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Council adopts downtown regulating plan and related zoning updates to guide future development

Tonganoxie City Council · December 19, 2025

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Summary

After months of stakeholder engagement, the council approved a downtown regulating plan and code amendments to protect downtown character, add frontage types and create new residential downtown districts (RDT-1 and RDT-2) to guide infill and development.

The City Council adopted a downtown regulating plan and related zoning and subdivision text amendments intended to shape future downtown development and public-space enhancements.

Staff said the project began with a February 2024 contract and included extensive stakeholder engagement with downtown business owners, the planning commission and the public. Alexandra Purvis Smith of Multi Studio presented the plan’s public-space framework, four frontage types (Main Street, Transitional, Workshop and Neighborhood), and an approach emphasizing both quick, low-cost “quick wins” and longer-term capital investment.

On the regulatory side, the package replaces the Residential Infill Overlay (RI) with new RDT districts (RDT-1 and RDT-2) tailored to downtown residential and multifamily contexts, updates the Historic Business District (HBD) standards including a new HBDI subdistrict for industrial-edge areas, and adjusts use tables to add flexibility while pairing new design standards to protect downtown scale and character. Staff also previewed next steps, including city-initiated rezoning processes and outreach to property owners for targeted rezones (for example, a recommended rezoning of the depot property to HBD).

Councilmember Donley moved to adopt Ordinance 15-40 adding the downtown regulating plan to the comprehensive plan; Miss McCutcheon seconded and the motion passed. Council later adopted Ordinance 15-41 enacting the zoning and subdivision text amendments to implement the plan.