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Auburn council approves zoning text changes to comply with LD 2003 after contested public input
Summary
Council approved updates to Auburn’s Chapter 60 Zoning Ordinance to meet state LD 2003 minimums. Speakers urged removal of three nonrequired provisions; councilors said legal review found the ordinance not adverse to the comprehensive plan.
The Auburn City Council on Monday approved text amendments to Chapter 60 of the Auburn Zoning Ordinance to bring the code into compliance with LD 2003, the state law that requires municipalities to allow certain additional dwelling units and other housing measures.
The ordinance was forwarded from the Planning Board after roughly 14 months of staff and board review. The council approved the measure on a 4–1 roll-call vote (four yes, one no, two absent). Councilor Leroy Walker cast the lone no vote; Councilors Belinda Gary, Rick Whiting, Tim Cowan and Adam Platt voted yes. The motion to approve was made by Councilor Walker and seconded by Councilor Whiting.
Public testimony ahead of the vote pressed the council to remove three provisions that some attendees called “riders” and not required by LD 2003: a size cap on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in some parts of the draft, a provision limiting multiunit buildings in certain districts to two units per building, and lot-size progressions for additional dwellings. A resident who said they had consulted the state Economic & Community Development office urged the council to amend the ordinance to strip those sections before voting.
Mayor Jeff Hyman and others said city legal staff reviewed the Planning Board’s draft for consistency with the current comprehensive plan and reported it did not render the ordinance adverse to that plan. Council discussion stressed that the Planning Board’s charge was to adopt the minimum changes required by LD 2003 while leaving broader zoning and density debates to an upcoming comprehensive-plan update and future zoning work.
Councilors and staff explained the ADU cap in the adopted text (1,500 square feet) limits only the ADU definition and does not prevent a property owner from constructing a larger separate dwelling where other standards allow. On the questions about restricting multiunit buildings and lot-size progressions, staff said the draft preserved the same unit-per-building limits and lot-size rules that exist in the current ordinance; it does not expand density beyond existing code in affected zones.
Ending: Councilors said the comprehensive-plan revision is the appropriate forum for longer-term changes to density, lot-size progressions and multifamily rules; the LD 2003 amendments were framed as necessary, minimum compliance steps.
