Sen. Doriot has introduced SB 90 which would limit the development planning powers of local government. In particular, it dictates that a unit of local government cannot require the donation of right-of-way to the unit as a condition of permitting subdivision of a parcel. Instead, if the unit wants the right of way, under this legislation, it needs to buy the right of way from the developer. Unless I’m missing something, this is a bad idea. Large parcels of agricultural land don’t make the same kind of demands on public infrastructure as land that is subdivided for (usually) residential purposes. So, it’s entirely appropriate for a local unit of government to regulate the subdivision process to require that the developer make certain concessions that will offset the demands and reduce the costs to the public.
In this case, the proposed legislation would likely encourage the development of subdivisions that open up onto narrow county roads that were adequate for agricultural uses but were never intended to serve more intensive uses. Alternately, the taxpayers of the unit of government would have to pay to acquire additional right-of-way in order to serve the development that the landowner probably just made a bundle off of carving up into residential lots.
Sure seems like there are a number of developer friendly bills these days.
I think Indiana has long been friendly to developers. And I don’t think that’s an entirely bad thing. There’s a balance to be struck between having an incentive to make land ready for more economically productive uses on the one hand and keeping the land and community livable on the second.
You don’t want a system where it takes a decade’s worth of red tape to maybe be able to develop land. But you also don’t want a system where the developer externalizes all kinds of costs to make a quick buck.