NEW ALBANY — The Floyd County Plan Commission provided a favorable recommendation, and New Albany City Attorney Stan Robison said legal action is imminent, as the stage for a dispute over planning and zoning authority in the two-mile fringe area is set.

Last week, the county plan commission held a public hearing on amendments to the comprehensive land use plan to incorporate the fringe area into its planning and zoning oversight. The body then approved sending the amendments to the Floyd County Commissioners with a favorable recommendation.

The commissioners will likely vote on the amendments next month, and Robison said Wednesday he was already preparing the paperwork to file for a declaratory judgment against the county for attempting to garner zoning control of the fringe area.

“They’ve taken a long-standing drainage problem on Tye Avenue and morphed it into this big fringe area debate, because it’s about money,” Robison said. “Money they want to spend in other parts of the county.”

Robison didn’t expand upon how the county would garner additional revenue by taking over the fringe area, but flooding woes along Tye Avenue have been mentioned as one reason why the change was needed.

County officials have said fringe area residents, such as those from Tye Avenue, are constantly referred to different boards for their problems and fall into different jurisdictions. Knowing the county is responsible for zoning and planning decisions would give fringe residents a clear path to take when they have concerns, according to county leaders.

“The people in the fringe area need the representation, so that’s what we need to do,” said Steve Bush, president of the county commissioners. “We feel like we’re doing what’s right for the people out there.”

More than 100 people attended the public meetings the county held earlier this month at Indiana University Southeast. County Planner Don Lopp said the comments from fringe residents during those meetings were consistent with the statements made by people during the public hearing last week.

“There were no negative comments from the residents regarding what the county is proposing to do,” Lopp said directly referring to the meetings at IU Southeast, though he added they were similar to the public hearing.

According to Robison, the city has held control of the fringe area since 1974. The city’s pending legal case is based on a 1975 Indiana Supreme Court case between Howard County and Kokomo, as well as existing state statutes.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Kokomo Plan Commission’s authority to retain zoning control over the fringe area of Howard County. Also, the city believes it has the right to reject the county’s proposal, according to state statute, as long as it offers a municipal service to the area.

The city provides sanitary sewer service to the fringe area.

However, Bush said the county is confident in the move based on Lopp’s professional opinion and legal advice it has received.

The city hasn’t provided a clear explanation as to why it wants to maintain control over the fringe area, but the dispute is the latest in a series of recent spats between the city and county. There have been debates over 911 dispatch and parks funding over the last year, and those issues still haven’t been permanently resolved.