After months of work, meetings and survey questions, the Innsbrook Planning and Zoning Commission approved the village’s new comprehensive plan at its June 11 meeting. 

The plan will replace the village’s 2013 comprehensive plan and is set to be accepted by the village’s board of trustees at their June 17 meeting. 

The plan was approved unanimously 4-0 following the appointment of new commissioner Cynthia Cook. Commissioners Bernie Cosby and Jerry Rust were absent. 

Prior to the approval, Commission Chairman Allen Huddleston thanked Village Planner Todd Streiler for his efforts on the comprehensive plan. 

“We’re very glad to see that come to culmination and a lot of hard work and we officially as the village want to extend our gratitude and thanks,” said Huddleston. 

Streiler was quick to credit the commissioners and village residents for their roles in the development of the comprehensive plan as well. 

“I’d go so far as to say that the residents of Innsbrook were the co-authors of this plan,” said Streiler. 

He was referencing the survey distributed to village residents asking questions about what kind of future they would like for their hometown, which received a strong response rate of roughly 30% of village residents. 

Prior to the plan’s approval, a public hearing was held for residents to voice any additional questions or concerns about the plan. 

Future land use map

Donna West, a resident of the village and member of the board of trustees, raised questions about the future land use map included with the plan. She was concerned that the boundaries depicted in the map did not accurately reflect certain parcel lines and new roads. 

The future land use map acts as a guide for updates to the village’s zoning code and maps out the village's vision for future development within certain areas of the village, including what type of development it would like to see, and where. 

Streiler assured her those discrepancies would be addressed, but noted that those are issues with the village’s base map, which is a separate document from the future land use map and needs to be fixed independently. 

“It’s not necessarily a parcel by parcel map,” said Streiler. “It generally shows where we envision certain growth and preservation areas.”

Huddleston also pointed out they plan to address the discrepancies with the base map, but it was not relevant to the passage of the comprehensive plan. 

Residents also requested that the plan be amended since the outline of future land uses included names for potential zoning categories that did not exactly match with the uses spelled out on the future land use map. 

The majority of the uses spelled out on the map do not envision any significant changes to the village’s current state, with the Innsbrook Resort property listed as low-density residential, most of the property outside of the gates listed as agricultural forest management and the intersection of Highways F and M listed as highway commercial. 

One area that raised questions was the proposition of a mixed-use development area near the intersection of Routes F and M. 

Streiler said they had worked with the Innsbrook Corporation, which owns several parcels within the planned mixed-use area and is working on a plan for further development in the area. He said they had hoped to release the comprehensive plan in conjunction with the resort’s new master plan, but unfortunately those plans will not be completed until at least the end of summer. 

The future land use matrix included in the comprehensive plan recommends that the area surrounding the intersection of Routes F and M be targeted for the development of multi-family housing, and condos along with retail options like entertainment and dining. 

Moving forward

Streiler noted that his contract as village planner ends with the month of June and Huddleston said the village is still considering whether or not to extend him. 

Streiler said he has submitted an “evergreen” proposal to continue with the village if they decide they still require his services. 

Following the board of trustees acceptance of the comprehensive plan, other projects remain including the revamping of the village’s zoning code to reflect guidance from the future land use map and necessary updates to the village’s base map.