Plans for a funeral home at 24th/Meridian, across 24th Street from Bon Jour Cafe, have been withdrawn and the building is again for sale.

Thanks to AmeP for this.

Opening November 15th
The Indianapolis Winter Farmers Market
2442 N. Central Ave. (SW corner at 25th & Central Ave.)
9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Continuing Weekly on Saturdays

The only central Indianapolis Winter Farmers Market will featuring the best of Indiana's winter food bounty direct from farmers, growers and producers to you.

Products available will include, but will not be limited to:

(Confirmed)
Winter greens, veggies & fruits
Fresh & dried herbs, herbal vinegars & other quality herbal products for daily life
Sustainably raised beef, chicken, pork, lamb, and eggs - free-range, grass raised and finished, free from hormones, antibiotics and synthetic supplements
A wide selection of baked goods
All natural, non-toxic household cleaning products
Mushrooms & mushroom patties
Stuffed pastas, sauces, chutneys, spreads, jams, salsas, butters & more

(Nearly Confirmed)
Loose Leaf Teas
Locally roasted coffee
Cheese products
Honey products
Maple syrup products

What else would you like to buy at the Indianapolis Winter Farmers Market? Comment & let us know!

Support our farmers & producers, Support yourself, Support our community! Buy Local!

Eating locally grown food is nothing new. A hundred years ago, over 95% of Americans lived on farms, and city dwellers relied on nearby farms to bring food in to the cities. Yet, far from being a relic of the past, farmers markets are a naturally beneficial way to “feed” the modern urban life, while also supporting local economy growth, individual health, and community building. Everybody wins!

Local farms stay in business by bringing fresh, homegrown food to city neighborhoods.
City dwellers can enjoy the health and taste benefits of eating locally grown produce.
Individuals from all around Indianapolis & Indiana get together, have fun and build relationships. Farmers find out what consumers want to finesse their growth and production. Urban dwellers have the opportunity to better understand what they are eating, where it came from, try new healthy foods, and ask about delicious ways to prepare it at home. The Indianapolis community benefits as individuals from all walks of life visit, learn, eat and together create a more sustainable lifestyle for themselves and the future.
We look forward to seeing you on Saturday morning, November 15th for the first week of the Indianapolis Winter Farmers Market!

http://indywinterfarmersmarket.blogspot.com/

Charter Homes has been developing numerous single family homes south of our neighborhood and recently started construction on townhomes on Central Ave.

From Indianapolis Business Journal

Charter Homes recruited and paid buyers to take out inflated mortgages on dozens of central Indiana homes it built, promising to manage the properties as rentals and make payments for the owners, current and former Charter business partners say.

The 3-year-old local company took advantage of eager real estate investors by offering them a cash bounty for each home purchased, along with checks from Charter to cover down payments. But as lax credit markets tightened and home values reversed course, the scheme began to crumble, an IBJ investigation has found.

Full Story: http://www.ibj.com/html/detail_page_Full.asp?content=21924

A Funeral Home has filed paperwork with the City seeking variances and design approval for converting a building at 2330 N Meridian Street.   This is immediately south of the new Bon Jour Cafe.  Official paperwork has not been received, but it is believed the existing Marvin Boatright Funeral Home at 22nd/Illinois plans to relocate to the Meridian Street location.

A funeral home is permitted by existing zoning (C5).  Variances of development standards requested include:

1. provide for a funeral home with 52 off-street parking spaces (minimum 242 spaces required),
2. legally establish two, nineteen-foot wide, two-way drive isles (minimum 24-foot wide drive aisles required), resulting in insufficient maneuvering area for approximately 35 parking spaces (proper maneuvering area required),
3. legally establish zero-foot front landscape yards along Meridian Street, 24th Street and Pierson Street (minimum ten-foot front landscape yards required), and
4. legally establish an unenclosed dumpster (not permitted).

The public hearing is currently scheduled for October 7, although this will likely be continued to a further date. 

UPDATE 1/5/2009 The petition has been withdrawn.

UPDATE 10/12/2008: The public hearing has been continued and rescheduled for November 6, 2008.

UPDATE 10/2/2008:  Thanks to FCInvader for finding this related news article about the revocation of Marvin Boatright's license.  

UPDATE 10/2/2008: City staff plans to ask for a continuance on this matter because proper notice was not provided to registered neighborhood organizations.

From IBJ Property Lines

King Park Area Development Corp. is in advanced talks with Ace Hardware to anchor a new retail project at the northeast corner of 22nd and Delaware streets. Whether the roughly $2-million project gets off the ground depends on if King Park lands a $521,000 job creation grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said Janine Betsey, the group’s executive director. She declined to reveal many details about the project, which she described as preliminary. Locally based A2SO4 is designing the building, but no rendering was available.