Planning commission approves zoning and subdivision changes to allow platted townhomes on private streets

The Winchester Planning Commission on Feb. 17 approved two related amendments intended to expand where platted townhomes on private streets can be built and to set performance standards for private streets.

Staff summarized the package as an effort to “expand the opportunities to develop with private streets” while removing earlier language that would have allowed council to intervene in maintenance. “We’ve modified the amendment to no longer include such a language and just clarify that maintenance shall be the responsibility of the homeowners association or condo owners association, in perpetuity,” a staff member said during the presentation.

The subdivision‑ordinance changes require a dedicated reserve fund for maintenance of common spaces and private streets and add performance standards (listed under a new 5‑31 section), staff said.

Commissioners raised concerns about whether allowing private streets might reduce city ownership of streets and could create long‑term cost risks if homeowners associations fail to maintain them. “I just can’t help but feel like this isn’t going to help with housing affordability,” a commissioner said. Another cautioned that substandard private streets would rarely be upgraded to public standards because of cost, asking how likely it would be that a private street could later become a public street.

Counsel and staff clarified that nothing in the ordinance would prohibit council from accepting a private street into the public system but that acceptance would require the street to be brought into compliance with public‑street standards and that council would determine who bears the cost of upgrades. To address commissioners’ concerns about a textual bar to future council action, the commission substituted language to make acceptance discretionary: private streets may be accepted into the public street system by city council after consultation with the director of public services, the fire chief, the police chief and the director of planning.

After debate and a failed initial motion on one draft, the commission approved the revised zoning text and the amended subdivision language in a subsequent roll call.

What happens next: The approved changes amend the Winchester zoning ordinance and subdivision ordinance to allow platted parcels fronting private streets in additional zoning districts and to require on‑site maintenance financing; council acceptance of private streets remains possible but discretionary and conditioned on consultation and compliance with standards.