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Council advances Chapter 50 code updates on clinics, parking and landscaping in first reading
Summary
On first reading council moved forward three Chapter 50 code changes: remove special-use restrictions on methadone/substitution clinics to avoid ADA conflicts; update off-street parking standards and allow the zoning administrator to grant variances; and add a landscaping ordinance requiring native Southwest Virginia plantings for site plans.
The Bristol City Council gave first reading approval Jan. 12 to three proposed amendments to Chapter 50 of the city code addressing controlled-substance substitution clinics, off-street parking requirements, and landscaping standards.
Jay Dietrich outlined the first change: staff recommends removing a section of the code that treated methadone and other controlled-substance substitution clinics as a special-use category because the existing process may conflict with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If approved in subsequent readings, such facilities would be treated as medical clinics and subject to the Commonwealth's licensing rather than an extra local special-use permit.
The second proposed change updates off-street parking requirements that largely dated from the 1960s. Under the draft amendments the zoning administrator — rather than the building code official — would administer the section, and the zoning administrator could grant variances with reported notice to council; appeals would proceed to the board of zoning appeals and, if necessary, to the courts. Dietrich said the revisions also require parking lots to be paved (with limited exceptions) and align standards to the VDOT road design manual.
The third change establishes a landscaping ordinance to require developers submitting site plans to include native plantings suited to Southwest Virginia; staff said the measure would improve aesthetics and reduce stormwater management burdens.
Speaker 4 moved for first reading of the three ordinances by caption only and the council approved the motion by roll call; staff said the ordinances could be separated for later consideration if desired.
