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Muncie council approves three zoning measures to ease housing development
Summary
The Muncie Common Council adopted three zoning ordinances that amend development standards and rezone parcels to enable multifamily and commercial reuse and to reduce lot-size and setback requirements to encourage housing construction.
The Muncie Common Council on Aug. 4 adopted a package of zoning actions intended to increase buildable lots and encourage development in the city.
The council approved Ordinance 22-25, rezoning property in the 2700 block of North Benton Road from R-1 to R-5 to allow a multifamily structure; Ordinance 23-25, rezoning parcels on West Ethel Avenue and adjacent areas from residential to a business variety (BV) zone for commercial consolidation; and Ordinance 24-25, a text amendment that changes development standards in R-1, R-2 and R-3 residence zones and allows accessory dwelling units in R-4.
Planning director Kylene Swackhammer told the council the text amendment is meant to modernize a code originally enacted in 1973 and to address the city’s current housing needs. "We feel the proposed changes will help address the need for current housing by increasing opportunities for development," she said. Swackhammer said the committee that drafted the changes included the mayor, planning staff and local planners and compared practices from nearby cities.
Key numerical changes in Ordinance 24-25 as presented to the council include reducing required lot width to 40 feet in R-1/R-2/R-3, lowering minimum lot area to 4,800 square feet, reducing front setbacks to 20 feet, shrinking side setbacks to 5 feet, decreasing rear setbacks to 15 feet, lowering minimum dwelling floor area to 600 square feet, and removing the city’s lot coverage requirement. The proposal keeps the existing 24-foot minimum building dimension; Swackhammer said that prevents single-wide manufactured homes and is not intended to permit tiny homes.
Council and public questions focused on housing affordability and who would benefit from smaller lots and lower floor-area requirements. A resident asked whether smaller homes would simply become higher-rent units; Councilman Garrett and others responded that the intent is to allow smaller, less expensive homes and to enable owner-builders. Swackhammer and members of the council pointed to the local Board of Zoning Appeals process remaining available for variances and emphasized that accessory dwellings in R-4 would shift from a special-use to a permitted-use.
On individual items: an applicant’s attorney, David Karnes, said Ordinance 23-25 received a unanimous favorable recommendation from the plan commission. For Ordinance 22-25, the council recorded an affirmative roll-call vote after the plan commission recommended approval.
The zoning package drew multiple public comments both in support (for increasing homeownership opportunity and making small lots buildable) and in caution (concerns about rent levels and landlord practices). Council members repeatedly said enforcement and building inspections remain tools to address unsafe or substandard housing.
Council members voting records appear in the meeting transcript for each ordinance (see provenance). The planning director said the amendments are intended to align Muncie’s code with current planning practice and to make many historically platted 40-by-120-foot lots buildable again.
The city will follow the ordinance-adoption effective dates in the municipal code; council members and planning staff indicated additional administrative steps and public outreach will follow as the changes are implemented.
