The Fishers Plan Commission voted unanimously Wednesday evening to send a favorable recommendation to the City Council on ordinance changes governing the city’s impact fees.

The action is required by changes approved earlier this year by the Indiana General Assembly as part of House Enrolled Act 1001. The new state law places additional requirements on local governments that impose impact fees on new development to help pay for infrastructure needs created by that growth.

One of the key changes involves the membership of the city’s Impact Fee Advisory Committee. Although the mayor will appoint members of the committee, the new law gives industry organizations a major role in who is selected.

Under the new requirements, the committee must include community members representing a single-family builder, a multifamily builder and a realtor. Those members must be selected based on recommendations from the statewide trade associations representing each of those industries.

The ordinance change before the Plan Commission amends the city’s existing Impact Fee Advisory Committee provisions to bring Fishers into compliance with the new state membership requirements.  The details of how the appointment process will work is not yet available from state officials.

HEA 1001 also places new limits and conditions on how impact fee zones are structured. For impact fees imposed and collected after June 30, 2026, local governments must ensure the impact zone has a functional relationship to the infrastructure being funded, provides a reasonably uniform benefit throughout the zone, and consists of contiguous areas.

The law also requires that the impact zone be connected to the new development, tied to certain utility service or distribution lines, or located within five miles of infrastructure related to road or drainage impact fees.

Impact fees are generally charged to new development to help pay for infrastructure improvements needed as a result of growth, such as roads, drainage and other public facilities. Cities such as Fishers have used those fees as one tool to help growth pay for some of the costs it creates.

The proposed Fishers ordinance is designed to update local language on impact zones and the advisory committee so the city may continue collecting impact fees under the revised state law after the June 30, 2026 deadline.

With the Plan Commission’s favorable recommendation, the ordinance change now moves to the Fishers City Council for final consideration.

There were no comments during the public hearing.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Plan Commission President Howard Stevenson praised Angie Frazier for her service on the Plan Commission, as well as the city Arts Commission.  Mr. Frazier has served on the Plan Commission since 2024 as an appointee of Mayor Scott Fadness.  Wednesday was her last session as a Plan Commission member.