Council holds first reading on broad "minor text amendments" to zoning code; second reading set for July 9

Bill Dermody of Planning & Economic Development presented the council with a first reading of what staff called the "minor text amendment study," a bundled ordinance (first reading of Ordinance 20534) intended to correct typographical errors, remove outdated terms and codify long‑standing interpretations of the zoning code.

Dermody emphasized that most changes are housekeeping rather than substantive policy shifts. He gave examples: removing references to old "special conditional use permits," cleaning up references to R districts replaced by newer h districts, clarifying electric vehicle (EV) parking provisions so that routine surface parking lot reconstructions are not required to trigger building electrical upgrades, and restating a longstanding interpretation that colleges and universities on campuses of five acres or more may have a maximum campus building height of 90 feet.

"This is not major significant policy decisions. It's clean up stuff, like fixing typos, updating language, codifying long standing interpretation of the zoning code," Dermody said.

Councilmembers asked clarifying questions about process and impact. Councilmember Provodzinski said many higher‑education campuses would be unaffected in practice because most already have conditional use permits and other overlays; Dermody confirmed the measure had gone through planning commission review and a public hearing. Councilmember Paprocki asked whether this is part of a larger recurring cleanup process; Dermody said the city had done regular text updates in the past and this work had not been undertaken since about 2017.

The ordinance was laid over to July 9 for second reading and a public hearing.