Planning director outlines two-step Link District ordinance, design advisory process and timeline

Dr. Rhonda Russell, the city's director of planning, briefed the council on proposed zoning and design changes for the area rebranded as the Link District, a corridor she said runs from High and Effingham to High and the MLK corridor. Russell said the Innovation Plan aims to encourage mixed-use development, entrepreneurship, creative industries and a growing health-care cluster.

Russell described a two-track implementation. "One is option A, which is that we would propose adoption of the current ordinance language as it was adopted in the innovation plan," she said. Option A would adopt permitted and prohibited uses plus baseline design standards; Option B would be a second, subsequent adoption that refines design standards through stakeholder engagement informed by best practices.

Key provisions in the draft ordinance Russell highlighted include a maximum building height of 100…