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La Crosse staff outline full rewrite of zoning code to speed housing, map new districts
Summary
City planning staff and consultants recommended repealing and recreating Chapter 115 (zoning) and updating the subdivision code to streamline approvals, introduce character‑based form standards and allow more housing types—including proposals to allow up to three principal dwelling units per lot—pending further council direction and public engagement.
La Crosse planning staff on Sept. 16 presented a plan to repeal and recreate the city’s zoning code (Chapter 115) and update the subdivision code (Chapter 113), saying the existing code ‘‘largely was adopted in the eighties’’ and is now ‘‘very, very outdated’’ and hard to interpret.
Tim Macklin, deputy director of the planning department, told council members the overhaul is intended to implement the recently adopted comprehensive plan and a housing study that identified barriers to building new housing. ‘‘We need to update our zoning code,’’ he said, describing the rewrite as a likely city‑wide reprovisioning of districts and a precursor to a comprehensive rezoning.
Consultants from MSA and technical lead Mike Lam described a shift from conventional single‑use zoning toward character‑based and…
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