LAND USE

Engagement with land owners and the Metropolitan Board of Zoning Appeals, the Land Use Group of Service monitors proposed development within the SRA area to promote responsible planning as designated by the city of Indianapolis.

The Metropolitan Development Commission designates the Sargent Road area as an Environmentally Sensitive Area with a Residential Corridor reserve. In 2018, when the Comprehensive Land Use Plan of Marion County was last updated, we successfully advocated for the SRA area to be designated a “Rural or Estate Neighborhood” (see Lawrence Township Map).

For more information about this, see the MCS’s Marion County Land Use Plan.

These documents guide what land uses might be appropriate in our community and are the basis for our advocacy to protect the character of the SRA area.

• Protect the aquifer & our city’s drinking water

• Protect the wetlands

• Protect the woodlands

• Keep development densities to no more than 1 unit per acre

• Avoid soil erosion by minimally developing, if at all, the slopes of the Valley

• Protect Mud Creek & its flood fringe

• Preserve open space

• Promote designated Urban Conservation

• Closely scrutinize development

Our areas of focus regarding land use in the Mud Creek Valley include:

• Storm water management

• Poorly draining soils that can be unfavorable for development in certain areas

• Encouraging successful and appropriate development

• Sewer overflow controls

• Flood mitigation

• Protection of the Mud Creek Conservancy Land Trust Easement

• Protecting Mud Creek and adjacent flood plain, flood fringe and wetland areas

Major drainage improvement projects were undertaken by DPW in 2020 along 75th Street as it enters Sargent Road. There are still significant drainage concerns along Sargent Road and the Mud Creek.