Council adopts 8th Street action plan; zoning workshop set for May 4

The Indiana Borough Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2026-03 to formally adopt the 8th Street action plan as a framework for future development along the corridor from Philadelphia Street to School Street.

Member (speaker 6) moved to approve the resolution and the motion was seconded and adopted by verbal vote. The plan is intended to improve communication with partners, support grant applications and create safer routes to and from the nearby university.

Council staff also announced a zoning ordinance update (referred to in the meeting as the ZOOP) that has been under review for two years; a public land-use workshop tied to the update is scheduled for Monday, May 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Staff said the zoning effort and the 8th Street plan will be used to support future grant applications and stronger university partnerships.

During the meeting the police chief outlined a traffic-signal modification project with a traffic-control engineering firm (Bentley) planned to start in April and finish in June, introducing a 'steady red pedestrian phase' at several intersections when a pedestrian activates the crosswalk. The chief said traffic data counts are in progress to measure pre- and post-change volumes.

Other planning items: the borough has requested a county-level housing study and is seeking grant funding for stream-bank stabilization and parks improvements. Council members also discussed the municipal-league resolution deadline of April 1 for any resolutions they might wish to submit to the league for advocacy at the state level.

Next steps: staff will host the zoning/land-use workshop on May 4, proceed with traffic-signal engineering and continue coordination with county planning on the housing study.