The Planning Commission spent some time last week considering multi-family housing in residential areas. Some locations are allowed to continue operating as multi-family because they were in existence before the passage of an ordinance in 2000.
Commissioners looked at a list of those grandfathered properties and considered some of those properties in more detail. They asked if some of these grandfathered properties meet the requirements of the fire marshal or the building official. They also asked if they could require off-street parking for properties with sufficient space.
Commissioners also considered minimum property maintenance. They had looked over an international maintenance code, which the Historic District Commission had already revised. Commissioner Fergie Stewart said he could think of several cases in recent month which have fallen into neglect. “I’m concerned as a resident and as a commissioner,” he said. “It’s important to keep our city viewable.”
In other business:
- Hart’s Family Center received permission to use a shipping container for a storage facility. The store had a semi-trailer at the top of the parking lot, used for hay and straw, but a fire left a hole in the roof. The new unit will be placed closer to the store.
- In a letter read during public comments, Steph Gordon-Glassford objected to the proposed Crescent Ridge project. She also commented on a parking lot which had been proposed on Douglas Street. “As residents, we live here for the same reasons people come here to visit,” she said. “All of that would be compromised if you allow condominium complexes and parking lots.” She asked the commissioners and city council to “decide responsibly.”
- Commission Chair Ann Tandy-Sallee said she had gone to a city council meeting to represent an ordinance about parking on upper Spring Street. She said the draft ordinance differed significantly from suggestions submitted by the commission. She suggested a joint workshop with city council, to compare both versions and arrive at a better final product.
- The next meeting date was left undecided. The November meeting should fall on Nov. 8, but that is also election day. The commission used to meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays, but the fourth Tuesday in November would come too close to Thanksgiving.
- Stewart said the large number of bikers who came to town “behaved themselves.” There were some accidents, but no fatalities, and he called it a “great weekend.”