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Belmont council directs staff to pursue seven zoning text amendments, flags stormwater and apartment-form changes for deeper review
Summary
Council reviewed a package of seven text amendments (side setbacks, defined uses, right-of-way reservations, open space, stormwater, downtown transitional zoning, and multifamily forms) and gave staff direction on sequencing and timing tied to the comp‑plan update.
Belmont City Council reviewed a package of proposed text amendments on Oct. 21 and provided direction to staff on sequencing, timelines and issues that require additional technical work, including stormwater protections and where apartment building forms should be permitted.
The planning director introduced the package as seven items staff will bring through the planning board and back to council: side-setback clarifications (infill and major-development standards), specifically naming certain commercial uses (for example dispensaries or CBD retailers) in the highway-commercial Wilkinson Boulevard corridor, right‑of‑way reservation language, open-space acceptance criteria, watershed/stormwater enhancements, a proposed downtown transitional zone to buffer residential areas, and revisiting apartment-location rules and building forms.
Key details and next steps: staff said they will present drafted side-setback language to the planning board Oct. 24 and return to council Nov. 4 for consideration. For dispensaries and vape/CBD shops, staff recommended adding explicitly named uses to the highway-commercial list as an expedient option but noted a larger corridor revitalization strategy could change that mapping. On right-of-way reservations, staff said conditional zoning and TIAs are existing tools to secure dedications, but requiring a developer payment for a long-range, unfunded project may not be legally supportable absent a demonstrated nexus; staff will research specific high-profile sites such as South Fork Parkway.
Council members flagged stormwater and watershed protections as higher-complexity items that sit in the municipal code (not strictly in the land-development code) and requested engineering analysis of enforceability, budget impacts and interlocal enforcement options. Staff said the city engineer and Jonathan Wilson will examine options and return with timing and cost estimates.
On apartments and multifamily forms, staff proposed using public engagement from the ongoing comprehensive land-use update to guide where smaller-scale multifamily forms might be introduced and whether those forms should be allowed by right, by conditional zoning, or through a new form-based approach; staff suggested incremental, targeted text amendments after the comp‑plan guidance is finalized (target July 2025 for comp‑plan consideration).
Council did not take a formal vote on these amendments but instructed staff to proceed with the planning-board schedule, to research legal and budget implications where noted, and to return with draft text amendments and clearer timelines.
