Montgomery officials review interim zoning rules, downtown design standards and short-term retail plan

Montgomery city officials and consultants reviewed proposed interim zoning amendments and a schedule for a unified development ordinance intended to manage rapid development and shape downtown growth.

The interim regulations were presented by Brett Keast, CEO of Kendig Keast Collaborative, who summarized changes to multiple code chapters and said the UDO will ultimately collect and cross‑reference all development rules in a single document. Keast said the interim package makes apartments in R2 require a special‑use permit and includes draft standards for planned developments, downtown design, signage, sidewalks, tree preservation and subdivision thoroughfare conformity.

The changes matter because, Keast said, the pace of development requires some regulations "to be addressed sooner than later," and the interim rules are intended to guide applications while the full UDO is drafted. He told council members the downtown zoning district will be aligned with the downtown master plan and largely coterminous with the historic preservation boundary to allow more design review in areas the state permits for historic standards. Keast said the downtown standards would allow up to three stories on parts of State Highway 105 where existing buildings already reach that height and would set frontage, setback and parking expectations…