Zionsville High School To Get New Stadium

The Zionsville Community Schools will soon be receiving a brand new multi-purpose stadium, additional practice fields and parking northwest of the high school along County Road 875 to improve the school’s athletic facilities.

After 4 four years of debate, the Zionsville Community School Board of Trustees finally decided to give the go ahead for the $14 million project.  The project will be funded by a bond that was granted in 2005 by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.  The best part is that this project will NOT add new debt, and will not result in higher taxes.  Win-win.

The project currently calls for a 5,000 seat multi-use stadium and it could be completed as early as next fall.  Three multi-use practice fields will be added to the east of the stadium where the current football stadium and practice fields are located.

I know there are some detractors out there, but personally I think this is a great move for Zionsville.  One of the most important things in a community in schools.  Zionsville currently has arguably the best academic school district in the area.  Continuing to invest in the schools both academically and extracurricularly is a wise move IMHO.

What are your thoughts?  Is this is wise use of the bond?

Plan of Reorginization Passed

If the first meeting about the reorganization of Zionsville, Eagle and Union Townships is any indication the unification of the three entities referendum may pass with very little opposition. About 35 gathered at the first of several meetings to discuss the possible unification and no one spoke out against the measure.

The meeting was led by Zionsville Town Council woman Michelle Barrett who urged the attendees to vote yes to the referendum on the November 4^th ballot. She made clear that this is not an annexation, but a voluntary reorganization of the three governments. Taxes, laws, and ordinances will not change. The only immediate changes would be that the Union and Eagle Township trustees would become part of the Zionsville town council and planning and zoning would be controlled by Zionsville, not the county.

The Plan of Reorganization was passed, individually by the Eagle Township Board, the Union Township Board and the Zionsville Town Council. The Plan will be placed before the citizens on the November 4, 2008 ballot. You can view a complete copy of the reorganization plan on the Boone County Community Network site.

Zionsville Considers Buy Downtown Real Estate for Parking Lot

The town of Zionsville is considering purchasing a piece of real estate in the downtown area as they look to “beautify” the downtown district.  The piece of property in question is the former Shell station at the intersection of Main and Pine Streets and now sits as an empty lot.  The town council has agreed to hire two appraisers to get a value on the land to determine if the town does indeed want to purchase the lot.

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The site was formerly approved for a combination luxury condominiums and retail space back in 2004, but the current owner has cited the current slow down in real estate as the reason for the project’s delay and he has also expressed interest in selling it.  Town Manager Ed Mitro says the site would be used for a permanent paved parking lot to alleviate parking problems currently affecting the downtown area.  It is estimated that the site could hold spots for 36 parking spaces.

It will be interesting to see what the appraisals come back at, but my initial thought is that this is too prime of real estate to devote to a parking lot.  I understand the need for parking, but how much are 36 spaces worth?   Maybe this is just one of those things, like a new roof on your house that you desperately need but hate to fork over the cash for such a mundane item.  I might be crazy but, now seems like a great time to build something like the condo/retail space that was originally proposed.  It will take several years to put something like this together and by then the real estate market will be back in full swing.  Of course, it is not my money on the line:)

What do you think?  Parking lot? Condos?  Should the town buy it?

IN 334 Road Closure Will Be A Headache

A road closure scheduled for Zionsville in May 2009 is already causing some residents, businesses, public officials to grumble about the affect on the community.  INDOT will be replacing a bridge on IN 334 between Ford and Cooper Roads starting in May 2009 which will take approximately 5 months to complete.  The problem that is causing angst among the community is that during those 5 months 334 could be closed for 120 days or more.

“There are going to be times when that road is completely inaccessible” says Wes Shaw an INDOT engineer.  Motorists will be redirected to go south on Ford or Cooper roads and then cut over on Hunt Club to bypass the construction.  The police and fire departments say complete closure raises concerns about public safety during the closure while business owners are concerned about lost traffic and revenue due to the construction.

The INDOT representative says all concerns will be taken into consideration and there will be another public meeting held at the beginning of the year.  However, it seems that Zionsville motorists who travel 334 (an estimated 10,768 daily) will have to seek another route from May to October 2009.

Zionsville Market Report – September 2008

Here is what happened for all Zionsville Indiana real estate and homes for sale in September 2008 for homes under $700,000:

	2007	2008	% Change
Active	N/A	270
Homes Sold	33	30	-9%
Average Selling Price	$335,236	$300,865	-10%
Days on Market	72	79	10%
Price Per Square Foot	$130	$115	-12%

Not a great month for Zionsville real estate; both the number of homes sold is down and the average sales price is down. It is also taking longer to sell a home in Zionsville this year. The average days on the market is up 10% or 7 days over last year. I still think that 80 days to sell a home in this market is not bad at all. The absorption rate, or number of months supply of homes, ticked up a little bit from last month’s 7.85 to 8.04.

Even though the numbers look pretty sad for Zionsville homes, I have faith in the market. What I know is that Zionsville, like Carmel, offers a great lifestyle to its residents and people will always have a desire to live in Zionsville.

Zionsville, Boone and Union Consider Merger

For those that don’t know, Zionsville, Eagle and Union Townships are embarking on a bold move that would unify all 3 government entities into one consolidated and significantly larger Zionsville.  The move, if passed, would geographically make Zionsville roughly 5 times larger than its current size.  The population would increase from around 12,000 to almost 20,000 residents.

The measure to combine everything into Zionsville will be up for vote on the November 4th ballot.  According the Indy Star “If the reorganization is approved, the new town would have rural and town districts, with different service and tax levels for each. Town residents would pay higher taxes, but receive police protection and street maintenance from Zionsville. Rural residents would see their property taxes rise 5-7 percent, but would pay less than town residents.”

There are several upcoming meetings to discuss the possible merger:

-7 p.m. Oct. 14, 9703 Hunt Club Road.
- 7 p.m. Oct. 16, 10245 Oak Ridge Drive.
- 7 p.m. Oct. 20, Stonegate Grand Hall, 6653 Westminster Drive.
- 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22, 7251 Hunt Club Lane in Irishman’s Run subdivision.