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Coweta planning staff propose updates to Quality Development Corridor standards, including new materials and flexibility
Summary
Planning staff told commissioners they will draft housekeeping and material updates to Quality Development Corridor District ordinances — proposing to allow architectural metal panels and synthetic stone as category-A materials, add thin brick as category-B, and give staff limited administrative flexibility to evaluate new materials.
County planning staff presented proposed housekeeping amendments to the Quality Development Corridor District (QDCD) ordinance at the April 14 work session, seeking to modernize building-material lists, reduce overly prescriptive landscape language and allow limited administrative review for new materials.
Background and proposed changes: Staff recounted the QDCD program’s origin (initial Highway 34 adoption in 2003 and expansion in 2005) and said the overlay is applied to commercial and industrial uses within roughly 1,000 feet of designated highways to raise architectural and landscaping standards. Proposed changes include allowing architectural metal panels (ACM) and certain synthetic stone as category A materials, permitting thin brick as a category B material and loosening prescriptive landscape placement to allow designers more flexibility.
Exemptions and implementation concerns: Staff noted exemptions for buildings that existed when corridors were adopted, additions/alterations, and industrial-park lots that are not visible from corridors. Commissioners raised questions about how federal communications law might interact with the ordinance’s telecom-tower prohibition and about past cases (a large building approval) where a change in the ordinance might have affected the outcome. Staff suggested staff could be given limited authority to evaluate new materials with the building official to reduce the frequency of variance requests while preserving board oversight for major issues.
Next steps: Staff said they will prepare a redline of proposed ordinance amendments and send it to the board for review; commissioners indicated willingness to have staff draft and circulate the changes.
Quote: "Staff would like to offer allowing architectural metal panels and synthetic stone as category A materials," the planner said, urging a periodic update process so building trends can be reflected in the code.
Ending: Staff will return with a redlined ordinance for commissioner review before any final changes are considered.
