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Farmington staff previews zoning changes to implement Public Act 25-1; committee presses on parking, density and design standards
Summary
Assistant town planner Garrett Dagel walked the Advisory Design Review Committee through draft text to implement Public Act 25-1, explaining mandatory summary/site-plan review for two- to nine-unit middle-housing in many commercial and mixed-use zones and describing proposed design constraints, parking limits and a proposed eight-units-per-net-acre density cap; commissioners requested refinements and time to submit edits before TPZ introduction.
The Town of Farmington’s assistant town planner presented draft zoning text Tuesday to implement Public Act 25-1, the state law requiring municipalities to allow certain "middle housing" types — such as duplexes, triplexes, "perfect sixes" and cottage clusters — by summary review in specified commercial and mixed-use zones.
"As part of this zoning regulations have to allow in commercial and mixeduse zones residential developments of two to nine units by summary review," Garrett Dagel told the committee, summarizing the statute and the types of housing it covers. He said the summary-review process removes the town’s ability to require a public hearing for 2–9 unit proposals that meet the regulation’s metrics.
Dagel outlined proposed local design controls intended to preserve the character of Farmington: a maximum building height of roughly 35 feet while still allowing three-story "perfect six" configurations under a carve-out; roof-pitch and stepping rules to avoid monolithic façades; limits on primary materials to brick, stone, lap siding and board-and-batten; restrictions against primarily glazed façades; and requirements for mechanical-equipment screening. He also proposed dark-sky-compliant lighting (no greater than 3,000 Kelvin) and impervious-coverage standards tied to the town’s MS4 permit.
The draft would also restrict local parking requirements: for developments of 16 units or fewer the town could not require parking; for developments of 16 or more units parking may be limited to one space for one-bedroom units and two spaces for two-or-more-bedroom units, unless a developer provides a parking needs assessment. Dagel used prior local projects as examples where reduced parking was accepted due to tenant characteristics and transit access.
Commission members pressed staff on density math and practical outcomes. The draft proposes an eight-units-per-net-acre cap in many zones, a figure several commissioners questioned as potentially constraining "perfect six" configurations that can reach higher per-acre counts on smaller lots. Dagel said the team would revisit the density calculation and suggested center/village zones could be carved out from the cap because center zones often lack lot-size minima.
Committee members also asked how summary review would affect community input: Dagel confirmed that although individual 2–9 unit proposals could avoid a required public hearing under state law, any town regulation change still requires a public hearing, and the town will schedule that hearing as part of the text-amendment process. Staff committed to circulating the draft word document to the committee and accepting tracked changes before TPZ formally considers the amendment; staff indicated an anticipated TPZ introduction in July and potential hearing and formal adoption activity in September.
Next steps: staff will distribute the draft regulation text and presentation; committee members and stakeholders may submit edits or comments to be considered before formal TPZ submittal.
