The Fort Wayne Common Council on June 24 approved a set of proactive rezoning ordinances covering sections of Bluffton Road, Lower Huntington Road and adjacent parcels in the Wayndale area, adopting zoning more closely matched to existing uses and the 2017 Bluffton–Lower Huntington Corridor Improvement Plan as incorporated into the Allen County comprehensive plan.

Michelle Wood of the Department of Planning Services told council staff used the 2017 corridor plan as a starting point, then walked the corridors, met property owners and stakeholders, held an open house at the Southwest Fire Station, distributed flyers, and posted materials on the city’s Engage Fort Wayne page (which she said had nearly 700 visits before the public hearing). She said the updated map reduced large stretches of intensive C‑4 and I‑2 zoning that staff concluded were not appropriate for Wayndale’s neighborhood character and instead recommended zoning districts that would support smaller‑scale commercial activity, buffering, and more housing‑scale uses where appropriate.

Wood said the proposal reached an 8‑0 “do pass” recommendation from the city’s Planning Commission. At the council meeting she said the rezoning drew questions from owners and residents but “overall there was no opposition to the rezoning”; staff made several adjustments in response to property‑specific concerns before bringing final ordinances to the council.

Council members and staff noted the rezoning is intended to align zoning with the emerging Wayne Dale 2040 neighborhood plan and to reduce the risk that intensive commercial or industrial uses could develop in places where the community prefers a more neighborhood‑oriented pattern. Councilman Michael Mines thanked Planning and neighborhood development staff and encouraged residents to attend a July 10 public engagement event at The Strand on the Wayndale plan.

The package of zoning ordinances, which included multiple map amendments affecting parcels and corridors across Wayndale, passed the council without recorded opposition on the night of June 24.