Four towns opt into county zoning standards

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With the recent approval of the Roachdale Town Council, four Putnam County towns have opted into the new Putnam County unified development ordinance (UDO).

This means that planning and zoning regulations will be uniform for all unincorporated areas of Putnam County as well as for Bainbridge, Cloverdale, Roachdale and Russellville.

The City of Greencastle will continue to operate under its own zoning ordinance, while the Town of Fillmore will continue without zoning.

“This will assist the builders and developers that come into the county as the rules within the county and the participating incorporated areas have the same rules and regulations,” County Plan Director Lisa Zeiner said.

In addition to opting into the newly-codified UDO, the towns of Cloverale, Roachdale and Russellville will also be joining the rechristened Area Plan Commission, formerly known as the County Plan Commission before the towns joined.

In this arrangement, each of the three towns will opt out of having its own plan commission and instead appoint one member to the county-wide commission.

Bainbridge leaders have not yet decided on what they will do with their plan commission, though they could also dissolve their commission and get an appointment to the Area Plan Commission.