New Albany Board of Zoning Appeals meets the first Tuesday of each month at 7.00PM and the New Albany City Plan Commission meets the third Tuesday of each month at 7.00PM in the Assembly Room (331 City-County Building).
Click HERE for the 2016 Monthly Meeting Schedule for the Plan Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals. The schedule includes hearing dates for the year, as well as deadlines for filing, technical review meeting dates (staff only reviews to assure applications are complete), completion of legal notices for publication dates, and Legal Advertisement dates.
About the New Albany City Plan Commission
The New Albany City Plan Commission is an 11-member body representing the citizens of New Albany in matters of Comprehensive Planning, Subdivision Control, Zoning, Annexation, Site Planning and Development, and other community development matters. Five citizen members are appointed by the Mayor of the City of New Albany; two represent the Unincorporated Two-Mile Fringe Area and are appointed by the Floyd County Commissioners; one is a seated member of the New Albany City Council; one is a member of the New Albany – Floyd County Parks and Recreation Board; one is appointed by the New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety; and, the City Engineer serves by virtue of his or her office.
The New Albany City Plan Commission assists the New Albany Historic Preservation Commission. More information about the New Albany Historic Preservation Commission can be found here.
The Plan Commission also assists the New Albany Tree Board. Contact Krisjans Streips for more information at kstreips@cityofnewalbany.com for assistance.
The Plan Commission and its staff provide expertise in comprehensive planning, historic preservation, geographic information systems, economic development, annexation, housing, and transportation planning. Staff members routinely report to the Plan Commission and provide planning and zoning information to government officials, real estate professionals and the public. Plan Commission staff members also represent the city on regional planning boards such as the Ohio River Greenway Development Commission, Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency (KIPDA), and River Hills Economic Development District and Regional Planning Commission. Other major areas of responsibility include transportation planning, environmental planning, zoning ordinance preparation, development review, subdivision review, permitting, and zoning enforcement.
About the New Albany Board of Zoning Appeals
The New Albany Board of Zoning Appeals is a five-member, quasi-judicial body responsible for authorizing Land Use Variances, Development Standards Variances, Special Exceptions, and Conditional Uses throughout the City and the Two Mile Fringe Area. The Board consists of five members, three appointed by the Mayor of the City of New Albany, one appointed by the New Albany City Council, and one member of the Plan Commission representing the Two Mile Fringe Area.
The Board of Zoning Appeals is quasi-judicial – meaning that they act as judges – therefor state law prohibits a person from contacting a member in the five (5) days prior to a BZA meeting with the intent of influencing a member with regard to an item on the Board’s agenda. However, the staff of the BZA may provide the members with written reports about items on the agenda and that may contain opinions about authorizing or denying requests. Such reports may be delivered to the members during the five day prohibition period.
Q. How can I get copies of the Plan Commission/Board of Zoning Appeals’ meeting agendas?
A. We send out an email blast in the five days prior to their meetings. Contact Sara Smith at ssmith@cityofnewalbany.com to be placed on the email list. If you don’t have an email account, call Amber at our office and she’ll add you to our regular mail list.
Q. What is my property zoned?
A. You can find out at this website map. Please note, however, that only a letter from the Plan Commission staff serves as an Official Zoning Verification. You may contact our office if you need such verification.
Q. My bank is requiring me to buy flood insurance but it has never flooded here. Why do I need flood insurance now?
A. You can view Flood Insurance Rate Maps for New Albany and Floyd County here to determine whether your property is at risk for flooding. New digital maps are coming on-line soon and it is possible that your property will be included in a Special Flood Hazard Area when those maps become effective. Congress has also tightened the rules on lenders compelling them to require flood insurance.
If your property is in the flood plain but you believe that the lowest finished level of your structure is at least two feet (2’-0”) above the flood plain, you can contact the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) about completing a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR). You will need a survey of your property to certify the lowest finished floor elevation of your structure. An Indiana-registered engineer or surveyor will be required to complete your LOMR request.
Learn more about flood insurance here.
Q. Do I need a permit to erect a fence and how tall can my fence be?
A. Yes, you do need a permit to erect a fence in New Albany and the fee is $35.00. A fence in the front yard can be no taller than four feet (4’-0”) and, from the front plane of the house to the rear property line, the fence cannot exceed seven feet (7’-0”). Other rules apply to fences: you may contact us to learn more.
Q. Does an action by the Plan Commission or Board of Zoning Appeals outweigh the Protective Covenants of my subdivision?
A. No. Protective (or sometimes Restrictive) Covenants are private agreements to which the City of New Albany is not a party, and the actions of those bodies does not overturn the covenants.
Q. I would like to open a second daycare. Do I need zoning authorization first?
A. Yes, presuming you cannot live in two places primarily at the same time. Indiana law permits a “child care home” (or a home daycare) in your “primary residence” without zoning approval. Indeed, state law also prohibits Protective or Restrictive Covenants from disallowing home daycares in residential subdivisions. So, any daycare in a structure that is not the owner’s primary place of residence requires zoning authorization.
Q. Our neighbor is seeking a Variance. Can we submit a petition to get the Variance denied?
A. Petitions have been important tools for showing community support or opposition throughout our history. You may submit a petition to the Board of Zoning Appeals opposing a Variance. The Board, however, is required by law to focus on the criteria in state statute that must all be met before a Variance can be authorized. A referendum is not among the criteria, which can be found here.
Q. We would like to remodel our home and wonder whether you have copies of the original construction plans?
A. There is very little chance that we do – if your home was built in the past 50 years or so and needed special zoning authority — we might have them. If your home is older than 50 years, we do not have them.
Q. My mother-in-law is getting older and can’t maintain the family home anymore. She would like to sell that home and move in with us. Can I convert my garage to a home for her?
A. So called “Granny Flats” are becoming popular throughout the country as our population becomes older but are still able to live independently.
In New Albany, there may be the possibility to convert a garage for such use as a right of your property. Otherwise, you will need authority to do so from the Board of Zoning Appeals. Keep in mind that garages typically are not constructed for human habitation, so significant work may be necessary to bring them into compliance with state and local dwelling codes.
Q. I need to have a property address assigned for my property. Whom do I contact?
A. The Plan Commission is responsible for assigning addresses in the City of New Albany. You can find a request form here kstreips@cityofnewalbany.com.
Q. My neighbor is running a business at her property. How do I file a complaint?
A. You may file a complaint with the Plan Commission staff, or send an email here ssmith@cityofnewalbany.com.
Q. When will the Ohio River Greenway be finished?
A. The Ohio River Greenway is a regional planning effort by the cities of New Albany and Jeffersonville, and the Town of Clarksville, working together with the Ohio River Greenway Development Commission and the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District. The Greenway will link the waterfronts of the three communities along the Ohio River from West Tenth Street in New Albany east to Walnut Street (near JeffBoat) in Jeffersonville, a distance of nearly seven miles.
The project is estimated to cost approximately $42 million dollars, to be made up of 50% from the Federal Government (through the Army Corps of Engineers) and 50% from “non-Federal sponsors”. In plain English “non-Federal Sponsors” means the local communities have a minimum of $21 million dollars to raise toward this project, both from private partnerships as well as public funding. City Plan Commission staff have been successful in securing grants from the Indiana Department of Transportation (InDOT), and the New Albany City Council has used local funds for part of the project as well. Two additional InDOT sources of funds have been secured to build the next segments (between East 18th Street and East 8th Street). Construction on those segments should begin in 2012.
The final segment, from the Sherman Minton Bridge (I-64) west to West 10th Street, will be in design by 2013, if local and Federal funds can be secured.
Q. Why can’t the K&I Bridge be opened for bicyclists and pedestrians to link our Greenway with the Louisville Loop?
A. The Kentucky and Indiana Terminal Rail Road Bridge is owned privately by the Norfolk-Southern Railway Corporation and there is no public right-of-way on the bridge. The cities of New Albany and Louisville are working cooperatively to accomplish a bicycle/pedestrian path on the eastern roadway of the bridge to connect both greenways. Discussions are on-going.
Last modified: August 3, 2015