Indiana Code 36-3 — Indianapolis-Marion Consolidated City (Unigov) Governance Framework (IN)
Tracked preemption from the Indiana overlay bundle.
Overview
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Effective
1970-01-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:IN
Other Indiana preemptions
Indiana HB 1001 (2026) — Statewide Housing-and-Zoning Reform (Default By-Right with Annual Local Opt-Out)Indiana HEA 1210 (2025) — Strengthened STR Preemption / No Numeric Rental CapsIndiana HEA 1005 (2025) — RIF Loan Priority Conditioned on Pro-Housing Land-Use PoliciesIndiana Code 5-1.2-15.5 — Residential Housing Infrastructure Assistance Program (RHIAP / RIF, created by HEA 1005 of 2023)Indiana Code 32-31-1-20 — Rent Control & Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning PreemptionIndiana Code 36-1-24 — Short-Term Rental Preemption (Owner-Occupied as Permitted Residential Use)Indiana Code 13-19 — Environmental Management Generally / IFA Brownfields ProgramIndiana Code 13-18-22 — State Regulated Wetlands Permit (IDEM)
Trigger predicate
When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.
city.is_in_marion_county_unigov == TruePreempted fields
3 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.
| Field | Op | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
governance.consolidated_city_county_executive | require | indianapolis_mayor_as_marion_county_executive | Under Unigov (IC 36-3), the Mayor of Indianapolis serves as the executive of Marion County for unified governance; the City-County Council is the unified legislative body. |
zoning_ordinance.unified_zoning_authority | require | metropolitan_development_commission_under_IC_36_7_4 | Zoning across Marion County is administered by the Metropolitan Development Commission (MDC) under IC 36-7-4 — Marion is the only county in Indiana with a unified Metropolitan Plan Commission jurisdiction overriding township and excluded-city plan-commission boundaries. The four excluded cities — Beech Grove, Lawrence, Southport, and Speedway — retain their own zoning authority and are NOT subject to MDC zoning jurisdiction. |
zoning_ordinance.indianapolis_marion_county_code_chapter_743 | require | consolidated_zoning_ordinance | The substantive zoning ordinance is the Consolidated Zoning and Subdivision Ordinance (Indianapolis-Marion County Code, Chapter 743 et seq.), adopted by the MDC and approved by the City-County Council — this is the operational layer that downstream TOD, mixed-use, and transit-overlay rules (e.g., Indianapolis Cultural Trail and IndyGo Red Line BRT TOD) plug into. |
Citation
Authority source
Ind. Code § 36-3 (Government of Indianapolis and Marion County / Unigov); Unigov originally Acts 1969, P.L.357 (effective Jan 1, 1970); recodified into IC 36-3 by Acts 1980, P.L.211
§ §36-3-1 (consolidation); §36-3-2 (consolidated city government); §36-3-3 (mayor); §36-3-4 (city-county legislative body); §36-3-5 (departments)
Research notes
Governance-framework overlay distinct from the substantive redevelopment chapter (IN_36_7_15_1_MARION_REDEVELOPMENT) and the general zoning enabling act (IN_36_7_4_ZONING_ENABLING). The four 'excluded cities' (Beech Grove, Lawrence, Southport, Speedway) and four 'included towns' (Cumberland, Meridian Hills, Rocky Ripple, Spring Hill — among others) interact with the Unigov framework in idiosyncratic ways; city profiles that fall in those exclusions should mark `is_in_marion_county_unigov` accordingly so this overlay's trigger fires correctly. Note: the brief asked for 'Indianapolis-Marion Consolidated City (Unigov) overlays' — this overlay anchors the governance framework; the substantive zoning content lives in Chapter 743 of the Indianapolis-Marion County Code (local layer) and in IC 36-7-15.1 (state redevelopment layer).