Gary City previews comprehensive plan and zoning rewrite, seeks ideas for Genesis Center redevelopment

An agency official for Gary City told residents the city is moving forward with a new comprehensive plan and a full rewrite of its zoning code, which the official said "has not been updated since 1990." The official said the comprehensive plan will include a future land-use map and that the zoning code rewrite will follow the planning commission review, with both documents expected to be adopted "as we enter into 2026."

The official said the city has issued a request for ideas for the Genesis Center site now that the Lake County Convention Center at Hard Rock has been approved, inviting the private market and members of the public to submit concepts for reuse or new development. "Your deadline for ideas is August 8," the official said, and staff indicated the city hopes to identify a development or business partner by the end of the year.

Staff also described other implementation steps. The city will update its inventory of traffic and street fixtures as part of infrastructure planning and expects to budget for replacing fixtures over time. For the convention-center effort, the official said the immediate next step is a design-build RFP that will likely take about three months to complete; design work was described as likely taking about a year and construction roughly 18 months. The official framed those time estimates as professional planning projections, not guarantees.

On development rules, staff explained that the city’s current code allows some uses in residential districts but that special uses require an application and 100-foot neighbor notification. Staff said the city will send adopted ordinances to county assessors to help track short-term rentals and potentially assign commercial tax treatment when appropriate as the code is tightened. Staff described a sidewalk program for owners adjacent to lots to apply through the redevelopment commission and said the item is a standing agenda topic with five or six requests in the last two months.

On vacant-lot disposition, staff said state law requires two appraisals; the city has shifted appraisal cost responsibility to interested parties because it cannot afford thousands of appraisals itself. Staff explained that applicants who provide required appraisals may be reimbursed for appraisal costs if they are the winning bidder and cited a $500 reimbursement example.

The agency official emphasized follow-up steps and encouraged residents and applicants to participate in planning meetings and the RFP process.