvra.com. We will have elections this fall.
From Town Council:
I hope everyone is having a healthy and happy start to summer.
Each year the Council receives a report from DPW about our stormwater infrastructure. This is a State-mandated report which provides elected officials and the public with an overall understanding of our system, especially as it relates to the environmental impact. We received this presentation during our second meeting in June on the morning of the 20th.
Part of the presentation was the impact of run off and other man-made materials into our waterways. This could be agricultural run-off from various fertilizers or homeowners with their own run-off from cars, lawns, and other areas. DPW Superintendent Lance Lantz mentioned a website that has been setup by the State to educate the public about their own impact on water quality and various pledges you can take to improve our environment. It is an interesting site with good information and the results can be tracked to see our overall contribution. You can find that website here.
I would encourage you to browse the site and see if there are any pledges that interest you.
During the meeting I also asked Superintendent Lantz about the storm water drainage within the Village. I know this has been a concern of many residents over the years, although I have heard less as the Town has invested more to improve the drainage. During the presentation I did ask Mr. Lantz about the drainage, and he responded that the Town has invested over $1 million recently in drainage with focuses on third and fourth streets. He admitted that the Village will never drain like a brand-new subdivision, there is a maze of underground pipes and utilities to work around, however he did say it has gotten much better.