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Task force weighs downzoning Jonesville Road to preserve single-family character
Summary
Town staff proposed rezoning Jonesville Road from mixed residential RM-4 to single-family RSF-3 to cap density at three units per acre; members asked for parcel counts and analysis, urged driving the neighborhood, and left the advisory poll as undecided pending more data.
Town staff on March 5 presented a recommendation to reclassify the Jonesville Road area from RM-4 (residential mixed) to RSF-3 (residential single-family), which would establish a maximum density of three dwelling units per acre and restrict multifamily and mixed uses.
Trey Lau, interim planning director, framed the proposal as a response to repeated public concerns and showed parcel maps and before-and-after development images. He said the proposed change would remove the sliding-scale density that allows 4–8 units per acre in certain parcel-size bands: "We have done an analysis on Jonesville Road and come up with 3," he said, noting the analysis produced an average of about 2.91 units per acre and staff therefore recommended the RSF-3 classification.
The proposal prompted detailed technical questions from task-force members about nonconforming uses, family-compound and family-subdivision exemptions, and workforce-housing incentives. Staff explained that converting to RSF-3 could create some nonconforming parcels but that family-compound or family-subdivision allowances could be preserved for Jonesville specifically without applying changes island-wide. Shay Farrar, principal planner, said the district plans called for more analysis and that earlier public engagement had flagged community concerns about massing and townhome developments.
Members asked staff for additional data before committing to a change. One member asked for the number of remaining five-acre tracts that could trigger the higher (8 du/acre) sliding-scale density; staff said they would provide parcel counts and more granular analysis. Several members and residents urged task-force members to drive Jonesville Road to observe on-the-ground conditions before deciding.
The task force used an advisory, phone-based poll to take the temperature of the room; staff emphasized the exercise is not a formal vote and the town attorney confirmed results would be public record but not tied to names. Several members voted "undecided" or said they needed a site visit and more data before supporting a rezoning.
Next steps: staff agreed to supply parcel- and density-analysis details (counts of large tracts and the map-based calculation that produced the 6.5 average under the sliding scale), clarify whether family-compound or subdivision language can be confined to Jonesville, and return with those materials for further discussion at a future meeting.
