Ward work session removes mandatory street trees from zoning tables, opts for 35‑foot height cap over five‑story blanket

At a Ward work session covering proposed zoning code sections 4.9–4.15, a committee member pushed staff to remove mandatory street trees from the zoning tables and explore lower‑maintenance alternatives such as a mix of shrubs and plants spaced about every 30 feet. "We want to get away from Street trees all together," the committee member said, arguing that required street trees would be a "nightmare to manage."

The member suggested replacing mandatory trees with a "Greenery installation every 30 ft" combining bushes and plants to preserve a green streetscape while limiting ongoing maintenance obligations. Staff noted the city no longer has a functioning tree board and that participation in the state‑sponsored Tree City program requires a tree board and budgetary commitments; staff and the committee agreed removing the landscaping entries from the zoning tables was appropriate and that staff would mark them out in the draft.

The committee also questioned a five‑story maximum listed for the commercial corridor and, after discussion about fire‑department thresholds and the variability of story heights, agreed to use a height cap in feet rather than stories. A committee member summarized the rationale: converting to feet avoids unintentionally allowing taller buildings where stories have high floor‑to‑ceiling heights. The group agreed to replace the five‑story blanket with a 35‑foot limit and to evaluate exceptions on a case‑by‑case basis when adequate water supply and suppression can be demonstrated.

The meeting clarified several other drafting points. A "liner building"—defined in the draft as a building placed between a public right‑of‑way and off‑street parking to frame the street and screen parking—refers to occupied storefronts that maintain an active street frontage rather than decorative structures. Committee members also asked about industrial zone provisions labeled "property line coverage not regulated" and confirmed that front coverage, setbacks and site‑wide coverage rules elsewhere in the draft still control where applicable.

Committee members stressed the importance of façade and design standards to shape downtown character and accepted retaining a five‑story allowance for industrial uses where tall equipment or operations require it, provided fire‑safety and water supply constraints are met. The group directed staff to consult the fire chief and confirm suppression capability before approving taller industrial proposals.

On residential cluster development and wetlands, a committee member asked whether the draft's requirement that 50% of floodplain or wetland areas be counted toward common open space left only narrow usable buffers (for example, 7.5 feet in one calculation). The member proposed increasing the usable buffer or changing the trade‑offs; staff agreed to check FEMA guidance and report back.

Procedurally, the committee agreed to continue the code review at the next work session, taking pages 72–101 (which include landscape and sign regulations) to avoid stopping mid‑section. Staff committed to removing the mandatory landscaping entries from the zoning tables in the draft and to follow up with the fire chief and FEMA guidance on the two technical issues raised.

No formal votes or ordinance adoptions were recorded during the session; the changes noted above were agreed as drafting directions for staff to implement.