New Albany City Council Meeting — May 4, 2026

The New Albany City Council held its regular meeting on Monday, May 4, 2026. The clerk called the roll and all council members were present. The council approved the prior meeting minutes, heard councilmember recognitions and a public safety committee report, took public testimony on a proposed moratorium extension, passed that ordinance on second reading by a 7-2 vote, and heard non-agenda public comment, including a funding request for cooling stations.

Consent Calendar

• Approved the April 16, 2026 regular meeting minutes unanimously. The motion was made by Ms. Murphy and seconded by Mr. Phipps.

Council Communications & Recognitions

• Councilwoman Collier recognized MSL3 day, an ultra-rare genetic disorder; her great-nephew was the 42nd person diagnosed with it.
• Mr. Phipps noted that May is Military Appreciation Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, and Older Americans Month.
• Council members reminded the public that May 5, 2026 was Election Day in Indiana, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; a ride line was provided at 812-725-2020. Voting sites mentioned included the fairgrounds, New Albany High School, Floyd Central High School, Georgetown Elementary, Prosser, Nova Park, and the New Albany Library.
• Mr. Ungar announced the Southern Indiana Arts Alliance presentation of Shakespeare's Pericles on May 9 at Bicentennial Park.
• Mr. Blair asked about News and Tribune reporting on CDBG funds: $100,000 to New Albany for administration and planning and $314,000 for public facilities improvements. Staff explained that CDBG administrative funds reimburse the city for staff time, salaries and benefits, consulting, supplies, advertising, and similar costs tied to CDBG work; the public facilities funds supplement programmed improvements. Staff also said the money pays for budgeted staff rather than new hires.
• President Dickey referenced NF Awareness Month and noted that his wife and son have neurofibromatosis. He also highlighted the redevelopment commission's annual CDBG action plan, which funded 13 projects, including New Directions Emergency Repair, homeownership assistance, CASA of Floyd County, Hope Southern Indiana, and LifeSpan Resources.

Committee Report: Public Safety and Traffic

• The committee met on April 27, 2026. Members Golman and Fitzgerald were present; Phipps was absent. The committee reviewed feedback from a library listening session. Key themes were a need for increased enforcement and infrastructure investment.
• Concerns raised by the community included semis speeding and using side streets, including Corb Avenue and Mount Tabor; school-zone speeding; vehicles passing buses while loading or unloading students; cut-through speeding on Rose Lawn; speeding on 8th Street near the cemetery; wrong-way parking; and requests for a children-in-play sign and improved crosswalk and pedestrian safety at Vincents/Culbertson and on Spring Street.
• The committee plans to hold these listening sessions quarterly.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Daniel Gerkin, 2104 East Elm Street, spoke on G26-03. He agreed the city does not need more dedicated short-term rentals, proposed rescinding all short-term rental permits and recreating them through a lottery, and asked whether rule or process changes had been explored. He also argued that the city needs affordable multifamily housing and mixed-use, walkable developments and said extending the ban pushes problems into the future.
• Zachary White appeared in opposition to the extension. He said he is part of the construction industry and warned that no one-year moratorium he knows of has avoided extension; he argued that extending the moratorium discourages multifamily investment and lengthens project timelines. He cited the Oxbow and Pageant developments as projects that had begun planning before the moratorium.
• Cecil Kubli, 1926 Eakin Avenue, thanked council members who attended a morning press conference and announced Civic Saturdays: summer volunteer mornings, community lunches, and afternoon civic-engagement and electoral-participation trainings.
• Paul Snyder, pastor at Central Christian Church, 1315 East Spring Street, requested $15,000 from the city for cooling stations: $10,000 for a coordinator, $2,000 for TARC bus tickets, $2,000 for Culbertson Baptist Church building expenses and utilities, and $1,000 for food and water. He proposed one centralized location at Culbertson Baptist Church, open seven days a week during extreme heat, and said transportation was the main remaining barrier. He noted churches had operated stations since summer 2024 and were stretched thin.

Discussion Items: G26-03 — Moratorium Extension, Second Reading

• Mr. Phipps introduced G26-03, an ordinance extending the temporary moratorium on construction of non-owner-occupied multifamily housing structures and on issuance of permits for short-term rentals under ordinance G24-02. The Development and Annexation Committee had forwarded it unanimously after meeting earlier that day.
• Mr. Wood said the moratorium should remain until the new zoning ordinance is in place. He gave a tentative timeline: stakeholder meetings in July, a presentation to the Plan Commission in August, another stakeholder meeting in September, a Plan Commission vote in October, council consideration in November, and possible rescission by January 1, 2027. The ordinance allows up to a year, but he hoped the extension would last only about seven months.
• Mr. Wood explained that short-term rentals are regulated by state statute, so the city could not eliminate them outright or enact a lottery; limiting the total number would be difficult, but the city could adopt separation requirements and would do what it could to limit concentration. He also said limiting supply can raise costs, while a flooded market can lower them.
• On the zoning rewrite, Mr. Wood said the ordinance has 10 chapters; four are the core chapters: definitions, zoning districts, permitted land uses, and development standards. Definitions were finished and in legal review; land use and zoning components were about 65-75 percent complete. Staff are doing most of the work in-house.
• He gave an example of the new approach: an older home set back three feet could add an addition at three feet by right instead of requiring a variance if a new standard says five feet.
• Councilwoman Griffith asked why the work was delayed; Mr. Wood said the council adopted the comprehensive plan in December, and the zoning rewrite depends on it. He cited housing data: 46 percent of New Albany housing is renter-occupied, while in 1960 the split was 65 percent owner-occupied to 35 percent renter.
• Mr. Wood said stakeholders would include council members, people nominated by the council, mayor, Plan Commission, and BZA, plus development community and neighborhood association representatives. A stakeholder group had not yet been formed.
• Mr. Blair asked for adequate review time and to be among the first to receive the draft. Mr. Wood committed to having the ordinance at 95 percent status this summer and available to the council by mid-September.

Key Outcomes

• The council approved the April 16, 2026 minutes unanimously.
• G26-03 passed on second reading by 7 ayes and 2 nays. Mrs. Golman and Mrs. Griffith voted no; Mrs. Golman said the city needs affordable housing for people earning around $20 per hour and put people over profits, while Mrs. Griffith repeated her concern about delays. The ordinance moves to third reading at the next regular session.
• No ordinances were on third reading, no resolutions or board appointments were introduced, and no administrative items were presented.
• The $15,000 cooling-station request was heard during non-agenda public comment and did not receive an immediate vote or commitment.
• The meeting adjourned by a unanimous voice vote.