Dubois County seeks more public input on long-range growth plan

Dubois County is asking residents, workers and business owners to weigh in again on a comprehensive plan update that could steer zoning, roads and development for the next 10 years. The second public survey, posted through SurveyMonkey, comes after planners analyzed existing conditions, reviewed community data and gathered input from residents, stakeholders and the steering committee.

The survey contains 15 questions and is part of the county’s effort to pin down where growth should go, what land should stay in agriculture and which corridors should get road and utility attention first across Jasper, Huntingburg, Ferdinand, Holland and the surrounding rural areas, where a countywide plan can shape everything from housing options to business locations and the look of farmland at the edge of town.

At a Jan. 8, 2025, regular meeting, Dubois County Commissioners heard from three consulting teams, Taylor Siefker Williams, VERIDUS Group, known locally as Civitas Strategies, and American StructurePoint, as each outlined an approach and timeline for the plan. Dubois Strong’s director also volunteered to sit on the steering committee, giving the county’s economic development arm a direct role in the discussion as it moves toward recommendations that could carry zoning consequences.

The county’s long-range document is already tied to questions about where future solar farms, battery storage facilities and other large-scale projects may be allowed. Zoning authority can decide whether those projects land in industrial corridors, near town limits or not at all.

County and town planning are moving in tandem. The Town of Ferdinand has hosted a public input session for updates to its own comprehensive plan, underscoring that decisions in the county seat, in Huntingburg’s business areas and in the rural stretches between towns are not being made in isolation. The county plan could influence how much land remains in production, where new subdivisions are encouraged and which roads become priorities as development pressure builds.