This page aims to be an information clearinghouse for Hobart residents opposed to city plans to re-zone farmland at 61st Avenue and Colorado Street to M-1 (manufacturing). The information gathered in this challenge is for the benefit of the public so that Hobart residents might better learn where candidates for Hobart city government stand on a key local issue. The followers of the No Re-
Zone Facebook Group reserve their right as citizens to speak for themselves and vote for the candidates of their choice. No Re-Zone members continue to object to last year’s decisions by the Hobart Plan Commission and Hobart City Council to re-zone 157 acres of farmland at the southeast corner of 61st Ave. and Colorado St. from R-3 residential to M-1 light industrial, and:
Whereas: No Re-Zone members also seek revision of the city’s 2016 master plan map and ordinance, which underpin a city proposal to re-zone to light industrial 660 acres of farmland south of 61st Avenue on both sides of Colorado St., including the157-acres above. Therefore: To educate and inform the citizens of Hobart, with a hope to undo damage already done and create a better future for our city, we challenge all Hobart candidates for mayor and city council to:
SIX CHALLENGES
1) PLEDGE to pursue legal ways to reverse the city council vote in 2022 and return those 157-acres to residential zoning as a starting point for any future development.
2) PROMISE to work to repeal and revise those parts of the 2016 master plan ordinance and map that call for 660 acres of farmland south of 61st Ave. on both sides of Colorado St. south to 69th Ave. to be re-zoned from R-3 residential to M-1 light industrial, so that the revised master plan and map call instead for non-industrial uses in that area.
3) JOIN US in a public appeal to land owners and developers for a pause in requests for re-zoning in the above 660-acre area until after a new council and mayor are seated in 2024 and a revised master plan is completed.
4) CALL FOR the city’s new Hobart Comprehensive Master Plan, now being prepared, to make no recommendation for industrial zoning in the 660 acres referenced above.
5) SUPPORT RESIDENTS' request for restoration to the intersection of 69th Avenue and Colorado Street the “No trucks” sign for southbound Colorado removed by the city when the roundabout was constructed.
6) PLEDGE support for the formation in 2023 of an ad hoc Citizens’ Advisory Committee (hereinafter CAC) comprising a cross section of concerned Hobart residents. Tasks of the CAC will be: to hold public meetings, gather information, measure public opinion and make recommendations to the new mayor, plan commission and city council on a new vision for land use in that 660-acre area. CAC recommendations shall be delivered to the mayor, plan commission and city council and be considered for incorporation into the new comprehensive master plan map and ordinance. Candidates only need respond once, on this page. By not participating, candidates may be presumed as opposed or indifferent to this challenge. For a full listing of results and other news, look to the No ReZone page where candidates' responses will be re-posted and compiled.
