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Votes at a glance: Smithfield council approves zoning changes, overlays, invoice and funding moves
Summary
Following hearings and debate, the council approved several text amendments and overlays, accepted consent items, authorized a bridge repair invoice, and approved an industrial‑park overlay while directing staff to refine shipping‑container rules.
At its September meeting, the Smithfield Town Council approved several items after public hearings or staff presentations. Highlights, roll‑call outcomes and immediate next steps are listed below.
Votes at a glance
- Consent agenda (multiple items including addition of an Engineer I position and budget appropriation): Approved on voice/roll call. Council recorded affirmative votes; motion carried.
- Lewis Construction invoice for bridge pipe repair, $25,923.60: Approved (motion carried). Council authorized payment to avoid a separate lane closure later this year; the work replaced a failed seal and two pipe sections.
- Text amendment — Article 2 (reclassify accessory apartments as accessory dwelling units, clarify regulations): Approved. Planning Commission recommended removing limits on occupant count, removing the breezeway requirement and making accessibility connectivity optional; council adopted the staff/planning commission recommendations and will allow freestanding ADUs with updated rules.
- Text amendment — Article 3 (update floodplain overlay): Approved. Council adopted staff language aligning the town’s floodplain ordinance with FEMA map updates and the Chesapeake Bay preservation requirements; the ordinance will go to FEMA for final approval.
- Article 3S — Create Pinewood Heights Industrial Park overlay: Approved. The overlay passed as presented; council discussed shipping‑container rules and asked staff and planning commission to prepare clear standards (for example, appearance and screening) rather than allow unrestricted use by right.
- Authorization to engage external auditor (Robinson, Farmer, Cox) for targeted invoice/contract review related to the town attorney matter (see separate article): Approved (see article on attorney payments).
How council justified the actions
Council members said the ADU change modernizes the code to allow accessory units that reflect current household arrangements and requested flexibility in interior accessibility requirements. The floodplain update was presented as an administrative step to implement FEMA’s updated flood maps and to keep the town eligible for the national flood insurance program. For the Pinewood overlay, the council endorsed proactive industrial zoning while asking staff to return with objective standards for any shipping‑container use.
What comes next
Staff will: issue or update site‑plan and zoning documents to reflect the new ADU rules and binding amenity pages for recent rezoning actions, submit the floodplain ordinance changes to FEMA for approval, draft recommended shipping‑container standards for the Pinewood overlay and finalize payments for the bridge invoice. Council also requested follow‑up reporting on school capacity linked to the Promontory project.
