Thursday, April 24, 2025
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Shelbyville High School students in Mrs. Kimberly Thurston’s Introduction to Culinary Arts and Hospitality classes take a hay ride Tuesday while on a field trip to Orem Family Farm, CR S 250 W. | photo by ANNA TUNGATE
County Plan Commission Approves Updated Comp Plan, Short-Term Rental Amendment
The Shelby County Plan Commission on Tuesday passed an update to the 2019 Comprehensive Plan, an amendment to the Short-Term Rental Standards and a couple of rezone and simple subdivision requests.
Consideration of a revised comprehensive plan had failed to advance at last month’s meeting, with plan commission members debating the merits of three proposed maps for the Morristown area: Map A, which reduces industrial-zoned acreage in Morristown by 89 percent; Map B, which proposed adding several hundred industrial acres adjacent to the landfill; or Map C, a compromise between the two positions.
Plan Commission member Jason Abel said a majority of the residents in the area were in favor of “prudent limits on industrial growth” and said the Town of Morristown wasn’t precluded from annexing land. Once Map A was included on a 6-1 vote, the plan updates were approved, 7-0.
The Short-Term Rental amendment, applicable to unincorporated areas of the county, offers guidance to homeowners requesting a variance regarding terms of the ordinance, such as the number of people allowed to occupy the home. Plan Commission members noted that while state law tells local governments not to overly restrict short-term rentals, the State Department of Health has septic rules that seem to put the two entities on different pages. The amendment received a favorable recommendation on a 6-1 vote, with Andrew Newkirk opposing, and now will be considered by County Commissioners on May 5.
Also, the commission approved rezoning 1.49 acres at 7764 N 625 E, Shelbyville, from residential estate to single-family residential to allow for a two-lot simple subdivision, and a simple subdivision to create a 5.6-acre building lot and a waiver of subdivision standards. No development exists near the property; the Speedway Solar Farm is located about one-fourth of a mile south.
Finally, the board approved rezoning 1.2 acres near 4372 S. Smithland Road, Shelbyville, from residential estate to village residential to allow for a one-lot simple subdivision, and a simple subdivision of a 1.2 acre building lot from a 3.6-acre parent tract and waivers of subdivision standards. Neighbors expressed concerns about drainage, which will be considered in the site plan process. County Surveyor Jeff Powell said there were legitimate concerns about the Smithland Tile, and that they would be considered at next week’s Drainage Board meeting.
A request to rezone about one-fourth of an acre at 6184 W 900 S, Edinburgh, was withdrawn prior to the meeting.
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NOTEBOOK:
Local school administrators cleaned up at the recent Indiana Association of School Principals (IASP) District 10 Principal of the Year awards, named at each school level, and one Assistant Principal of the Year. The District 10 winners were Bri Kompara, Shelbyville High School, Assistant Principal of the Year; Erin Tilley, Hendricks Elementary, Elementary Principal of the Year; Wes Hall, Shelbyville Middle School, Middle School Principal of the Year; and Amy Dawson, Shelbyville High School, High School Principal of the Year. “I have been a member of District 10 for over 20 years and I do not recall a time in which all of the winners were from the same school district,” SCS Superintendent Dr. Matt Vance said. Each winning administrator will now compete against the other district winners for the state Principal and Assistant Principal of the Year awards, to be announced in November.
The 15th annual tree giveaway will be this Saturday, 8:30 - noon, at the Blue River Memorial Park splash pad. Available species include White Pine, Black Cherry, Black Oak, Swamp Chestnut Oak, Tulip Tree, Bald Cypress, Ninebark and PawPaw. Limit five trees per person.
Shelby County Democrats this week met to discuss a variety of initiatives, including their recent monetary “Growing the Workforce” grant donation for a senior student graduating from the Blue River Career Programs welding program. Democrat meetings are open to the public. The next one is May 27, 7 p.m., in the Shelby County Public Annex. Attendees are encouraged to bring canned good items to support Beacon of Hope Food Pantry in Shelbyville.
HOOSIER NEWS: The City of Bloomington’s carbon emissions are on a gradual decline, according to its Climate Action Dashboard. The city has a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050, outlined in its Climate Action Plan, passed in 2021. Mayor Kerry Thomson said the city dedicates $1.6 million annually for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. (Indiana Public Media)
NATIONAL NEWS: A survey found that 48 percent of teenage respondents claim social media has a “mostly negative” effect on people their age, which was up 16 points from when the question was asked in 2022. The percentage of respondents who said that social media has a “mostly positive” effect on their fellow teens fell from 24 percent in 2022 to 11 percent in 2024. Overall, 45 percent of teens said they spent too much time on social media. That said, while 48 percent said social media was generally negative for people their age, only 14 percent said it was negative for them personally, and 28 percent said it was mostly positive for them personally. (Pew Research Center)
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SHS Courier Archive Highlights
April 23, 1958
Prom queen candidates were announced. The girls were Marty Kuhn, Rose Linville, Carol Riser and Judy Wagner.
Purdue University Professor J.R. Mitchell was announced the speaker of the upcoming SHS commencement ceremony.
Courier staff members Sue Denison, Paula Houston and Betsi Thurston, along with other high school journalism students throughout the state, interviewed actress Esther Williams at the Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel in Indianapolis. Williams said her philosophy was, “The busiest people seem the most relaxed.” She argued that there should be a pool in every high school. “A blind child can’t do anything in an uninhibited way…swimming gives him exercise which his body needs.” She added, “Swimming is much more beneficial than football.”
The prom committee asked for cottage cheese cartons, broom handles and trees, to be used for decorations.
Jack Krebs and Ronnie Richardson were named winners of the Paul Cross Award. It was the fourth time in the 39 years of the award that co-winners were named.
This Day in Shelby County History
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated by The Addison Times from Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department materials.
2005: Officials with Tasty Gyros announced plans to open at the site of the former Hardees restaurant on S. Harrison St.
1995: Fire destroyed a hog barn at the Joe Harker farm near Waldron. A faulty heater was blamed. Waldron firefighters were on the scene for two hours.
1985: After numerous parent complaints, Morristown eighth grade graduation ceremonies were back on. The school had earlier decided to end the ceremony since it had changed from a simple event to one of elaborate new clothes and post-ceremony parties. One parent had noted that students went through four ceremonies - kindergarten, sixth, eighth and 12th grades. However, the board eventually said the decision was made too late, and they opted to keep the 8th grade graduation.
Rick Lightfoot was named head football coach at Shelbyville High School to replace Randy Robertson, who had resigned to accept a position at Goshen. Lightfood had previously coached at Churusbusco, where his team was Class A state runner-up two years’ prior.
1975: Dan Theobald had been the highest sales producer for Peoples Home Life Insurance of Indiana in 1974, qualifying him for the company’s national convention in Las Vegas.
1965: Nearly 300 people honored retiring Shelby County School Superintendent Thomas Fogarty at the final annual banquet of the Shelby County Teachers Association. Fogarty had worked in education for 54 years, starting in a one-room school. He had been county superintendent since 1929. The teachers surprised Mr. and Mrs. Thomas and Matilda Fogarty with a color TV. Robert Mull, who was introduced as “the only teacher in the Eastern district with tenure,” talked about Fogarty’s impact on the district. Fogarty said he planned to “sit in a rocker on my front porch (473 W. Hendricks St.) for the first six months (of retirement). The second six months I’ll start rocking.”
1955: J. Lawrence Reece and Fred Taylor announced the formation of Laurelstone Corporation, which would quarry and mill stone veneer from a site just south of Waldron.
1945: Frank Haltom, Shelbyville, was seriously wounded in action in Iwo Jima. He was an Aviation Radioman Third Class in the Navy.
1935: A man from Illinois who had been panhandling here was arrested. Special Judge Ralph Adams had him taken to the north edge of Shelbyville and told not to step back inside city limits.
1925: Plans were set for graduation at Manilla High School, which had its largest-ever class of 19 seniors.
The temperature was 93 degrees. Thomas VanCleve reported a valuable brood sow died from the heat, leaving nine small pigs to be raised by hand.
1915: The S.B. Morris Co. store held a free corset-fitting demonstration.
A couple who had been in numerous fights were back in court. The man had been in prison, and warned that additional complaints would lead to a return trip. However, police said the man was doing “the best he could under the circumstances” and that his wife was “doing all in her power to get her husband sent back to the prison.” Mayor Schoelch and Judge Blair said both of them would wind up in jail if they came back to court.
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OBITUARIES
None today.
Noted that the home of the Fogerty's was at 473 W. Hendricks St. Never realized that because that is where my parents last lived in Shelbyville.