Plan Commission recommends PUD text change to allow flexible setbacks at Hickory Junction

The Lebanon Plan Commission voted to recommend a text amendment to the Hickory Junction PUD ordinance that changes a 20‑foot maximum front building setback on outlots to a 'no minimum' standard.

Planning staff Ben Bontrager said the 20‑foot maximum effectively required buildings to be placed 20 feet from every property line on a lot with four frontages, leaving no room for parking or vehicular circulation. "So what we're doing here is making a very minor modification of that front building maximum setback, and actually just changing it to no minimum," Bontrager said, adding the change applies only to the Hickory Junction PUD, not citywide.

Dan Connors of Card and Associates, representing the applicant, said the road reconfiguration and INDOT right‑of‑way adjustments made some frontage parcels infeasible for typical retail users; interior lots and outlots were intended for restaurants and low‑intensity office uses. "The intention is to have folks be able to easily get from the field house out to the 39 frontage lots for any sort of restaurant or retail opportunities," Connors said.

Commissioners questioned whether the no‑minimum language could allow buildings closer to roadways and whether safety or visibility would be affected; Bontrager noted practical constraints (right‑of‑way, utility easements, fire/life‑safety) and that the regulation change would still require compliance with other standards, including visibility and setback from pavement. The commission opened and closed the public hearing with no public comments and voted to forward a positive recommendation to the Common Council.