Planning staff outlines zoning, sign and parking changes plus EV and stormwater priorities

Planning Department staff presented a package of planning priorities and potential LDR (land‑development regulation) amendments and asked the commission whether any items should be added to the town council’s strategic planning list.

The priorities presentation, delivered by Purnima (Planning Department staff), covered four completed LDR amendments in the past year and several topics under active review, including updates to fencing‑notice procedures, a two‑step sign ordinance update, outdoor‑lighting standards, model‑home definitions, electric‑vehicle (EV) monitoring and safety regulations for chargers in parking structures, and proposed incremental changes to landscape and parking standards that could include bioswales, bioretention and shared‑parking provisions.

Purnima said the department consolidated duplicate uses in the town’s use tables and updated definitions where state law changed. “We removed some of the duplicate uses,” she said, and gave the example of consolidating multiple dry‑cleaning categories. She described a new process to notify adjacent residential property owners when a new residential development is proposed next to older neighborhoods so neighbors can coordinate with developers about existing fences, trees or replacement plans.

Why it matters:…