Editor,
Noblesville’s draft 2020 Comprehensive Plan will soon be in front of council for approval. While it is chock-full of planning buzzwords and feel-good objectives like “Smart Growth” and “Complete Communities,”a look into the details reveals further reinforcement of the developer-focused mentality of city leadership. The following are just a few of the action steps:
- “Streamline the city’s review and approval process … reduced impact fees, fee waivers for infrastructure hookups, property tax abatements, density bonuses, and expedited permitting”
- “Offer incentives to developers.”
- “Relax … land use restrictions or the various architectural, bulking, massing, open space, or setback requirements.”
- “Eliminating the current Noblesville Architectural Design Guidelines and Architectural Review Board and associated processes.”
Noblesville has become the high-density, low-income city of Hamilton County. We have lower median household income than neighboring communities and declining home ownership rates. This 2020 plan looks very pretty and will probably win awards considering how many trendy concepts it includes. But by no means is this a “comprehensive” plan for the city – 230 pages, and only one page for job growth and one page for business growth. This is not a comprehensive plan, it’s a 2020 Noblesville Developers Handbook written by developers, for the benefit of developers.
Tim Hamashuk, Noblesville
