FORTVILLE — The Fortville Town Council has taken its first steps toward withdrawing from the Hancock County Area Plan Commission — a process that will allow the town to control its own planning and zoning.
The council voted unanimously on Tuesday to send notice to the county about the town’s intent to leave the commission and board of zoning appeals. Hancock County currently oversees all Fortville permits and zoning.
Other towns already have made similar moves. McCordsville, Cumberland, New Palestine and Wilkinson have their own planning and building department and boards.
Fortville has at most 18 months to leave the county plan commission, said town attorney Alex Intermill. Council members said Tuesday they hope to start the new planning department by Jan. 1, 2020.
Adam Zaklikowski, planning administrator for Fortville, told the council last month that a town planning and building department would not only result in creating a plan commission and board of zoning appeals, but added positions such as engineers, building inspectors and an administrative assistant.
Engineering and building inspections could be outsourced with permit fees offsetting the consultant costs, Intermill said. The town will also need to develop its own zoning code, which Intermill said can be adapted from current Hancock County zoning code to better fit Fortville.
The costs associated with the department won’t be determined until the process moves forward over the next several months. Zaklikowski asked town officials to keep costs low.
Michael Frischkorn, town council president, said developing the department will be a growing process for town officials and the public. He said it’s a way for the town and its residents appointed to the plan commission and board of zoning appeals to have more local control over development in Fortville.
“We also need to be sure we build a system that we can get what we need now, while recognizing that we’re going to grow,” Frischkorn said.
Nearly 70 building permits were processed for Fortville in 2018, the highest for the town of 4,000 in recent memory, Zaklikowski said. Fortville also has three subdivisions in the works, totaling more than 500 lots. Zaklikowski said developers regularly contact the town about housing developments.
Councilman Robert Holland said while he initially had reservations about the town not being able to appoint a member to the county plan commission, he said the amount of growth in Fortville as of late means the town needs to be accountable for future development.
“If we stay out and get out ahead of (growth),” Holland said, “then it’s all on us.”
