Picture this: You’re walking through your neighborhood and see that empty lot has a bright orange sign poking out from the overgrown grass.
Something about a public hearing.
Cool. Someone’s building something. Right? Or they’re trying to?
Here’s how to make sense of those “PUBLIC HEARING” signs and get more information about development in your neighborhood.
First, the case number
Public hearing signs are part of the process to let people know someone (a developer, for example) is planning a project that the city’s planning commission will have to approve. The land might need to be rezoned, or the developer might need permission to build something a little bigger than what zoning rules allow.
Public hearing signs are supposed to go up at the same time as legal notices, which are required 23 days before a hearing. Every project gets at least one hearing.
The only thing you’ll need to get from a public hearing sign is the case number, which is on the bottom left.
Write it down or take a picture.
The first part of the case number is the year, followed by the case type. For example, ZON means rezoning and VAR means variance.
To the internet you go
Your next stop is a city website that shows all of the different meetings that deal with development.
Pro tip: You can get to the website easily by just Googling “Indy DMD meetings.” DMD stands for Department of Metropolitan Development.
At the top right of the page, you can put in the case number and search. You can also try searching the address.
Either way, you’ll likely get a bunch of results. Most of them won’t be what you’re looking for.
You can narrow the search by selecting “Search for exact matches” and filtering by year.
Once you click on the meeting with your case, you’ll be sent to a page with different agenda links to choose from. The “agenda packet” will have the most information, including a report prepared by a city planner.
Keep in mind that the website is imperfect. Sometimes, the case you’re looking for simply won’t show up.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for
You can always call or email the city’s Department of Metropolitan Development. Just have the case number ready.
📱 317-327-5155
✉️ planneroncall@indy.gov
See it in action
Let’s say you were a Perry Township resident in 2025, and you wanted to know more about a proposed neighborhood that would take over an urban forest.
Mirror Indy covered that story.
The case number for that petition was 2024-ZON-144.
If you search that, the city’s website spits out 39 pages of results. But if you select “Search for exact matches,” now you’re down to only five results.
From there, you can click around and see a hearing was scheduled in January but rescheduled to February. The agenda packet for the February meeting includes a 23-page staff report, which has details on everything from tree preservation to the zoning history of surrounding land.
What else do you want to know?
Do you have other questions about development in Indianapolis? Or the role of local government in approving (or denying) projects?
Reach out to Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick with the contact information below. You can find all of our reporters here.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Mirror Indy reporter Tyler Fenwick covers housing and labor. Contact him at 317-766-1406 or tyler.fenwick@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @ty_fenwick and Bluesky @tyfenwick.bsky.social.
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