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IndyIMBY is a field guide to how Indianapolis gets built — and a nudge to participate. Here’s the landscape in five minutes.
Who decides what
- Metropolitan Development Commission (MDC) — final say on rezonings and major approvals. Meets the 1st and 3rd Wednesday.
- Hearing Examiner — hears most rezoning petitions first and issues recommendations.
- Boards of Zoning Appeals (I, II, III) — variances and special exceptions: the small permissions that make infill possible.
- Plat Committee — subdivisions of land.
What the case numbers mean
2026-ZON-045 is a rezoning. DV/UV/SE are variances and special
exceptions. PLT is a plat. The live map color-codes
all of them and links every marker to its agenda.
Why “yes”
More homes near jobs, transit, and Main Streets means lower rents, stronger small business, and a bigger tax base carrying less pavement per person.
Wondering about your own lot?
Type what you want to build — a daycare, a fourplex, a corner store — into What can I build? and the map shows where zoning already says yes, where it takes a hearing, and where it takes a rezoning.
Do one thing
Search your street on the tracker. If something’s filed nearby, read it. If you like it, say so out loud.