HANCOCK COUNTY — Officials in Greenfield and Fortville have finished creating riverfront districts, a move that will allow them to issue more liquor licenses in hopes of attracting more businesses to key areas.
Indiana municipalities are allowed a certain number of alcoholic beverage permits. There is no limit, however, within a riverfront development district, which state law says can be established within 1,500 feet of waterways. The districts are meant to serve as an economic development driver. Permits do not include those that package stores would need, but rather establishments where alcoholic beverages are served, like restaurants.
Despite the name, communities in Indiana have found success creating the districts along smaller waterways, prompting Greenfield to pursue one along Brandywine Creek and Fortville along Stottlemeyer Ditch. Greenfield’s got its final approval at the city’s redevelopment commission meeting on Monday, June 15, and Fortville’s got its final approval at the town council meeting later that night.
“The goal is, again, to develop those areas primarily for commercial and entertainment purposes, and the main incentive to that is to have an expanded number of liquor licenses… available,” said Gregg Morelock, Greenfield city attorney, at the city’s redevelopment commission meeting.
Both districts were approved unanimously
Joe Smith, chairman of the Greenfield Redevelopment Commission, told the Daily Reporter that he supports the district because it opens up possibilities.
“It gives us some options to be able to take care of new businesses coming in,” he said.
Morelock told the Daily Reporter that he’ll prepare guidelines for the commission to consider for adoption by which to vet future applicants for alcoholic beverage permits.
Riverfront applicants would have to get county and state approval as well.
Riverfront development districts have to not only be within 1,500 feet of a waterway or floodplain, but within a tax increment financing, or TIF, district as well. A TIF district is another economic development tool where taxes generated by new development get set aside to fund improvements in the district.
Fortville’s TIF districts are in the southern part of town near and along Fortville Pike and County Road 200W as well as spanning along much of State Road 67, which runs northeast and southwest through town. Parts of them fall within 1,500 feet of the ditch.
Greenfield’s riverfront development district is downtown, along parts of Main Street and much of the commercial area along State Street north of McKenzie Road. Some of it falls within existing TIF areas. Greenfield officials have decided to establish a new TIF district to take in what’s not already in the existing TIF areas. It would be the city’s third TIF district. The others are downtown and in the northwestern part of the city.
Because taxes from new development in TIF districts go toward improving the district, they get diverted from taxing units they’d otherwise go to, like schools.
Harold Olin, superintendent of Greenfield-Central schools, said during a public hearing for Greenfield’s riverfront development district that he’s a longtime Hancock County resident and a proponent of progress.
“As a representative of the school corporation, I would be remiss if I did not share some concern about a third TIF district pulling dollars away from the schools for capital projects and other things along those lines,” Olin said. “I certainly would be OK with that concept if I knew that some of those dollars were going to in fact make themselves back to the schools, which has not been the case from the previous two TIF districts.”
Paulette Richardson serves on Greenfield’s board of zoning appeals and plan commission and voted in favor of the riverfront development district when the plan commission considered it. While she supports the district, she also shares Olin’s concerns.
“As I understand it, there is a provision under the TIF legislation that you can share money with other local units of government, and I would encourage you and hope that you would share, especially with the schools,” she said to redevelopment commission members.
McCordsville officials continue to consider a riverfront development district along a legal drain as well.
