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Council approves gateway overlay language, updates zoning to allow multifamily in some business districts
Summary
The Clinton City Council approved new gateway overlay design standards for major corridors and passed amendments to the zoning code to allow larger multifamily buildings in certain business districts and to standardize rules for storage yards.
The Clinton City Council on first reading approved a new gateway-overlay section for the zoning code and later passed related zoning amendments that adjust where multifamily housing and storage yards are allowed.
Planning staff described the gateway overlay as a design-standard layer intended to improve the appearance of buildings along Highway 25 and other arterial routes. The overlay would require a mix of exterior finishes and prevent the installation of plain metal facades by requiring roughly 40% of certain facades be brick, stone, vinyl, wood or stucco, and introduce planning-commission review for new construction and substantial renovations along the corridor.
Why it matters: the changes affect commercial design standards on key entry routes to Clinton and the placement of multifamily housing and storage uses in business and industrial zones.
Council and planning staff also approved a separate zoning amendment allowing apartment buildings with five or more units by special exception in the B-4 (interstate business) district, except within the newly defined gateway corridor; that amendment also creates a consistent path for permitting storage yards across zoning districts subject to design criteria and planning-commission approval.
Staff clarified that the ordinance uses a widely applied definition of “substantial improvement” — the FEMA 50% rule — so a repair or alteration that equals or exceeds 50% of a structure’s fair market value within a six-month period (or comparable assessed-value test) triggers the overlay standards. The planning commission revised the proposed language multiple times before forwarding the measure to the council.
Votes and procedure: Ordinance number 700 (gateway overlay) passed on first of two readings. Ordinance number 698 (zoning amendments) passed on second and final reading; roll-call votes were recorded in the transcript and carried.
Next steps: projects in the corridor will require planning-commission review for design compliance; existing businesses have grandfathering provisions described in the code language presented to the council.
