Council approves new zoning map; park designation sparks calls for clearer protections

Addison — The Addison City Council voted on Aug. 12 to adopt a new zoning map implementing the town’s Unified Development Code (UDC), but several council members and members of the public pressed staff for clearer, additional protections for existing parks and green spaces.

Leslie Knipe, Director of Development and Neighborhood Services, presented the proposed zoning map and said staff had reviewed parcel by parcel to limit the creation of nonconforming properties when the UDC takes effect. Knipe explained that the UDC does not create a separate “park” zoning district; instead, public parks are permitted uses within the new base zoning districts and the town’s PROS (Parks, Recreation and Open Space) master plan separately designates parkland.

Knipe told council that the conversion exercise followed an adopted conversion matrix that maps current districts to new UDC districts and that staff reviewed about 12,000 parcels to ensure the new zoning would not unduly impair financing or future reinvestment for existing properties.

Several council members said the result is confusing to residents who see parkland…