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Planning board’s parking and stormwater amendments aim to ease development in downtown core
Summary
Staff and the planning board proposed increases to stormwater waiver thresholds, limited allowance for gravel parking, and a process to reduce parking requirements in the RC1 zoning district; council kept the item for further discussion.
The Milton Planning Board and staff presented proposed changes to Articles 13 and 14 of the Unified Development Code during the May 13 work session, intended to help businesses in the city’s RC1 zoning district meet parking and stormwater requirements.
Planning and engineering staff described three principal changes: raising the impervious-surface threshold that triggers a stormwater management plan (increasing the trigger from 500 to 1,000 square feet for impervious additions and adjusting pervious-surface thresholds), allowing gravel parking surfaces in certain zoning districts with a requirement that gravel be no closer than five feet from any right-of-way, and creating a mechanism that permits a reduced or waived parking requirement for non-residential developments without above-ground residential components if a parking analysis by a registered engineer or transportation professional supports the reduction.
Staff said the city engineer reviewed the proposal and recommended adding a provision that properties which receive a waiver are ineligible for future waivers. The gravel requirement — a five-foot buffer from the right of way — was proposed to prevent gravel migration into city streets, which staff said can interfere with city machinery.
The parking standard change would allow the city manager or designee to approve reduced parking based on site-specific analysis, or require a parking study to justify reductions. Planning Director (presenter identified as Mr. Milstead in the transcript) recommended leaving the proposal as an action item for the regular meeting rather than placing it on consent so council could ask questions.
Council agreed to retain the item for discussion. No final action or ordinance adoption occurred at the work session; staff will present additional information and the item will be considered at the council meeting.
If adopted, the changes would alter thresholds for stormwater review and give staff more flexibility to authorize reduced parking in the downtown RC1 district, potentially lowering the cost of redevelopment for some businesses but also changing review standards.
Staff advised that any waiver granted would be a one-time waiver for a property, per the city engineer’s recommended language.
