Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Infill Floodplain topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council pauses infill zoning pilot after floodplain, LWRP questions; planning commission to review
Summary
Jamestown City Council delayed a vote on a proposed infill zoning pilot after public commenters and council members raised concerns about FEMA floodplain maps and Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) consistency. Council members said further review from the planning commission and LWRP consistency checks are needed before taking action.
The Jamestown City Council on Monday paused a decision on a proposed infill-zoning pilot after public comments and council members raised questions about floodplain mapping and Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP) requirements.
A longtime resident who said he helped compose the city’s 1978 floodplain maps warned the council that the area under discussion “is in the floodplain” and urged the city to confirm any map updates before changing zoning. “If the flood plain maps have been amended, then they should be attached as an overlay to that project,” the commenter said.
Council members and staff responded that FEMA’s floodplain maps have been updated and are now available online, and that the city’s building and zoning inspector serves as the city’s floodplain manager. “I can promise you that we will be using FEMA’s flood plain mapping tool to identify the appropriate flood plain for every single project,” a council member said during the discussion.
The proposed pilot would allow more flexible, streamlined infill approvals in targeted neighborhoods to support demolition, site development and new infrastructure. City staff said the pilot areas fall primarily within two distribution districts identified on a map the council reviewed and noted the city has acquired parcels for targeted neighborhood interventions, including Fulton Street.
But council members raised procedural and environmental questions, including whether a negative declaration for SEQRA (State Environmental Quality Review) is appropriate now and how LWRP consistency review affects the zoning change. One council member said the planning commission will discuss the proposal at its upcoming meeting and the council should wait for any issues that surface there.
Council members said individual projects would still require planning commission review and site-plan approval. City staff emphasized the pilot is intended to offer flexibility, not to bypass planning oversight or approvals.
The council decided to hold the item for further feedback from the planning commission and to return it to a future voting session. Several related items were also discussed in committee and will be revisited at the full session after planning commission input.
Ending: Council members said they expect the planning commission’s comments to come back before the council takes a final vote; no vote on the zoning pilot was taken Monday.
