MONROE - In a review of the first draft of part one of the city zoning code rewrite, Plan Commission members dictated which types of buildings should be allowed conditionally or inherently in areas where commercial businesses intermingle with neighborhoods, suburban areas, urban highway corridors and downtown districts.
Revisions can still be made, but in discussion with Vandewalle & Associates Inc. of Madison Wednesday, commission members kept the draft as submitted. Vandewalle Assistant Planner Jackie Mich and Principal Planner Mike Slavney reviewed the draft with members to outline which specific item examples should be conditional use or allowed by right.
In the case of conditional use, businesses need to approach the Plan Commission for approval of any proposal. The process of conditional use can delay any plans up to six weeks, Slavney noted. Permitted by right does not require evaluation by the government body. This designation is usually given to companies that fit the mold of the proposed zone. For example, a factory in an industrial section of the city.
Mixed use, which provides a space for both businesses and housing, is slightly trickier to navigate and usually each project type is under the discretion of a body like the Plan Commission.
Mich outlined indexes as a part of the newly proposed code. She pointed out it is just one facet of the updated system, since guides are accessible for those wishing to look up a standard hidden in lines of dense zoning code.
"They're certainly much faster than paging through the zoning code itself," Slavney said.
It is a "quick and easy" method to help properties sell, he added.
Plan Commission members were firm in the need for conditional use to be applied in all neighborhood areas where the majority of buildings would be residential. Vice chairman Nate Klassy recalled a point in city history when a floral shop surrounded by homes exchanged owners and became a bar. He said the number of complaints that followed were something the city should seek to avoid.
"I just don't want it to happen again," Klassy said. "Some of the phone calls the city of Monroe received from those neighbors was not what you wanted to hear."
Slavney said Monroe was different than comparable communities of its size. He pointed out that cities with similar populations wanted a uniform standard of conditional use, but that Monroe seemed to embrace providing a faster avenue for residents to utilize in development. Slavney added that the newly drafted code includes language limiting noise and requiring submitted plans of new development.
As Mich went down the list, members agreed studios dedicated to physical activity like dance, karate or fitness should be conditional use in a neighborhood residential area because of the influx of people in the area and noise problems that could arise.
Indoor entertainment like restaurants, taverns or movie theaters are conditional use in residential areas, but permitted by right in suburban, urban and downtown districts. Especially for downtown residents, who should expect to have more noise and light in the area, members agreed. Outdoor entertainment like drive-thrus and in-vehicle service such as gas stations need conditional use requirements, members agreed.
The first draft of the second part of the zoning code was distributed to commission members for evaluation. Mich and Slavney plan to tentatively return for another similar meeting with the city on June 14. The city intends to adopt the new zoning code in its entirety in October.
Revisions can still be made, but in discussion with Vandewalle & Associates Inc. of Madison Wednesday, commission members kept the draft as submitted. Vandewalle Assistant Planner Jackie Mich and Principal Planner Mike Slavney reviewed the draft with members to outline which specific item examples should be conditional use or allowed by right.
In the case of conditional use, businesses need to approach the Plan Commission for approval of any proposal. The process of conditional use can delay any plans up to six weeks, Slavney noted. Permitted by right does not require evaluation by the government body. This designation is usually given to companies that fit the mold of the proposed zone. For example, a factory in an industrial section of the city.
Mixed use, which provides a space for both businesses and housing, is slightly trickier to navigate and usually each project type is under the discretion of a body like the Plan Commission.
Mich outlined indexes as a part of the newly proposed code. She pointed out it is just one facet of the updated system, since guides are accessible for those wishing to look up a standard hidden in lines of dense zoning code.
"They're certainly much faster than paging through the zoning code itself," Slavney said.
It is a "quick and easy" method to help properties sell, he added.
Plan Commission members were firm in the need for conditional use to be applied in all neighborhood areas where the majority of buildings would be residential. Vice chairman Nate Klassy recalled a point in city history when a floral shop surrounded by homes exchanged owners and became a bar. He said the number of complaints that followed were something the city should seek to avoid.
"I just don't want it to happen again," Klassy said. "Some of the phone calls the city of Monroe received from those neighbors was not what you wanted to hear."
Slavney said Monroe was different than comparable communities of its size. He pointed out that cities with similar populations wanted a uniform standard of conditional use, but that Monroe seemed to embrace providing a faster avenue for residents to utilize in development. Slavney added that the newly drafted code includes language limiting noise and requiring submitted plans of new development.
As Mich went down the list, members agreed studios dedicated to physical activity like dance, karate or fitness should be conditional use in a neighborhood residential area because of the influx of people in the area and noise problems that could arise.
Indoor entertainment like restaurants, taverns or movie theaters are conditional use in residential areas, but permitted by right in suburban, urban and downtown districts. Especially for downtown residents, who should expect to have more noise and light in the area, members agreed. Outdoor entertainment like drive-thrus and in-vehicle service such as gas stations need conditional use requirements, members agreed.
The first draft of the second part of the zoning code was distributed to commission members for evaluation. Mich and Slavney plan to tentatively return for another similar meeting with the city on June 14. The city intends to adopt the new zoning code in its entirety in October.