Nappanee City Planner Todd Nunemaker is an architect by trade. He is helping to shape the vision for Nappanee’s future, including its ongoing downtown master plan. InkFreeNews photo by Keith Knepp.

By Keith Knepp
InkFreeNews

NAPPANEE — A resident of Nappanee for most of his life, Todd Nunemaker has seen the city of Nappanee go through many different changes. For much of his adult life he has held an active role in many of those stages of municipal development. A graduate of NorthWood High School, he also holds a degree in architecture from Ball State University.

At the start of his career, Nunemaker spent several years at three different architectural firms with varying focuses. For 21 years, he had his own firm with a focus on residential buildings. He was a city council member for 14 years and spent 17 years on both the city planning commission and the board of zoning appeals.

Nunemaker currently serves as Nappanee’s full-time city planner, a role that allows him to utilize his experience to help shape the future of the community for generations to come.

“Mayor Phil Jenkins and I have the same background and live next to each other,” he said. “We’ve both been involved in city government for a long time. We both have had an interest in moving the city forward.”

In 2021, at a point when roles in Nappanee’s personnel structure were changing, the common council was faced with a decision as to whether the city should hire an engineer or a zoning administrator to fill a vacancy. It was decided to hire Nunemaker as a full-time employee.

“Really my role was more fitting to a city planner, as I have an architectural and zoning background, and to a certain extent some engineering,” he said. “That’s how this role came about.”

The city planning work that I’m doing is some of the bigger stuff — the bike trail, new street layouts, expanding West Industrial Park — all kind of big-ticket items.”

Nunemaker also is using his background in architecture to help in the designing of the new multi-million dollar fire station that is in the works on the city’s north side.

One of the major things on his desk is the ongoing downtown redevelopment master plan. Part of Nunemaker’s role is gathering the feedback from residents on what they would like to see in the city.

One example he gave is of the pavilion in downtown Nappanee. While it is used for many things, such as the summer farmers market and the annual Christmastime celebration, during most times it serves as covered parking. The city was looking for ways to better utilize the space.

“That kind of sparked a bigger picture. We realized that we needed to stop and look at a whole downtown master plan,” said Nunemaker. “We’re still looking at ‘big picture’ ideas.”

During a recent public forum regarding the downtown master plan, companies hired to evaluate the city and possible future plans, several far-reaching ideas were brought to the table, including an alternate truck route, a boutique hotel and a downtown plaza that might be devoid of vehicle traffic.

“We realize that some of the ideas weren’t going to work, but you’ve got to put it on the table,” Nunemaker said. “That process is good, as far as looking at the big picture, even though it might not be realistic.”

Nunemaker said the downtown master plan has three phases. The first two involved gathering the data, then coming up with ideas. The city is now entering the third phase, which is coming up with main ideas based on public feedback.

“It’s still five to ten years out,” he said. “Some of the drawings and ideas we saw, depending on what they were, it’s a 10 to 20 year implementation. It’s still far off. It’s more looking at the big ideas, the big picture.

“There’s something about giving back to your community,” Nunemaker concluded. “”The biggest reward is that I’m making decisions that are going to affect the next generation. Working on this bike trail from Wakarusa to Nappanee, I have a personal interest in that. I want to be able to ride that with my grandkids. If I have the talent, if I have a vision, I want to be a part of my community and help frame it and get it going in the right direction.