Plan Commission directs staff to schedule public hearing on zoning amendments in August

The Village of Weston Plan Commission on July 14 directed staff to schedule a public hearing in August to consider a package of proposed zoning-code amendments. The commission asked staff to bring the draft ordinance to a joint public hearing with the extraterritorial zoning committee.

Planning staff, working with consultant Mark Broffers, presented changes that would: make certain home occupations permitted by-right in multi-family and mobile-home districts (with limits), allow minor expansions and upgrades to nonconforming residences in nonresidential districts, clarify allowable accessory uses (including small greenhouses and horticulture-related activities), expand where portable storage containers may be used, and adjust the code’s handling of garage frontage ratios and accessory-structure sizing. Staff said the changes respond to recurring administration questions and to new patterns of how residents and employers use residential and commercial property.

Among the particulars discussed were a revised method to count front-facing garage area (adjusting from a 60/40 split), modest increases in allowable accessory-building footprints for single-family lots, clarifications on street-facing fencing heights and the allowed location for taller side-yard or street-side fences, and provisions to permit community-oriented horticultural displays (for example, pop-up garden or seasonal retail greenhouses) in commercial and agricultural zones. Staff said the package is intended to reduce the need for conditional-use review for low-impact home occupations and to provide clearer standards for accessory structures and fences.

Commissioners asked staff to address one outstanding issue — the maximum height for accessory buildings in the code’s setback table — before the public hearing; staff agreed to reconcile that detail. The commission voted to proceed with a public hearing on the draft ordinance amendments in August 2025; Commissioner Durrance moved the motion and Commissioner Mumper seconded. The motion passed on voice vote.

Staff will publish the draft ordinance and the staff report and conduct the statutorily required notice for the public hearing; items will be considered by the Plan Commission and the extraterritorial zoning committee at the joint hearing later in August.