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Steering committee reviews major setback reductions and single industrial district in zoning rewrite

5967421 · September 12, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Stow City planners proposed halving several residential street-side setbacks, consolidating two industrial districts into one, and adding flexibility for building height in exchange for additional setbacks, prompting discussion from committee members.

Ima, a staff member presenting the draft zoning code, told the steering committee the rewrite reduces several street-side setback requirements and consolidates industrial districts. "For R‑1, we changed that from 50 feet to 25 feet," Ima said, and added that R‑2 and RG setbacks were reduced from about 40 feet to 20 feet.

The draft also proposes tying additional building height to larger setbacks in some districts. "We have also introduced a footnote for the new building of a building high flexibility. For example, the applicant would give some maximum of 40 feet of height, if additional setback is provided," Ima said. Presenters said the change was made after staff reported frequent variance requests on street-side setbacks.

Committee members generally reacted to the reductions and the consolidation of I‑1 and I‑2 into a single industry district with questions about compatibility with nearby uses. One participant noted the consolidation "eliminates the handful of variances we have to get for every single building," while others asked for further review of exact numbers.

The presenter said the commercial district setbacks were also revised in the draft and that the team is open to property-owner feedback on the proposed numbers.

The committee did not take a formal vote at this meeting. Staff said they will update setback language and diagrams and include the changes in the public open house materials scheduled for Sept. 22 and the planning commission packet planned for Oct. 14.

The draft and the committee discussion emphasize easing common variance pressures while retaining the ability to require additional setbacks and design measures when extra building height is requested.