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Brownsburg advances broad UDO rewrite that restricts fueling centers, vape and tattoo shops, and some storage uses
Summary
Town staff presented and council approved immediate readings of a Unified Development Ordinance update imposing new proximity and frontage restrictions on fueling centers, smoke/vape and tattoo shops, vehicle sales/repairs and some self-storage types; council members and residents debated economic trade-offs and grandfathering of existing businesses.
Town planning staff presented a comprehensive amendment to the Town of Brownsburg Unified Development Ordinance that adds special-exception and distance-based limits on several commercial uses, and the council approved proceeding with the ordinance readings and final adoption.
Elizabeth, the planning presenter, outlined the changes and framed them as “incremental updates as issues come up,” describing new restrictions that would, depending on the use, bar new fueling centers within a quarter-mile (1,320 feet) of an existing station and impose 300-foot buffers from residential districts for certain uses. She said the update would treat smoke and vape shops and tattoo parlors as special exceptions in key commercial zones and add spacing requirements to avoid clustering: “With the fuel incentives we have put a restriction…we're looking at those not being permitted within a quarter mile or 1320ft of any existing fueling station… and also they're not permitted within 300ft of the residential district,” Elizabeth said.
Council members pressed staff on the evidentiary basis for particular distances. One council member said the 300-foot figure might be adjusted, noting comparisons with other towns’ ordinances and the desire to avoid unnecessarily restrictive zoning. Planning staff said the measurements were intended to reflect typical walking distances and reduce clustering near schools and neighborhoods.
Several residents criticized aspects of the changes during public comment. One commenter, who was later thanked by the president as “Ms. Free Will,” said the revisions lumped very different business types together and could penalize long-standing local businesses by forcing special-exception reviews for expansion. “If they want to expand and do something, they have to go back, get a special exception,” the commenter said, adding that some legacy businesses could be disadvantaged.
Staff stressed that existing, legally nonconforming businesses would remain in place (grandfathered) and that the ordinance keeps special exceptions as a path for applicants to make their case. The council also noted the UDO is a living document that can be revisited and amended in the future if pieces prove too restrictive or stall desired retail investment. The motion to perform all three readings on Ordinance 2026-01 that evening was moved and seconded and carried by voice vote.
