Continuing with its extraterritorial jurisdiction planning, the initial thought was to rezone the parcels of land (photo) between North State Road 9 and Morristown Road from Single-Family Residential (R1) to Business Highway (BH).
Residents in the area were concerned about the rezone and what it would mean for future use. Several showed up at a recent plan commission meeting to express frustration with the rezone.
Heeding their concerns, the plan commission recommended leaving the parcels R1 until they were ready to be developed.
The common council then approved the extraterritorial jurisdiction, not an annexation into city limits, at Wednesday’s meeting at City Hall.
“I don’t want anyone to think we are dealing in absolutes here,” said Shelbyville Mayor Tom DeBaun at the council meeting. “As we discussed in the pre-meeting, traffic is a big concern out there. Until INDOT (Indiana Department of Transportation) or the city, next future administrations work out a solution, I don’t think anything will develop on those parcels and they will remain as shown.
“What I don’t want is for somebody to come to the city council 10 or 20 years from now and say you told us this would always be R1. I want to make sure this is an accurate representation of why this is happening and what will happen in the future.”
With the addition of Culver’s restaurant to the area in 2022, traffic moving onto Morristown Road from State Road 9, and vice versa, is not ideal with the stop light at the intersection.
DeBaun mentioned that INDOT is looking into the intersection to come up with a better solution. There is no timeline in place for that decision.
There was a second amendment to the jurisdiction ordinance, a second recommendation from the Plan Commission, to change a tract of land east of the Progress Parkway and E. Michigan Road intersection, from R1 to Agriculture (AG).
The common council also agreed with the recommendation while approving the ordinance.
In other council business Wednesday:
- Approved a more detailed map outlining the specific areas of the new Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area ordinance approved in June. The city was asked to provide the new map by the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC).
- Approved the transfer of a Riverfront District license to Bryan and Kim Rice, owners of Pudder’s restaurant in downtown Shelbyville.
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