Committee Gives Recommendations on Buffer Zone Yesterday

These recommendations come after the first public meeting which was held on February 19.

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(Madison, Ind.) - The members of the two-mile buffer zone board met last night in their third meeting to discuss the solution that the

These recommendations come after the first public meeting which was held on February 19.

The buffer zone refers to the area that surrounds the City of Madison and the Town of Hanover, the city officials have been discussing this area since late last year.

In the last meeting, the board found the common theme that residents kept bringing up was the topics of infrastructure, benefit, and lack of representation. The board then came up with five solutions that they hope will help with these issues.

They suggested that the Jefferson County Commissioners reverse the rescission in the meeting on March 5, they hope to improve education regarding roles at both the city and the county. This would be done by having the attorneys draft a publication to post on the city’s website, along with an FAQ and contact information.

With these two things the board is hoping that it will allow residents to better understand the reasoning for the buffer zone.

They also suggested the county should extract its nuisance provisions from its zoning ordinance and enact it as a separate ordinance so that it is enforceable by the county, also the suggest amending the city ordinance regarding the Board of Zoning Appeals memberships to designate one of the Mayor’s appointments to also be a resident of the buffer zone.

They are hoping that by making an appointment of the buffer zone it will allow for more representation so that when things come up about the buffer zone these people will be able to speak for those living in the zone through personal experience.

Lastly, they are also suggesting modifying the GIS overlay so property owners can determine if their property is in the buffer zone. With this suggestion, the board is hoping that this will limit the amount of confusion on who the residents need to call when they have questions about certain things, or who they need to speak to when it comes to nuisance calls.

These suggestions are things that the board will be working on in order to help solve the issue of the two-mile buffer zone.