County seeking more public input for planning; Up timeline to create committee addressing land usage

Dubois County Commissioners, through the firm, American Structurepoint, is asking residents, workers, and business owners to complete a second survey as part of the county’s ongoing Comprehensive Plan update, building on a first round of outreach that drew more than 1,000 responses earlier this year.

Dubois County Commissioner Chad Blessinger discussed the survey at the regular meeting Monday, saying the county introduced it to the public online last week and had an information booth Thursday at the Patriotic Party held in Jasper’s Jaycee Park.

According to Blessinger, the Mid-States Corridor was the top concern raised in the first survey. He expects solar, data centers, and land use to dominate feedback this time around.

The survey asks residents to weigh in on the county’s future land use, housing needs, transportation and infrastructure priorities, economic development, parks and recreation, and agricultural and rural character. Questions ask residents to identify the top issues facing the county over the next five to ten years and to share their vision for how and where future growth should occur, whether concentrated in existing communities like Jasper and Huntingburg or spread more broadly across the county.

Housing questions focus heavily on where new development should be encouraged and what types of housing — from starter homes to senior housing — should be prioritized as the county’s population ages. The survey also gauges public opinion on land-use regulation, asking whether the county should maintain its current approach or move toward more formal zoning and subdivision rules, and includes a direct question on how the county should handle utility-scale solar development going forward.

Zoning has come to the forefront as the county is being asked to further regulate solar installations, battery energy storage systems, and data centers. The survey addresses those issues directly.

Blessinger said the county is also planning a broader public meeting open to the entire community, a shift from earlier stakeholder-specific sessions held with business groups, public service providers, and individual community groups.

On the county’s solar moratorium, set to expire in December, Blessinger said he was concerned about how quickly the Comprehensive Plan was being completed.

“My goal, or my thought, has always been this comprehensive plan will narrow down what the community wants to do with land use and zoning, those kind of issues, and once that was done, then we would set that committee up in earnest to move forward with whatever we were going to do,” Blessinger said.

But citing public feedback — including a letter to the editor and other resident concerns — he said the plan is moving slower than expected and that committee work should begin concurrently with the plan rather than waiting until it is completed.

“I don’t want us to wait until November,” he said.

He told the other two commissioners they should start discussing the establishment of that committee this month and both agreed.

Blessinger didn’t confirm how the county would move forward with forming that committee. But he pointed to members of the public in attendance as potential candidates, citing their continued involvement and engagement on existing solar energy projects.

In the meantime, the new survey is open to anyone who lives, works, or owns a business in Dubois County and can be found at the following links:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Duboiscomprehensiveplansurvey

In Spanish: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/comprehensiveplansurvey-spanish