With some huge projects on the Planning and Zoning Commission’s plate — the East Columbia Area Plan and the Comprehensive Plan to name a couple — they’ve opted to add one more: revising the commission’s bylaws to keep zoning requests from being changed at the last minute.
“This has been a burr under our saddles over and over and over again,” Chairman Jeff Barrow said.
The effort stems from a case two weeks ago involving Great Hangups and two adjacent houses at the corner of Broadway and West Boulevard. The owners want to rezone the three properties to planned commercial so it’s easier to market. The nearby Historic Sunset Lane Neighborhood Association has been skeptical of the proposal.
Members of the commission as well as city staff said the request handed in at the meeting had substantial changes, which upset the neighbors.
While this case may have brought the issue to a focus, it’s not the first time it’s happened.
“You have people who want to push the envelope, and that does a disservice to the people most affected,” Development Services Manager Pat Zenner said.
Zenner is preparing a report on the bylaws and how to craft the guidelines so they don’t conflict with the zoning code. For instance, if the commission decides to not consider a late submission, after 45 days the code mandates that it would still be forwarded to the City Council. Zenner said tabling a late request would keep that from happening.
Either way, it sounds like the commission is definitely planning to crack down on zoning request deadlines. How they do it remains to be seen.
Categories: City Politics.
