Ballard: Indy Rezone Major Accomplishment of Second Term

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard says a major overhaul of the city’s zoning regulations is one of the biggest accomplishments of his second term in office.

Indy Rezone passed the City-County Council last month. There wasn’t much fanfare, but this was a multi-year undertaking for economic development officials in Ballard’s administration.

"That was a huge effort. That was one of the big, big things we wanted to get done this term. That was a tremendous effort by a lot of people," Ballard said in an interview with WFYI.

Indy ReZone encourages walk-ability, public transportation and mixed-use and minimal-impact development. It consolidated more than a dozen different code documents down to a single zoning plan.

"We haven’t done that in 40 years, anything of that magnitude so that was huge, to be able to get that through the council," he said. "I appreciate the council doing that."

Ballard says there are a just a few tiny tweaks left to finalize the Indy Rezone before it’s implemented.

Support for Chuck Brewer

Ballard admits his support for the Republican candidate to succeed him has been a little quiet. But he says he’s been backing fellow GOP member Chuck Brewer in the campaign for mayor.

"Every candidate has to get his name out there, not my name," Ballard said. "I’m the guy leaving, not the guy coming in. Every candidate has to get his own name out there. I think we’ve helped him quite a bit, certainly financially and I’ve been with him at quite a few venues."

Ballard gave Brewer $400,000 from his campaign account in February.

Ballard and Brewer share similar backgrounds. Both are former Marines and neither have a long history in politics.