As the fastest growing community in Johnson County, the Town of Bargersville needed an update to their development and design standards to guide growth. The Bargersville Unified Development Ordinance combined the Town’s Zoning Ordinance, Subdivision Control Ordinance, Construction Standards, and Storm Water Drainage Manual into one, easy-to-use document. The document was organized in an intuitive manner from general provisions to more detailed standards. The document addressed the unique challenges facing Bargersville including a new downtown district that encourages mix of use and building massing as desired in downtown Bargersville. Overlay districts addressed flood hazard areas and highway corridor aesthetic concerns, and two industrial districts were added to help Bargersville better prepare for future industrial uses in the Town.

Whitestown has been the fastest growing community in the State of Indiana.

HWC has led key planning initiatives to help them manage that growth, including updates to their comprehensive plan, economic development plan, thoroughfare plan, and downtown (Legacy Core) plan.

The Town’s key existing ordinances were not delivering the development product that they desired. To update the ordinances, HWC and Civic Blueprint partnered on the preparation of a new Unified Development Ordinance. The updated ordinance first focused on aligning comprehensive plan goals with development regulations. Next, the ordinances were updated to use plain English so that they were clear, direct, and easy to use. Graphics were added to further enhance clarity.

The Town of Avon was frustrated when recent development proposals lacked the character and quality the community desired. Residents were also increasingly opposing developments and demanding the Town raise standards.

To develop a solution, the Town turned to HWC and Civic Blueprint.

The HWC team first led a public engagement campaign to solicit input on current concerns and future expectations. This robust process included:

• Public workshops
• Town Council workshops
• Developer/stakeholder workshops
• Public surveys
• Video summaries and explanations for the public
• Steering committee workshops

Public and stakeholder input was used to inform recommendations, which included merging their Zoning and Subdivision Control Ordinances into a new Unified Development Ordinance. Incentives were added to improve quality. Process changes were also recommended to increase transparency and provide more opportunities for the Town Council to guide development early in the process.