Winchester planners debate zoning rewrite to define "humanitarian service facilities"; commissioners ask staff to remove EIP district

The Winchester City Planning Commission on March 4 spent a work session reviewing a proposed amendment to the city zoning ordinance that would define “humanitarian service facilities,” establish performance standards, require conditional-use permits (CUPs) and repeal the existing land‑use category described as “philanthropic and charitable institutions.”

Planning staff said the proposal is largely based on a 2021 text amendment that had been labeled “humanitarian shelters” and ultimately tabled by City Council; the 2025 draft renames the use to “humanitarian service facilities,” narrows what services are allowed, expands the list of zoning districts where the use could be found and makes it subject to CUP approval rather than an as‑of‑right use in several districts.

The amendment matters because it would change where service providers can locate and what they may do. Under the draft, existing philanthropic uses downtown would be treated as legal nonconforming uses that may continue operating but could not expand their footprint or broaden the scope of services; a nonconforming use would lapse if discontinued for two years or more. Planning staff also said the draft explicitly excludes drug‑treatment facilities from the humanitarian service definition and allows CUP conditions such as reporting requirements to public safety.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about the proposal’s boundaries and its likely effects on existing providers. Several commissioners said they supported removing the EIP zoning district from the list of allowable locations, citing concerns about proximity to parks, schools and public institutions. Planning staff confirmed the EIP district is largely composed of parcels with institutional uses (schools, parks and public facilities) and agreed to strike EIP from the proposed district list per the commission’s direction. Commissioners also asked staff to revise the map to clearly show existing downtown providers that would remain legal nonconforming uses so the public and the commission can better see the impact of the change.

Staff discussed outreach done under the prior 2021 drafting effort and noted past coordination with Winchester Rescue Mission; the draft before the commission did not reflect new outreach specifically for the current revision. Staff said the City Manager’s office and other city staff are working with known providers, and described Watts (the temporary thermal shelter program that operates through faith institutions) as unlikely to be affected because those seasonal sites typically operate as accessory uses to religious institutions. Planning staff also said CUP conditions could require annual or biannual reporting to the police chief (for example, calls for service or other operational metrics) and that individualized issues about proximity to parks or other sensitive uses are normally handled in the CUP review.

Commissioners raised questions about how operators manage people leaving and returning to shelters and whether performance standards can address transitional operations; staff said such operational details are often handled by the operator’s program design and by conditions attached through a CUP rather than by strict one‑size‑fits‑all text standards.

No final decision to adopt the amendment was made during the work session. Commissioners directed staff to revise the draft — including striking the EIP district and improving the map to show locations of existing services — and to return the updated draft for a public hearing at the commission’s next meeting in March. The commission’s recommendation will then go to City Council if the commission votes to forward it.

The meeting was a work session; the commission did not take a formal vote on the text amendment during this session. The session concluded with a routine motion to adjourn.