Restrictions to Interstate 69 development were approved Tuesday night, but an announcement not on the agenda came with little surprise at the Marion City Council meeting.
"To my understanding, it's no secret," said attorney Joe Musser, when asked why an alley off of South Western Avenue needs to be vacated. "A Sonic drive-in is planned for that location."
The drive-in chain restaurant will be at the east side of the 3200 block of South Western Avenue, where the former American Pest Professionals building is. The City Council unanimously approved that an alley be vacated to make way for the restaurant.
Much of the meeting, however, covered economic development on the east side of town - at the intersection of Ind. 18 and I-69.
The council unanimously approved that a new overlay district be put in place, which will set guidelines in place for lot sizes, landscaping, businesses and more.
Much of the discussion about the overlay came at a committee meeting before the regular meeting.
"The question we've got to ask ourselves as a city is, are we going to be just a fuel stop along the interstate, or are we going to be a destination point?" Mayor Wayne Seybold said to council members. "I'm excited about being a destination point."
Seybold and Aletha Dunston, city planner, told of the importance of the overlay in that it would allow the city to control growth. While some new businesses could be restricted - such as auto parts stores, tire sales, housing and outside storage facilities - Dunston said those could still come to the area, but they would need to be approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals first.
Seybold emphasized that not all of the property in the overlay is city property, and in no way is the city trying to overrule county domain. He said if landowners voluntarily annex their property to the city, it would automatically be in the overlay district and the new rules would apply.
Dunston said it's often businesses that have large parking, outside storage or excess lighting that the city wants to keep an eye on, so that if they're allowed, they would be placed in a way that would maximize the space and aesthetic appeal of the area.
Mike Egan, founding member of Marion Land Development - the company bringing Veriana Networks and more to the intersection - said he was in favor of the overlay.
"If we're going to put multimillion dollar buildings out there, we're not going to have something next us that's going to decrease our property value," Egan said.
Land owner Rex Stelzer and real estate agent Paul Milford were at the committee meeting to speak against the overlay. Stelzer said that while he agreed with some of the rules, they could also hinder growth. He said at the later meeting, however, that he could understand why the overlay is in place.
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