Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations Regular Monthly Meeting - February 18, 2025
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Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations Regular Monthly Meeting - February 18, 2025
This regular monthly meeting of the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations (McCana) was held on February 18, 2025, at North United Methodist Church. President Kathy Burton welcomed attendees and introduced the mayor's neighborhood advocate, followed by presentations on the comprehensive plan update and the Mayor's Action Center operations. The meeting featured detailed discussions on land use planning, city services, and community engagement.
Mayor's Neighborhood Advocate Announcements
- Susan Martinez, mayor's neighborhood advocate for the near northwest side, announced that the Blue Line bus rapid transit project has broken ground, connecting Indianapolis International Airport to Cumberland via downtown along I-70. A virtual meeting was scheduled for Monday, February 17.
- Martinez read a statement from the mayor's office and DPW regarding snow operations: Mayor Hoxett has instructed Indy DPW to adopt a four-inch standard for plowing residential streets, with a formal plan to be introduced during the 2026 budget process.
- She also noted the Children's Museum's 100th anniversary events, including a Ferris wheel opening March 15, and promoted Neighbor Power Indy on March 8 (registration via INRC.org).
- Note: The meeting date is provided as February 18, 2025, per instruction, though the transcript references "this Monday, the 17th" and a third Saturday schedule, creating a discrepancy.
Discussion Item: Comprehensive Plan Update
- Logan Lane, administrator of long-range planning for the Department of Metropolitan Development (DMD), presented an overview of the ongoing comprehensive plan update, which establishes the vision for Indianapolis' land use and zoning.
- Key points:
- The land use pattern book and map are being updated, integrating about 20 older neighborhood plans (from 2008–2016) that were previously excluded.
- Considerations include Bus Rapid Transit corridors (Red, Purple, Blue lines), floodways, and new technologies like data centers.
- A cultural equity plan is being developed for the first time, aiming to incorporate arts, sports, entertainment, and diverse cultural needs (e.g., multi-generational housing).
- Public engagement will include one meeting per township (nine total) plus one countywide meeting, planned for late spring/early summer 2025. McCana requested additional outreach and broadcast on Channel 16.
- Discussion and questions from attendees:
- Jim asked about forestry and wetlands preservation; Lane responded that township meetings will address specific needs.
- Attendee raised concerns about density ranges in residential zoning, noting that developments always choose the high end, and asked for better promotion of lower-density options. Lane acknowledged the issue and suggested improving the pattern book.
- Kathy and Jim highlighted the problem of pre-existing zonings (e.g., industrial on farm fields) that surprise residents when redevelopment occurs. Lane noted nonconforming uses and the need for better planning.
- Attendee questioned the dominant role of a few developers and whether the cultural plan addresses this. Lane said the engagement plan includes diverse stakeholders, including developers, health professionals, and neighbors.
- Jim commented on the lack of transparency in early developer-city discussions; Lane agreed that more transparency is needed and said he would relay the feedback.
Discussion Item: Mayor's Action Center (MAC) Overview
- Alex Rolo, administrator of the Mayor's Action Center (also known as 311 or Request Indy), explained operations, case types, and 2024 statistics.
- Three case types:
- Switchboard: Calls transferred to other agencies (400+ agencies); only via phone.
- Service Request: Automatically sent to DPW, BNS, or ACS; available via Request Indy, app, or phone.
- Information Case: For agencies without direct software integration (e.g., IMPD, OCC); entered by phone only.
- 2024 Statistics: 173,000 cases total; 8,067 calls answered in January 2025 (with only 10 staff).
- Tips from the MAC team: Provide specific addresses; check case status by calling before re-submitting; understand that MAC transfers reports but does not perform the action (e.g., pothole repair).
- Addressed concerns:
- Long wait times acknowledged; urged use of Request Indy or walk-ins (City-County Building, 21st floor, 8am–5pm).
- Walk-ins are accepted; no voicemail after hours; Mayor's Neighborhood Advocates can be contacted for evening assistance.
- Cases can be tracked via Request Indy, but notes may be unclear; call MAC for details.
- For non-smartphone users: phone and walk-in options remain available.
- Staffing: MAC has 15 positions (12 CSRs, 2 managers, 1 administrator) and currently has vacancies, but turnover is low.
Key Outcomes
- Logan Lane committed to returning for future updates as the comprehensive plan process progresses.
- Alex Rolo offered to share printable materials and will continue outreach to community groups; she encouraged invitations to more meetings.
- McCana will continue to host monthly meetings on the third Saturday; next meeting March 15, 2025 (speaker TBA).
Meeting Transcript
Good morning. For those of you who are in the room, but for everybody watching on Channel 16, this is the regular monthly meeting of the Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations. My name's Kathy Burton, and I am the current president. I would like to just briefly for those of you who may be seeing us or watch or joining us for the first time. McCana is a 501 C3 that was founded in 1990 and is a coalition of neighborhood and homeowners' associations from all over Marion County. And our purpose is to provide information to neighborhood groups about issues that may impact them as well as provide an opportunity for neighborhoods to connect with each other, share experiences, provide support. We often find that no matter where we live, there are some issues that are specific to our neighborhoods, and then there are other issues where we can share with each other events that we've been through, ups and downs of things that we've tried to address issues. So we hope that McCana can help make that connection for neighborhoods. We meet on the third Saturday of every month from 9 to 11 a.m. at North United Methodist Church, which is at 38th and Meridian. We would like to oh, except we do not meet in December. So if you come the third the third Saturday of December, there are lots of activities going on in the church, and I'm sure they would welcome you, but McCannna won't be here. So we would like to thank Channel 16 for continuing to record our programs and making them accessible to people on Channel 16 and Channel 28. I understand that they what they're up and running, they're streaming, and I still don't understand all the technical aspects of that, but but I think that means you can watch whenever you want to. And we would also like to thank North United Methodist Church for providing us with the meeting space, and we invite people to bring with them a non-perishable food item to leave here for the church's food pantry to help contribute to and support their community outreach efforts. Our next meeting will be on Saturday, March the 15th, and I'm sorry I cannot announce the um speaker yet. I'm still working on that. I thought I had somebody lined up, and and as those of you who are here as our speakers today, we all know Saturday mornings are tough sometimes for people to come out and around, but we appreciate everybody who is here. With that, I'm gonna ask if there are any announcements of issues that are upcoming, and I am so sorry. We want to welcome, we are once again going to be have the mayor's neighborhood advocates. Is that the right term now? We'll have one with us each month. So if you have issues that you would like to bring directly to the attention of the city, um now's a time when you can come and catch one of those mayor's neighborhood advocates and speak with them. And I am so sorry. Um I I got your name, but I didn't write it down. So if you could introduce yourself. Yes. Um everyone, good morning. Um, my name is Susan Martinez. I am the mayor's neighborhood advocate for the near northwest side of town. So this this area that we're in, I go from um the White River to Fall Creek, and then from 16th Street up to 38th Street. And if people want to get hold of you, how do they reach you? Yes. So you can find us on our MD.gov page if you look up um Mayor's Neighborhood Advocates. You can find all our contact information on there. And for me specifically, um, you can reach out to me through email. Um, my email address is Susan.martinez, the number two at ND.gov. Keep it. I'll just keep it. Okay. All right. And I had told Delia when we were making arrangements for you to come that if you had any announcements of upcoming events or updates from the city that you would have an opportunity to do that. So is there any information that you want to share about things that are happening? Would you like me here or why don't you come on up so that you can take advantage of the microphone? You can just hang right there in front of a table if you want to. Okay. Right there. Okay. Okay. Yeah, and the camera's right there, so you gotta hear.
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