Council adopts Downtown Northwest zoning overlay to encourage focused, high‑density redevelopment
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
The Town Council approved Ordinance 2001, creating a Downtown Northwest floating overlay district with form‑based standards, a 100‑foot maximum height in most locations, and minimum acreage and frontage requirements intended to guide concentrated mixed‑use redevelopment near North Main, Prices Fork and Turner Street.
The council approved Ordinance 2001, establishing a Downtown Northwest overlay intended as an incentive‑based, form‑based district to guide dense, mixed‑use redevelopment in the triangle bounded by North Main Street, Prices Fork Road and Turner Street.
Staff explained the overlay would be a floating district applied only with a rezoning application; eligibility requires a developer to assemble at least 3.5 acres with 300 feet of contiguous frontage. The ordinance replaces single prescriptive metrics with detailed form and site standards—build‑to lines, urban landscaping, structured parking requirements, open space and special signage plans—and sets a 100‑foot maximum height except in constrained areas adjacent to North Main and certain historic properties where lower heights and setbacks are required. The planning commission recommended approval (6‑1).
Property representatives supported the overlay’s strategic intent but expressed concern that acreage/height limits could reduce commercial viability; a community group asked for additional protections for the St. Luke/Oddfellows Hall viewshed. Council members debated height tradeoffs, setbacks and design protections before voting to approve the overlay. Supporters framed the district as the town’s primary option for locating future high‑density student housing without spreading impacts into single‑family neighborhoods; opponents wanted more protections for historic views and commercial frontage.