Commissioners retain county zoning; agree to evaluate bringing permitting in-house

Daviess County commissioners voted March 11 to retain the county’s zoning ordinance after the Area Plan Commission (APC) recommended against removing zoning.

The APC met at the request of the commission to weigh pros and cons of keeping or removing the county zoning ordinance. The APC’s certificate, as presented to the commission, recorded a vote “0 to 7” against removing zoning with one abstention.

Why it matters: commissioners said zoning affects land use near interchanges and specific neighborhoods and that repealing it could create contentious ad hoc rulemaking. One commissioner described zoning as a means of “control” over land-use outcomes and cautioned that repeal could produce divisiveness and create a need for immediate, on-the-fly ordinances.

Commission debate covered competing principles: some commissioners and constituents view zoning as an unnecessary restraint on property owners; others urged retaining the ordinance because it provides a formal review process for potentially contentious projects. Commissioner discussion referenced farm/Amish interests and Westgate covenants, and one commissioner said that after public outreach he had not found broad public demand to repeal zoning.

The board voted to retain the zoning ordinance (motion made by Commissioner Keith; recorded outcome 2-1). The commission also voted to accept the APC certificate into the record (unanimous) and to direct staff to evaluate bringing zoning and permitting processes in-house by July 1; that evaluation motion passed 3-0.

Ending: Commissioners instructed staff to prepare the in-house review and to monitor city actions that could affect county land-use decisions during the evaluation period.