Chair outlines week-long push to finalize zoning code draft and limits for historic-district reviews

The Board of Trustees used a short meeting to set concrete next steps on a long-running zoning code rewrite, with the chair urging trustees to divide the 150-page draft into review assignments and to give staff clear instructions by next week.

"Our job over the next week is to sort of give Chris clarity about how to produce our next and hopefully final draft," the Chair said, asking trustees to identify specific sections they would review and flag errors or substantive concerns. The draft and its zoning map have been largely static since a December 2025 version, and the board has received three distinct sets of public comments.

The board stressed that staff and counsel should consolidate comments rather than open a new round of public input. "Whatever you have in front of you, that's what you work with," a staff member told trustees, urging focus on the comments already in the record so the county planning board can review a coherent proposal.

Historic-district procedures drew particular attention. The Chair proposed a temporary mechanism to ensure exterior work in the historic district goes through an orderly permit or site-plan review during the months while the code is finalized, including a suggested 14-day window for HCC/HDC comment and a written-reasons requirement if the planning board departs from HDC recommendations. The Chair cited a recent case on West High Street/Boston Avenue in which window replacements raised timing and permitting concerns: "There was window work being done that it never got flagged by the HPC itself, from what I can tell," the Chair said, noting the risk of unpermitted work.

Trustees volunteered to split tasks: one pledged to review commercial, downtown and gateway zones and enforcement provisions; others (Paul, Charlene and Mary) were asked to compile public comments and planning-board input into three buckets—items the board should change, items to consider, and items that do not belong in the zoning code. Staff and legal counsel will translate the board's instructions into a recoded draft.

On timing, staff said they plan to deliver revision instructions by Thursday to allow a Monday review meeting and, if necessary, a special meeting to finalize direction for county submission. The board noted county planning-board deadlines require submission roughly 10–14 days before the county meeting; trustees set a target adoption window of about July, acknowledging the schedule could slip if further provisions require work.

The board closed the discussion by asking members to send their notes to staff and to a designated document owner, who will maintain a master file. Next steps are clear: trustees will return expected edits and compiled comments next week so staff and coders can prepare a consolidated draft for the board to consider and, if approved, forward to the county planning board and schedule a public hearing.