Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Paynesville board recommends making downtown apartments a conditional use
Summary
The Paynesville planning board voted to recommend Ordinance No. 63 (series) to the city council, moving apartment and other residential building types in the C1 downtown district into the conditional-use section to preserve ground-floor commercial activity and allow case-by-case review.
The Paynesville planning board voted to forward Ordinance No. 63 (series) to the city council after discussing proposed changes that would move apartment buildings, multifamily dwellings, row houses and single- and two-family dwellings in the C1 central downtown zone from permitted uses into the conditional-use section.
At a public hearing, a presenter on behalf of the downtown and planning committees (speaker 3) said the intent of the change is to preserve street-front commercial space in downtown by allowing the board to consider residential conversions on a case-by-case basis. "If somebody were to buy an existing commercial building, they could tear it down, put a house there," the presenter said, arguing that requiring conditional-use review would protect ground-floor commerce.
The presenter also recommended striking a proposed subsection that would have required active commercial space on the street-facing level, saying that requirement "defeats the purpose" of preserving viable ground-floor uses and should be removed from the draft ordinance language. Staff and other board members discussed how keeping or striking that clause would affect whether apartments above or behind retail would remain permitted.
Jennifer (speaker 4), who reviewed the draft language, clarified that the proposed changes would apply to both the C1 (central downtown) and C2 (highway commercial) districts as drafted and pointed to the action sheet and pages in the packet for the committee's recommended edits.
After clarifying how apartments within active retail buildings would be addressed, a board member (speaker 2) moved to approve Ordinance No. 63 (series) as edited and recommend it to the city council; another member (speaker 3) seconded. The chair called the question, members voted "aye," and the motion carried.
The board's recommendation now goes to the Paynesville city council for final consideration; the ordinance packet includes the proposed deletions and the language the board approved sending forward.
