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Consultants outline zoning and SELDO rewrite, invite public to open house
Summary
Consultant team from CZB presented a draft reorganization of Altoona's zoning districts and subdivision standards, described thresholds for administrative vs. planning-commission review, and invited the public to an open house at the Margaret Avenue Training Facility.
Matt Ingalls, a planner with consulting firm CZB, told the Altoona City Council that the firm is in the tail end of phase 2 of a zoning and SELDO (subdivision and land development ordinance) update and expects draft chapters to be delivered for internal review by April.
"We have about a 10, 15 minute presentation, let you know where we are, what we're gonna be doing tomorrow night at the community open house, and answer any questions, that you might have," Ingalls said in his presentation to council and staff.
The consultants said the rewrite is being guided by the values and principles of the recently adopted comprehensive plan, Altogether Altoona, and is organized to reduce redundancy and make the development code easier to use. The presentation proposed converting the existing residential and nonresidential district structure into fewer, consolidated districts with new purpose statements, consolidated district pages and color-coded district maps. Examples mentioned: combining two residential districts (RSH and RL) into one, and creating a Mixed Use Neighborhood district (MXN) to capture the character of portions of Juniana that differ from the downtown core.
Consultants explained changes to the land development and site plan review process intended to expand "by right" administrative approvals. They proposed renaming existing subdivision categories to "minor" and "major" subdivisions: minor subdivisions would cover projects of up to five lots; major subdivisions would exceed that threshold. For site-plan review, they described a proposed minor/major split that would allow more residential projects and smaller commercial projects to be approved administratively if code standards are met. Examples presented (staff said numbers are still being refined): minor site plans would include residential projects of two to five dwelling units, commercial or industrial projects under about 5,000 square feet gross, or site improvements up to 15,000 square feet; major site plans would include larger proposals such as residential projects of 10 or more units or commercial projects greater than 5,000 square feet or improvements over 15,000 square feet.
Ingalls said the update will move uses to a single Article 3 with a master use table that cross-references district pages to reduce repetition across the code. The consultants also described draft district "spreads" that will place all dimensional regulations for each district on one page alongside illustrations to clarify requirements.
The consultants listed near-term project steps: a technical advisory committee (TAC) meeting already scheduled, and a public open house the next evening at Margaret Avenue Training Facility, 17407 Margaret Avenue, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. for stations on background, draft districts and subdivision/land development review.
Council members did not take action on the draft during the meeting; consultants said the draft chapters will be provided for internal review by April and then move to public review and adoption processes.
