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Friday, September 16, 2005
Ind. Gov. - Elkhart County comprehensive land-use plan
The Elkhart Truth reports today, in a story by Thomas Bona, headlined "Land plan argued," that:
In all, 27 people spoke at a public hearing on the plan Thursday night. Some were strongly against it some were strongly in favor, but most were somewhere in between and questioned specific parts.The "six-page plan" is available here, via the Elkhart County website. Here is the home page of the land use plan draft.Central to the debate was a proposal to push new development to the areas near cities and towns, limiting what could be built in rural areas.
Supporters say that would preserve Elkhart County's agricultural character, while putting new homes on municipal utilities to avoid septic tanks. * * *
Opponents said politicians should not determine who farmers can sell their land to and for what purpose. They said the plan would force people to live in costlier cities when they prefer the country.
"I've seen a lot of people selling because of what is going on," said Arnold Longfellow of Goshen. "They want to live their lives. They want to be left alone."
Brian Christner of Goshen, speaking more to the audience than the plan commission convening the meeting, said the county has invited sprawl by paving dirt roads and giving factories tax breaks.
Another debate was whether the six-page plan is too vague or too specific. It consists of six goals, each with its own general policies, but doesn't contain specific new laws.
Those would come later, and that concerned residents who feared future officials would go different routes than were intended.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 16, 2005 08:20 AM
Posted to Indiana Government