Road Cut Has Not Been Restored to Original Use

(posted Aug 29)

According to Mayor Peterson's Press Secretary Margie Smith-Simmons, Jerry Brattan has defied the city's letter by not restoring the improper road cut onto Crawfordsville Road along the abandon Conrail corridor near Allison Avenue. The correct title of property ownership is M & J Limited Partnership.

Brattan received the authority to make the road cut from the Speedway Town Council at its April 24, 2006 meeting. The vote was 3-2 because councilors Jeff Hartman and Lu Hillmer did not believe the town had the authority to grant the road cut.

M & J Limited Partnership was not able to receive DMD approval without seeking a C-3 zoning change to have a commercial parking lot. M& J petitioned Speedway BZA for a zoning change but later withdrew the request. The corridor is used to park cars for IMS race events.

The DMD sent a letter stating Brattan had to restore the road cut to its original condition within 30 days of the July 23 date.

"Yesterday, (August 28) one of our inspectors headed to the site to see if the illegal driveway was removed."

He was directed to forward the case for prosecution if it was not removed.

On August 29, Smith-Simmons reported that the DMD forwarded the case to City Legal for prosecution. "From this point forward, it will be up to the Office of Corporation Counsel to determine the timeline for a court date or enforcement," she said.