What a mess. So much traffic, so much retail development, so many housing additions that don’t connect with each other, those property taxes, no downtown, unplowed neighborhood streets, and did I mention all that traffic?
Whenever someone in other Hendricks County communities wants to point to something as an example of what’s wrong in community development and local government, Avon is their go-to. And that really isn’t fair. None of it is Avon’s fault. That’s not an excuse; it’s a simple fact.
You won’t find a town council or a (surprisingly small) town staff working harder to make their community a better place to live. But those town leaders and residents have inherited a mighty challenging legacy which they didn’t create and over which they had no say.
While Avon’s been known by that name for better than a century, it didn’t become an actual legally incorporated town until 1995 — less than three decades ago. And, because residents didn’t want to deal with all the legal hoo-hah and the inevitable consequences incorporation would bring (like town taxes), they gave up control over their community’s destiny.
For example, suppose a developer had wanted to build a massive apartment complex where Pine Tree Elementary now sits. Nearby residents had few opportunities to push back. As long as the proposed project met the county’s zoning and minimum standards, the county would be required to approve it, sometimes with little consideration for existing developments or the capacity of local roads. Beginning to understand the disconnected network of separate subdivisions that all empty onto the same narrow strips of asphalt?
While only small sections of Washington Township agreed to incorporate initially, as residents increasingly became aware of the benefits of incorporation, many housing additions and landowners have asked to be annexed. There are still pockets of unincorporated Washington Township that are surrounded by the town but not legally part of it. Other Washington Township landowners chose to have their property become part of Plainfield or Brownsburg before Avon had the opportunity to annex them. This is the patchwork the town’s current leaders inherited and are enthusiastically working to improve.
As for U.S. 36, Avon gets a pass there, too. Everyone complains, but few complainers realize Avon’s government has zero control over its main thoroughfare. It’s a state highway, managed by the Indiana Department of Transportation. Frustrated with construction tie-ups or stoplight timing? That’s on INDOT, not Avon.
So the next time you feel like directing an angry expletive at Avon, maybe you’d be better served by sending a supportive prayer for the town’s leaders.