The Downtown Master Plan, adopted in 2015, is a plan for the future to guide development in the downtown. As part of that plan a Future Land Use map was developed which changes the zoning of properties. The majority of properties in the DDA are zoned the same – City Center (CC). The new Land Use Map divides the downtown into three zoning areas; Downtown Core, Core Fringe/CMD and Core Residential.
The Downtown Core and Core Fringe (also referred as CMD-Central Mixed District) better reflect the design standards that currently exist in those areas. City Center zoning treated these areas with the same design standards when they clearly are developed differently. For one, buildings in the Downtown Core are primarily built right to the edge of the sidewalk while those in the Downtown Fringe/CMD were built later with greater front setbacks that often have parking in front of the buildings.The re-zoning ensures future development matches that of the neighboring buildings in the district.
Core Residential allows additional uses in the zoning district but ensures the properties retain their look as single family homes. For instance, a home in CMD may be used as an office as long as it retains the look of a residential home and keeps the character of the neighborhood; perhaps a two person lawyer office or an artists studio located in a home. Uses considered must have limited parking needs and unobtrusive signage such as a shingle hung on the porch. The intent is to allow additional uses while maintaining the integrity of the single family neighborhoods. Single family use continues to always be an allowed use,
Some properties surrounding the DDA are also included in the re-zoning; again to better reflect the area and/or allow additional use, while not taking away current use.
While developing the Downtown Master Plan and Future Land Use Map multiple public meetings were held to gather the thought and comments from residents and business owners making this plan a very successful collaborative effort.
it has taken several years to complete the process to bring the zoning into line with the Future Land Use Map and ordinances. Several public meetings were held at the time of creating the Downtown Master Plan and Future Land Use and resident input was very much a par of the process. More recently two open houses were held via Zoom on February 16 and a Public Hearing is scheduled before the Planning Commission on February 23, 2021.
Helpful documents:
CLICK HERE for the Planning Commission agenda
CLICK HERE for a presentation by the City Planner on the re-zoning
CLICK HERE for the Downtown Master Plan and Future Land Use Map
CLICK HERE for the current City Zoning Map