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Carmel committee sends group‑home UDO changes to City Council, removes hard‑copy application requirements
Summary
The Carmel Plan Commission Committee on July 1, 2025, voted to forward amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance that remove hard‑copy submission requirements and add a qualifier limiting proximity‑and‑count review to Board of Zoning Appeals consideration of group homes.
The Carmel Plan Commission Committee voted July 1, 2025, to forward a proposed amendment to the Unified Development Ordinance on group homes to the Carmel City Council with a favorable recommendation.
The amendment (docket PZ-2025-0110a), filed by the Department of Community Services, would delete language that requires written application materials and specified numbers of hard copies, and would add a clarifying qualifier that the “proximity and number of other group homes” basis of review applies only when the Board of Zoning Appeals is reviewing group‑home special exceptions.
Department of Community Services staff told the committee the redlined changes remove outdated references to paper submittals because most applications are now handled through an online portal. “Everything all those submittals are done online through a portal now,” a Department of Community Services representative said during the discussion. The staff presentation also noted the addition of the qualifier so that the proximity/count standard would not be applied to unrelated special exceptions such as short‑term rentals.
Committee members discussed minor revisions and had no objections to the edits shown at the meeting. One attendee thanked the commission and staff for the “long concerted effort” on the ordinance changes. A committee member moved to send the amended ordinance with a favorable recommendation to the City Council; a second was given, members voted “aye,” and the motion carried.
The committee did not adopt additional substantive changes at the meeting. The next formal step reported in the meeting record is transmittal of the amended UDO language to the Carmel City Council for further consideration.
