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Board denies request to exempt old library parcel from downtown overlay district
Summary
Property owners Mike and Tammy Miller asked to exempt four lots (the old library parcel) from the city's downtown overlay to allow storage use; staff recommended denial because the draft comprehensive plan calls for expanding the overlay, and the board voted to deny the zoning regulation change.
The Planning and Zoning Board denied a request by Mike and Tammy Miller to exempt four parcels that include the former library site from the city's downtown overlay district.
The Millers asked the board to exempt the parcels so they could convert the former library building into indoor storage units. "The plan would be to start with the library itself and to partition that off and make that into indoor storage," Mike Miller said, adding the owners could fit roughly 20 indoor units into the existing structure. Miller said similar storage businesses exist immediately south of the site on Meridian.
Staff recommended denial. Kyle (staff member) said the comprehensive plan under consideration that evening recommends expanding the downtown overlay district to include Meridian, Lions Park and related parcels, and that exempting the Miller property now would run counter to that goal. Kyle also noted existing nonconforming uses in the overlay were grandfathered when the overlay was adopted, but that any change of use would be subject to current overlay rules.
Several planning board members said they shared staff's concern about carving out exceptions from an overlay the city intends to grow. After discussion, a board member moved to deny the requested zoning regulation change; the motion carried.
Why it matters: Removing property from the downtown overlay would make a broader set of commercial and industrial uses available on that parcel. The city is considering expanding the downtown overlay as part of its comprehensive plan; denying the exemption keeps the parcel governed by the overlay's current prohibitions on uses such as outdoor storage and automotive services.
What happens next: The applicant may pursue other options permitted in the overlay or seek a future rezoning or variance; any change of use in the overlay will require compliance with overlay rules or a formal rezone process if the overlay itself is amended.
