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The holidays are upon us and I am taking the opportunity with the last Director’s Report of 2024 to reflect back on this productive year. This year, the PED Department has taken 7 different ordinances through the legislative process (see summary below). The overarching theme of these changes was to increase housing choice and variety. However, our first ordinance of the year was specific to allowing a new commercial retail use that had not previously been allowed in our city.
The year kicked off with the city council approving cannabis retail in our C-3 SR-305 and C-2 Viking Avenue zoning districts with a limit to two businesses. Shortly after the passage of this allowed use, the city received a business license for our first cannabis retail location on Viking Avenue which had its grand opening in September.
In February and March, the City Council passed two ordinances aimed at providing housing choice and variety including an emergency ordinance to allow unit lot subdivisions and a second to allow two accessory dwelling units per lot and duplexes on corner lots in residential zones, as well as other housekeeping and housing amendments. Since the passage of the unit lot ordinance, one project has utilized the option and as a result 60+ townhomes are expected to be available for sale in the year ahead.
During the spring months, our focus turned to the repealing of one of two moratoriums passed in 2023 on vacant properties in the C-4 and Business Park zoning districts. In its place, the council adopted an ordinance that allows for increased height for mixed use buildings in these zones, with some portions of the zoning district allowing up to 65’.
Also in the spring, we launched our first interactive map where our citizens can find zoning and critical area information on properties within the city. Prior to this, the only way to obtain this information was through stagnant maps.
We also started the process of taking each chapter of the updated Comprehensive Plan to our city council for comment and review. Each touch point provided insight into the community and council’s interests and are incorporated into our publicly accessible draft.
The department was asked to take a co-lead role with the engineering department in the late spring on downtown parking planning improvements. Together, the recommendations of the downtown parking advisory committee and a new contract to implement those recommendations went into effect in late spring and early fall.
The summer heated up with the repealing of the second moratorium in the C-3 SR 305 zoning district for vacant properties proposing strictly commercial. Like the C-4 and Business Park ordinance, this ordinance allowed for increased height for mixed-use buildings, with some portions up to 65’ with underbuilding parking. Collectively, these two ordinances encourage residential development in our commercial zones.
Early fall brought an increased building height option to Viking Avenue. With the changes adopted, mixed-use buildings and mixed-use properties can now be constructed up to 45’ with under building parking.
In our efforts to increase transparency and access to information, we launched a “Quick Facts” sheet for active land use permits providing essential details such as location, number of units and parking spaces, building height, how to comment, and who makes the land use decision (see example here). We also took that information to the streets by requiring active land use permits that require posting on the property to increase the size of their notice boards and to share more accessible information with our public (see handout here). Our efforts have not stopped here, and an active land use permit website was just launched earlier last month that allows the public to view the land use files of active permits and access project files.
The year is wrapping up with yet another change for all four of our commercial zones. This change will allow our zones to provide flexible commercial space on the ground level of a mixed-use building. What this means is that residential units can occupy the ground level of a building and can also easily be converted to commercial as the market demands.
Much of this work—and more—has been accomplished by our dedicated team of five, with invaluable support from our intern, Rory Clark and special project planner, Karla Boughton. Our efforts are continually informed and enriched by the collaboration of the city’s talented employees and the engagement of our community.
I am deeply grateful to work alongside such a skilled and passionate team, complemented by the thoughtful leadership of the Planning Commission, City Council, and Mayor. Together, we have achieved significant milestones, and the Department is eager to continue building on this momentum in 2025.
Big things are on the horizon for 2025, including the completion of our Comprehensive Plan Update, a revised Critical Areas Ordinance, and the implementation of downtown parking changes, among other projects. We look forward to what we can accomplish together in the year ahead.
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