Local Issues

  • Achieving Efficiencies in Local Government Services
    Local taxing units should evaluate opportunities to share in the development of community assets and services. Some of these opportunities may require intergovernmental agreements, some may require restructuring government operations entirely. Examples could range from the purchase of equipment to the merging of whole departments such as assessors, or moving from County Council and County Commissioner structure to County Council and County Administrator. Opportunities for improved efficiencies should be a part of a continuous improvement plan for all taxing units in Elkhart County.
  • Bike/Pedestrian Routes
    Recognizing the growing popularity of bicycle transportation as healthy, cost effective alternative to traffic congestion and rising fuel prices, and the economic development value of bike paths as a quality-of-life amenity, the Goshen Chamber of Commerce encourages local government to consider bike/pedestrian routes in road improvement projects and new sub-divisions.
  • Development of Mill Race/Downtown
    The Redevelopment Commission and River Race Committee have made significant progress in developing the Mill Race and Lincoln Avenue areas. The Chamber supports continued implementation of the plans outlined in the Ball State Study. The county storage barn on Lincoln Avenue no longer fits the character of the area and should be relocated as soon as possible. The city should also begin the search for a new city street department site. The Chamber also recommends that plans for development of the Mill Race complement the efforts being made to improve the Downtown area and implement the HyattPalma Study.
  • Facilitating Highway Transportation on Goshen's South Side
    The Chamber encourages Elkhart County and the City of Goshen to collaborate on the project of providing sufficient means for motor vehicles to travel between U.S. 33 and C.R. 17 on the south side of Goshen. The plan should include a grade separation somewhere along the Big 4 railroad tracks. The plan should also include an extension of new C.R. 17 south at least as far as C.R. 142. The plan must accommodate truck traffic as well as commuter traffic serving the major employment centers on the south side of town. The Chamber objects to wasteful unilateral expenditures of public funds on road and bridge projects which are not part of an agreed city-county plan for highway transportation on the south side of the city.
  • Land Use Regulation in the City of Goshen
    The Chamber supports land use regulation to guide future development. The Chamber further believes there is need to amend existing ordinances that become inconsistent with forward-looking vision that the city leaders share with the citizens of Goshen. First, the Chamber supports regulations that require the owners and occupiers of properties to maintain those properties. Second, the Chamber supports enforcement of regulations at the entranceways to the city. Third, while the Chamber supports land use regulations to guide future development it ask the efforts be made to minimize the creation of non-conforming uses when passing new regulations. The grounds for amortization of nonconforming structures and uses should be uniform and consistent; not imposed on any particular structures or particular uses.
  • Smart Growth
    The Chamber supports the wise use of land by concentrating growth around the existing urban areas of Elkhart County, thereby ensuring that new residential, commercial and industrial development has the benefit of city utilities and other city services while maintaining farm land and open spaces as much as growth will allow. In addition, we would encourage the county and our cities and towns to coordinate their planning efforts to reinforce smart growth and the efficient uses of infrastructure and other community resources. Also, we encourage strict enforcement of restricted access to the newly improved CR17 and its further extension south; we support the elimination of exemptions to the county subdivision ordinance; and we oppose the creation of county-wide or rural regional sewer districts that would facilitate nonurban residential growth.
  • US33 Reconstruction
    The Goshen Chamber is of the opinion that this reconstruction project must include a grade separation from the north/south alignment of the Norfolk Southern Rail Line that currently crosses US33 at Madison. This rail line divides the east and west sides of Goshen and causes a series of traffic issues in our community at a location that includes our high school and an elementary school. Currently a grade separation is only shown on the US33 reroute which follows the east/west railroad tracks around downtown. Unless the grade separation is incorporated in another option this would be our preferred route.
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