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Acting building commissioner updates Whiteland Planning Commission on comprehensive plan, UDO, downtown revitalization and broadband
Summary
At a planning commission meeting, the acting building commissioner outlined progress on Whiteland's 10-year comprehensive plan, including restarting a Unified Development Ordinance, plans for a downtown district and façade grants, a parks plan, a rise in development activity and recent permitting for townwide fiber.
The acting building commissioner delivered a progress report to the Whiteland Planning Commission on the town's 10-year comprehensive plan, saying the town has restarted work on a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) and is pursuing updates across land use, infrastructure and public engagement.
"This is our 10 year outlook that we spent quite a bit of time," the acting building commissioner said, summarizing the plan's role in shaping land use, zoning and subdivision controls. He said the UDO would "marry the zoning language and the subdivision control into one document" to reduce internal conflicts and streamline permitting.
Why it matters: Commission members were told the UDO is meant to reduce ambiguity between the zoning code and subdivision control standards and to make zoning information easier for residents and developers to find. Town staff plan to make parcel-level zoning accessible on the Town of Whiteland website so residents and brokers can check a property's zoning without calling the building department.
Key points from the update:
- UDO and history: Work on a UDO began before April 2023 and paused after a tornado; the town resumed the effort recently with an outside consultant and expects to report further progress in 2026.
- Zoning access: The town will explore adding a zoning layer to its website (similar to neighboring Greenwood's GIS) to reduce phone inquiries about parcel zoning.
- Government capacity and staffing: The presentation said the 2027 budget preparation will include a plan by the town marshal to request two additional positions to address case workload; the acting building commissioner said the town currently budgets one employee each for sewer, water and building departments.
- Downtown revitalization and façade support: The commission discussed a proposed downtown district roughly bounded from US 31 to State Street and early outreach to business owners; staff floated a façade-grant concept modeled on Franklin's program to encourage building upgrades.
- Parks and housing pipeline: A parks master plan and parks board are in place; staff reported an uptick in permits and active developments, naming Redwood, Allure Apartments, Briar Creek and Saddle Brook, and said a list of vacant or infill-ready residential parcels should be compiled by midyear.
- Broadband and right-of-way ordinance changes: The town permitted a fiber Internet provider to install townwide fiber in recent weeks. The acting building commissioner described a near-complete rewrite of Chapter 95 (right-of-way) intended to strengthen restoration standards, increase permit fees and give the town clearer enforcement tools; the code will retain emergency exceptions for urgent utility repairs.
Commissioners asked for clarification on whether subdivision control standards (masonry percentages, setbacks) would be folded into the UDO. The acting building commissioner said those standards are currently managed separately but that the UDO will reconcile them with Chapter 156 land-usage provisions.
Next steps: Staff will continue consultant work on the UDO, pursue web-based zoning access, complete outreach to downtown business owners and provide a status report in 2026.
