On March 4th, I recorded and posted a podcast with Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness and his Chief of Staff, Jordin Alexander.  They both made the case supporting a proposed ordinance limiting the number of rental homes available in any individual Fishers subdivision at 10% of the homes located in that neighborhood.  Listen to the podcast at this link.

IndyStar opinion editor and columnist James Briggs has weighed-in on this issue, and let’s just say he is not supportive of the city’s proposed ordinance.    You can read the Briggs piece at this link. (The Star does have a paywall but sometimes makes exceptions for opinion pieces, so you are welcome to try the link if you are not a Star subscriber)

Mayor Fadness argues that residents of these neighborhoods did not buy their homes expecting 30-40% of the residences to be rental properties.  He views the proposed ordinance as a way of addressing that.

Briggs brings a completely different perspective to the issue.  He says all this ordinance will do is cutoff families that cannot obtain mortgages, due to tighter lending standards, from living in a single-family home.  As to the argument that out-of-town investors and Wall Street hedge funds are buying up homes, Briggs asserts the solution is holding landlords accountable for the condition of their properties.  He also cites NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) thinking as one reason Fishers is proposing this idea.

If you want to know more about the city’s plans for this ordinance, Jordin Alexander will be hosting a Webinar at noon, Monday, March 10.  You can register and submit questions at this link.

Also, a group describing themselves as Fishers citizens plan to conduct a Town Hall later that same day, Monday, March 10, 6pm, at the Hamilton East Library Center Stage/Meeting Room.  This group appears to oppose the city’s rental cap ordinance.

Based on comments made during the May 4th podcast by the mayor and Ms. Alexander, it is not likely the City Council will take up the rental cap ordinance in March, and is more likely to vote on this proposal in April.