Published: October 31, 2009 11:26 pm      

Planning regulations play important role

Those involved in the local planning effort got together last week to discuss their various roles and smooth out any ruffled feathers remaining from a recent sign controversy.

From all indications, the meeting accomplished its goal.

We all want the city to thrive, but we don’t want development that is helter skelter. This is not the wild west.

The local review process is in place to help the community achieve a vision. The planning department doesn’t simply set arbitrary rules aimed at making things difficult for local businesses.

What too often happens is that property owners come up with a project and then go to the planning department seeking approval of a finished plan. What they should do is go to the planning department with a concept and find out what the rules will allow.

The planning department is there to help. Staff members understand the regulations, and they have no problem helping residents and businesses to navigate them.

People involved in the planning process are not there to create obstacles. They are in place to help Logansport become the community its residents want it to be. Planning department staff members are trained professionals, and they deserve to be respected.

The members of the planning commission, downtown development review board and board of zoning appeals are volunteers who give of their time to help in making Logansport a better place to live.

They don’t do these jobs to be the taste police or to make life harder for local businesses. They do them because they care about Logansport.

Some applicants might argue that they should be able to do whatever they want. They’re writing the checks, and they own the property they’re proposing to develop.

The fact is, though, that we’re all part of a larger community. We’ve chosen Logansport as our home, and we all have a vision for what we want it to become.

The rules are in place to protect that vision.

Some have suggested that Logansport should learn from the example of Nashville or Carmel or Zionsville or some other community, but skeptics respond that Logansport is none of those communities. It’s Logansport, and what it is now is what it always will be.

That’s a short-sighted point of view.

No vision will become reality overnight, but with persistence and imagination, this community can become what its residents want it to be.

All we need to do is establish the ground rules. And then follow them.



The issue

A recent sign controversy has resulted in confusion about the role of planning and zoning regulations in the community’s development.



Our view

Local planners are trained professionals working to help our community achieve its vision.