Embedded Files
This report will serve as a brief summary of the 2021 calendar year for the Plan Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, Building Commission, and all other activities related to the City's Planning and Building Department. This report will review the current status of the staff's 2021 goals, summarize all the different petitions heard by the Plan Commission and BZA, give a brief synopsis of the development trends, provide a review of the code enforcement activities for the year, and establish the staff's goals for the upcoming year.
Executive Summary
Executive Summary
The City of Shelbyville’s Planning and Building Department (PABD) serves as the main professional, technical, and administrative staff for the City’s Plan Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals, Technical Review Committee, and Building Commission, and serves alongside other city departments to facilitate many of the responsibilities and needs of the City’s Board of Public Works and Safety, Common Council, and Mayor’s Office. The department staff works to advise the many boards and commissions on the decisions they are tasked with making, and performs the day-to-day tasks of these boards and commissions to ensure responsible development throughout the year. These day-to-day tasks include, but are not limited to; plan review for compliance, general code enforcement, permitting, inspections, floodplain administration, and grant writing/administration.
Some of the major projects and milestones accomplished by the PABD staff include:
Completion of the Shelbyville Public Square, with a well-attended Christmas parade to introduce it to the community.
Three different quick service restaurants on Riley Highway: Taco Bell, Zaxby's, and Culver's, with the completion of one, and the process of developing the other two.
The number of new single family homes constructed in 2021 nearly doubled that of 2020; increasing from 44 new homes in 2020, to 84 in 2021.
In addition to new single family homes, there were also other new housing units constructed, in total there were 105 new housing units constructed on 2021, a large increase from the 49 new housing units in 2020.
The City Plan Commission heard and approved 5 preliminary subdivision plats, with three of those being for new residential neighborhoods, accounting for over 400 new homes in the coming years from those three development alone.
Over 2,000 acres of land was incorporated into the City's Extra-Territorial Planning Jurisdiction as part of the City and County's continued joint efforts to streamline development in these areas in accordance with our respective Comprehensive Plans.
Throughout the year, the PABD staff interacts thousands of times with citizens, business owners, developers, and more to assist each person with their specific project or question. This annual report serves to provide a summary of those interactions and explain how they add value to the community as a whole.
Aerial view of the completed Public Square in downtown Shelbyville
New residential construction in the Twin Lakes subdivision
Brief Review of 2021
Brief Review of 2021
During the 2021 calendar year, the Shelbyville Plan Commission heard 30 cases and the Shelbyville Board of Zoning Appeals heard 11 cases on a wide variety of projects, many of them intertwined between these two bodies. The petitions heard in 2021 were handled in a thorough, yet efficient manner. This report will serve as a review of all of these petitions heard by the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals, along with a review of the goals established by the staff, and a summary of the work completed in 2021.
2021 Department Goals
2021 Department Goals
In last year’s report, the planning staff developed goals for 2021. These goals included both procedural improvements to the day-to-day operations of the department, as well as long-range planning tasks that help guide the community’s elected officials and other decision makers. Below is a review of the current status of those goals:
1.
1.
Effectively implement the new digital platform to provide our department's services in an online format. This should also include public education and awareness programs about these systems.
Effectively implement the new digital platform to provide our department's services in an online format. This should also include public education and awareness programs about these systems.
The Building and Planning department worked to enhance the online interface where contractors and residents of the city can submit applications and permits. This customer portal has different links that can be helpful to users such as the city website, the UDO, and the GIS portal. Additionally, this website serves as the location to submit all code violation complaints and register as a landlord, another major goal of the department. In 2022, this website will be published and fully operational for members of the public, contractors, and petitioners alike.
The department strives to educate staff and the public about different things going on in the city. The planning department conducted an educational webinar to teach landlords how to register their properties. This webinar was successful and allowed landlords to ask questions about the registration process. Members of the public were also able to access this webinar and numerous other pieces of information that staff prepared and published on the City's website.
In 2022, the department plans to advertise the landlord registration more to get more landlords registered. We hope to provide more informational sessions to the public on other topics covered by our office, and platforms like Citizenserve will make that easier to accomplish.
A screenshot of the customer portal for submitting BZA and Plan Commission applications, permits, and other information related to the Planning and Building Department.
2.
2.
Continue to inform the citizens, business leaders, and property owners about the new Shelbyville Landlord Registration Program to ensure it is effectively implemented and staff can utilize data collected in responding to code enforcement complaints.
Continue to inform the citizens, business leaders, and property owners about the new Shelbyville Landlord Registration Program to ensure it is effectively implemented and staff can utilize data collected in responding to code enforcement complaints.
Early in the year, the department conducted a webinar to teach landlords, property managers, and property owners in the city how to register through our new system. This webinar was popular and was able to help many landlords to get registered. The city website features a page for this registration process and has links to the applications, frequently asked questions, and the fee schedule. This first year resulted in a total of 381 properties being registered with the City. In 2022, the department hopes to get more landlords registered and utilize the data from this registration to use in other projects for the year.
3.
3.
Continue implementing the best practices of the planning and development industries by amending relevant sections of the UDO to remain competitive with peer communities.
Continue implementing the best practices of the planning and development industries by amending relevant sections of the UDO to remain competitive with peer communities.
Over the course of 2021, the Planning and Building Department staff worked together to analyze development standards identified in the UDO. The department is still in the process of amending different sections of the ordinance to enhance and elevate development standards to make for more unique projects in the city. Some of the standards the department plans to amend throughout 2022 include downtown parking standards, keeping of animals, and height standards for industrial development. With the drastic increase in current planning and construction, these amendments had to be put on hold, but with the addition of a staff planner to our office, we intend to refocus efforts on these much needed amendments.
4.
4.
Continue to partner with Shelby County Development Corporation, Main Street Shelbyville, The Blue River Community Foundation, and the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce to make Shelbyville the first choice for investment in development, jobs, and housing, with an emphasis on quality of life.
Continue to partner with Shelby County Development Corporation, Main Street Shelbyville, The Blue River Community Foundation, and the Shelby County Chamber of Commerce to make Shelbyville the first choice for investment in development, jobs, and housing, with an emphasis on quality of life.
In the past year, Shelbyville has worked with different corporations to attract new investments to the community so that residents and future residents have multiple options to live, work, and play in the city. Over the course of the year, there have been several housing projects ranging from new apartments that will be located behind the Shelby County Visitors Bureau, single-family residential subdivisions, and new homes with historic characteristics where Major Hospital was previously located. The city has also attracted new businesses such as Zaxby's and Culvers, as well as new local businesses in our downtown, all to provide a variety of places to shop, eat, and work. Work has been put into enhancing the quality of parks and trails for the city to enjoy. Additionally, at the end of the year, the Public Square was completed and the community was able to celebrate with the return of the Mistletoe Market and Holiday Parade, attracting thousands of people to our downtown for the evening.
Float in the annual Holiday parade on the newly opened Public Square.
5.
5.
Explore tools, resources, and processes to identify vacant and abandoned properties and promote reinvestment in these properties and their surrounding neighborhoods.
Explore tools, resources, and processes to identify vacant and abandoned properties and promote reinvestment in these properties and their surrounding neighborhoods.
The Planning and Building Department will continue our work to explore different tools in order to more easily identify areas in need of investment and redevelopment. In 2021, the department used geolocation with its code enforcement cases to identify some areas that had the highest number of cases. Data used in these code enforcement cases will be used to identify ways the areas would be best served. This data will locate areas with high numbers of code enforcement cases, as well as vacant and abandoned structures. In the future, we'd like to take this data and begin working towards solutions for these high-risk areas of the community to kick-start reinvestment
6.
6.
Continue promoting reinvestment in the central business district by identifying opportunities for new businesses, infill housing, and strengthening existing businesses.
Continue promoting reinvestment in the central business district by identifying opportunities for new businesses, infill housing, and strengthening existing businesses.
The Planning and Building Department is a valuable partner in all projects and development happening in the City of Shelbyville. In 2021, many great things happened to redevelop throughout the downtown, with an emphasis on the Public Square. At the beginning of December, the Public Square opened up to the community for the return of the Mistletoe Market and Holiday Parade. New multi-family housing is being developed behind the Shelby County Tourism & Visitors' Bureau, and will have a commercial space connected to it in the historic Coca-Cola bottling plant. This development will connect to the trail system to provide easy access to the city's amenities. There are several businesses opening on the square and filling vacant storefronts, such The Ville Nutrition and a recently announced boba tea store. Many places on the square are updating facades and awnings to make for a more attractive storefront.
Advertisement for Mainstreet Shelbyville's Facade Grant for businesses downtown.
7.
7.
Work with Shelby County to finalize the Extra-territorial Jurisdiction agreement to ensure seamless planning and growth across the community.
Work with Shelby County to finalize the Extra-territorial Jurisdiction agreement to ensure seamless planning and growth across the community.
The Planning and Building Department worked over the course of the year to identify areas that should be rezoned from county zoning to city zoning. The city adopted zoning classifications for two areas of the City's new extra-territorial jurisdiction in June and August. These jurisdictions totaled over 2,100 acres of land. This process will be continued throughout 2022 to identify land around the city to be zoned properly. Doing this promotes development in these areas, and unifies the regulations applicable to the land. Another section of this new extra-territorial jurisdiction is already planned and will be heard at Plan Commission during the beginning of the year.
Page updated
Report abuse