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Zionsville council directs planners to remove routine multifamily references, allow ‘premium’ projects case‑by‑case
Summary
Councilors agreed April 13 to strip routine references to multifamily/apartments from the draft comprehensive plan and to add a brief policy that premium, context‑sensitive multifamily housing may be considered by council on a case‑by‑case basis; staff said zoning and rezoning processes remain the controlling entitlements.
The Town of Zionsville Council on April 13 agreed to remove routine references to multifamily apartments from the draft comprehensive plan and to replace them with concise policy language allowing “premium” multifamily only on a case‑by‑case basis.
Planner Adam, who led the presentation, told council most edits to date were formatting and that substantive comments had been compiled but not adopted as council consensus. Council members said they did not want the plan to pre‑approve multifamily as the default use in new areas. One councilor said removing multifamily from the list of recommended uses would avoid making it “the first domino” for future development, while leaving the town authority to approve an attractive project if it came forward.
Heather (staff) summarized the direction: “Remove all references to multifamily in the comprehensive plan except for areas that already exist or have been approved. Include a statement that premium installation of appropriate multifamily will be considered by the town council on a case‑by‑case basis.” Adam said staff would locate every place in the draft where multifamily appears and apply that single, concise policy statement.
Staff and council repeatedly emphasized that the comprehensive plan is advisory: zoning and rezoning processes still determine whether a specific project can proceed. Roger (town staff) noted that landowners who have active projects would still pursue rezones and development plans and that removing multifamily from the plan would not legally prohibit a developer from seeking rezoning or presenting an acceptable project to the council.
The council’s direction is scripted as policy guidance for the May review. Staff said they will identify every instance of multifamily in the draft, remove routine references, and insert a short policy paragraph clarifying that multifamily is not excluded outright but will require explicit council approval and be considered only where it meets high design and character standards.
Next steps: staff will prepare a tracked list of the changes for council review at the April 29 work session and circulate proposed replacement language before the May public hearing.
