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Zoning meeting set
11/22/2007 7:40 AM by John M
A public meeting to discuss the possible rezoning of properties within the Church Hill/Union Hill/Chimborazo areas has been announced for Thursday, Nov, 29, 6PM at EDI (25th/M Streets). Read the announcement (PDF) for more information.
When I read the announcement a week or so ago I immediately decided the meeting was a must! The wording on that thing is frightening.
Does anyone have any preliminary information on this?
wasn’t there a “invitation only” meeting for local neighborhood leadership (at least last month, or the month before) to kick off the rezoning of something?
i think this site publisher asked anyone attending provide some notes of that meeting.
maybe ask the neighborhood, they certainly have the time based on the bitch posting here
I live in this area and I did not receive a notice in the mail! Does anyone know what type of change is being proposed?
A post on the Church Hill North Historic District Yahoo Group offers this:
This might be a silly question but how can you figure out the zoning codes on the map (R-7, RO-2, B-2 etc.). I did a quick search on the city site but did not see anything. Any suggestions?
They’re actually located on MuniCode: http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?pid=13859&sid=46
I was at a portion of the meeting tonight, it was poorly executed; to assume that the neighborhood would fit in that small of a room was short sighted on the part of the organizers or was their hope that no one would show. If this first meeting is any indication of there planning abilities this neighborhood is in trouble.
I dunno if it’d be that cynical. I go to more meetings at EDI than most folks and I’ve only seen the room full maybe 2 times, and usually there are only like 10-20 people there for whatever. Sounds good, though, that so many people turned out.
Can anyone describe what was discussed, what this was about?
Hey UHNewGirl, why don’t you suggest a suitable alternative?! I know they like to use community venues in the neighborhood, so folks won’t have too far to go.
Nothing is going to change unless your criticism is constructive, but thanks for venting. 🙁
wric.com says that the zoning changes are intended to control future development, limit on how tall buildings could be, with the intent to restore historical integrity to the neighborhoods. There should be several more public meetings; the city could rezone as early as summer 2008.
The map that wric showed is different than what I saw before, and includes more of southern Fairmount and the part of Mosby Court along Mosby to Fairmount.
It’s important to remember that the proposed zoning changes are proposals at this point. We residents of Church Hill and Union Hill have the opportunity to advocate for other zoning options if we don’t like the city’s proposed zoning changes.
In response to UHNewGirl’s comment, I am a planner for a public agency, and have made presentations at public meetings. It’s really difficult to gauge ahead of time how many people are going to attend a public meeting, and it’s often easiest to reserve meeting space in public buildings. Jim P’s suggestion of offering alternatives to the EDI for future meetings is a good one.
John, I just scanned some images of handouts from last night’s meeting. One includes a map of the City’s initial zoning proposal for the neighborhood. How do I post them to the CHPN site? Or should I just send them to you?
The reason for the meeting was basically to get citizen input on the City’s recommendation to rezone properties within the boundaries identified in the image John posted at the top of this page. The current zoning classifications for the neighborhood provide for multi-family uses at a higher density than what currently exists in the neighborhood. The City wants to rezone the properties so that the current residential environment of the neighborhood is preserved and so that large-scale high density, multi-family development is discouraged.
Furthermore, there are several areas within the neighborhood that the City wants to promote as urban mixed-use, so that we can bring back the “corner store” environment in addition to a couple of areas that are primarily commercial with an upper-floor residential context. Basically, they want to create a more pedestrian friendly environment where people can walk two or three blocks from their house and go to a local grocery store or eat at a restaurant.
They also discussed relaxing the parking requirements for businesses under 2,500 square feet (or maybe it was 1,500).
I am very excited that they are making such proposals for the area. It would be wonderful to bring back more corner store businesses to the area. I also like the idea of relaxing some of the parking requirements, since I think they’ve been a hindrance on the survival of businesses in the area.
The maps and other images (that John will hopefully be able to post here) will give you a better idea of where these zoning recommendations are located. Please note that this was the FIRST meeeting and that these recommendations are not set in stone. It is up to us to provide input and take ownership of the future direction of our neighborhood. This can only happen by attending meetings and contacting the City’s Planning Department with your comments. Based on the high volume of people at last night’s meeting, I’d say we’re going in that direction, which is very encouraging.
I agree with Magneto. It’s great that the city is initiating these changes and seeking public input. For so long, most changes have been initiated by grass roots efforts. I understand some folk’s cynicism, but let’s give it a chance. A lot of good could come out of this.
I noticed that several people got up and left during the meeting. I hope it was because they had other obligations. Let’s stick it out, listen, suggest and contribute.
Magneto ‘s scans:
Map of Rezoning Study Area and Proposed Zoning
Map of Rezoning Study Area and Existing Zoning
Zoning Summary (1 of 2)
Zoning Summary (2 of 2)
(thanks!)