Ripley Co. APC sends back proposed downtown ordinances

(VERSAILLES, Ind.) – Three Ripley County towns will take another look at their proposed downtown overlay ordinances following a long meeting on Tuesday night.

The Towns of Milan, Osgood and Versailles each submitted similar ordinances to the Ripley County Area Planning Commission (APC) and they

Those draft ordinances would prohibit street level and first-floor residential uses in a specified overlay district in those towns. 

The ordinances would also give landlords 60 days to fill the first-floor residential unit if a tenant leaves. 

Town officials say the ordinances wasn’t created to target certain properties, but to rather protect the future of those specified areas in an effort to continue attracting businesses and other opportunities. 

However, some property owners in the affected areas describe it as government overreach.

The meeting was fiery at times with several opponents discussing their concerns with the proposal. Opposition was voiced to the 60-day vacancy period, their investments and ability to resell the properties, and that they weren't given timely notification of the ordinances.

Versailles Town Council member Roxanne Meyer described the Town's reasoning behind the ordinance. Watch here:

The APC Board did not advance any of the draft ordinances as currently written last night. Those draft ordinances will now go back to the towns to be reconsidered and possibly resubmitted. 

Several APC board members cited the 60-day period as not being enough time to fill vacancies, especially when damage has occurred in one of the units. 

Altogether, the meeting lasted for 4 hours when it ended at 11 p.m. 

The next Ripley County APC meeting is set for 7 p.m. on August 4 at the county annex building.