Mount Vernon council keeps comprehensive-plan hearing open after heated public forum over single‑family zoning

A Mount Vernon City Council public hearing on the draft Envision Mount Vernon comprehensive plan on Oct. 14 drew hours of testimony from residents who urged the council to protect single‑family neighborhoods, demanded more detailed fiscal and environmental analyses and challenged proposed changes that could allow duplexes and triplexes in existing single‑family zones.

Acting Council President Ed Poteet opened the hearing and said the panel would accept comments; after nearly three hours of testimony the council voted to keep the public hearing open for 10 business days to allow revisions and additional public input. The council then closed that night’s meeting but left the hearing record open.

The hearing focused on language in the draft that opponents said is vague and could effectively upzone large portions of the city. “I do not support any plan or proposal that seeks to eliminate single family zoning in the city of Mount Vernon,” said Mayor (unnamed), who told the council she had submitted a letter and wanted to reaffirm her opposition to eliminating single‑family zoning. Pat Cleary of Cleary Consulting, the planning consultant, told the audience, “There is nothing in the plan that calls for eliminating single family zones.”

Speakers representing a cross section of the city told council members that the draft’s land‑use recommendations risked reducing property values, worsening parking problems and…