Council grants 90‑day extension for Lot 7 and reviews 2023–2025 land‑use reforms

Council approved a 90‑day time extension on Dec. 3 for plan approval conditions on Lot 7 of the former IAC site. Planning staff said Jonathan Jave of Statewide Partners requested the extension on behalf of Northside Village LLC; the new deadline is March 9, 2026. Councilor Shiles moved the extension, which carried by voice vote.

Planning director Jared Wolfskin then presented a year‑end land‑use reform update, reviewing changes completed since 2023 and work underway. Wolfskin cited reforms that removed license requirements for keeping chickens, reduced setbacks, reclassified former industrial sites as urban mixed use (including the Carlisle Point Plaza Mall and the Cherry Street site), reduced off‑street parking minimums to lower housing production costs, and added a fee‑in‑lieu option for minimum off‑street parking.

Wolfskin also described updates to align zoning with the Fair Housing Act and health and safety code changes tied to state licensing for massage therapy businesses. He outlined new uses for small‑scale manufacturing with retail ("artisan industry"), draft rules for minimum EV parking in large lots, and bicycle parking rules. Several items — notably accessory dwelling unit regulations and a demolition ordinance for urban mixed‑use areas — remain in draft and legal review.

Council members thanked Wolfskin and staff for the work and acknowledged that accessory dwelling unit rules have multiple interlocking issues (utility, zoning and legal review) that will take additional time.