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BAGI’S GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS Working Hard on Your Behalf
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What do you think of when you hear the term “government affairs”? For some of you, I’m sure it’s a Bill Clinton reference; for others, it may bring up sentiments of silly political squabbling or endless regulation. For me (and BAGI!), government affairs provides the industry the opportunity to work with local jurisdictions on items that impact our ability to do business. And guess what? It doesn’t just
affect our builder and developer members - it affects every product supplier and service provider, as well.
Each day, our surrounding communities are developing policies that dictate how residential development must occur. In more cases than not, these policies involve additional costs and time that restrict our ability to provide housing products that meet market demand.
This is why the BAGI government affairs team meets regularly
with staff and elected of cials from targeted jurisdictions in the region to discuss items relating to the development industry. In 2015, BAGI Government Affairs participated in more than 40 meetings with local jurisdictions. Topical discussions included such items as the following:
• City of Indianapolis, Department of Metropolitan Development – Indy Rezone land use ordinance rewrite and Visitability/Accessibility standards
• City of Indianapolis, Department of Code Enforcement – inspections and permitreview
• Duke Energy – scheduling concerns, timeliness of inspections
• City of West eld – engineering standards, architectural standards, certi cate of occupancy
• City of Fishers – Low Impact Development standards, long- range planning
• Indianapolis Power and Light – unique challenges of downtown development and multi-family housing issues
• Citizens Energy Group – transition of the utility to Citizens Energy in West eld, obstacles to development
• Town of Brownsburg – Subdivision Control Ordinance rewrite, engineering standards ▫ CityofNoblesville–“growth boundaries”, expanding housing options, addressing Council concerns
• City of Greenwood – bond requirements, forthcoming online permitting
• Town of Whitestown – comprehensive plan, growth opportunities
If you are interested in becoming more involved in BAGI’s government affairs work, please call or email KateC@bagi.com. We welcome the opportunity to get more members engaged!