CROTHERSVILLE — An annexation proposal that’s expected to be adopted in August will nearly double the size of Crothersville.

All of those areas currently are under the county’s planning and zoning jurisdiction, but if the proposal is approved and the town establishes its own planning and zoning ordinance, then it would have control of what could and couldn’t go in those areas and other parts of the town.

Jamy Greathouse, vice president of the Crothersville Town Council and a member of the Crothersville Redevelopment Commission, said the commission recently reestablished a TIF district and accepted the proposed annexation expansion into a new continuous TIF district. That board also discussed setting up planning and zoning.

“There are about 10,000 ways to look at this,” he told the council during a recent meeting. “You can go to larger towns that have way less regulations. You can go to smaller towns that have way more regulations. They are anywhere from a 54-page planning and zoning ordinance to a 250- to 300-page planning and zoning ordinance, depending on how much detail.”

The only other Jackson County municipalities with a planning and zoning ordinance are Brownstown and Seymour.

“I don’t think the county’s (ordinance) covers everything that we’re probably wanting to do,” Greathouse said. “There is some leniency in some of those areas as far as in town that we wouldn’t want to adopt. … But at the same time, Seymour’s is much more regulated than what I think we currently need down here. I believe there’s a happy medium somewhere in there to protect us but also give us some leniency for some growth and development.”

He suggested putting together a committee to develop a planning and zoning ordinance that is comprehensive and works well for the town and for future development.

That committee would include two council members, two commission members and two members of the public. Greathouse said it would be good to include the town’s utility director, Mason Boicourt, in reviewing the ordinance to ensure everything is covered.

The plan would determine what areas are deemed appropriate for housing, industries and businesses.

“This is a substantial amount of land that will be going into it (if the annexation is approved),” Greathouse said. “That’s currently 90% agricultural now, but once that adoption gets put through, it can change in no time. If we don’t take action before some of those things take place, we’ve already learned how difficult it can be to change them once they are established.”

The council approved setting up a planning and zoning committee on a 4-0 vote. President Jason Hillenburg was absent.