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Committee forwards zoning cleanup on Abbey Road to council after resident concerns
Summary
The Building & Building Codes Committee voted to forward ordinance 25‑138 to City Council. Staff described the change as a technical cleanup that removes an obsolete Research Office allowance for single‑family cluster development near Woodridge; a resident objected, fearing commercial redevelopment.
The Building & Building Codes Committee voted Oct. 21 to send ordinance 25‑138 — a narrow amendment to the city’s Research Office zoning language — to City Council for a final vote.
Economic Development Director Tom Jordan and City Planner Ian Russell told the committee the proposal deletes an outdated provision that permitted single‑family cluster development within a 500‑foot buffer of the Woodridge subdivision. Jordan said the 2014 zoning update largely returned nearby parcels to R1‑A (single‑family) zoning, and the cleanup simply removes a leftover allowance that created a small, anomalous area where clusters remained possible.
Russell explained the practical effect: "Functionally this property right now is actually useless," and removing the cluster provision will not rezone parcels or enable new commercial uses, he said. "All we are proposing is to remove the provision in the research office with the 500‑foot buffer and the single family cluster allowance." He added that any future commercial development adjoining residential areas would still face standard setbacks and buffering requirements.
Resident Gerald Scolaro, who said his family has lived adjacent to the subject parcels, said owners have marketed the land and neighbors feared commercial development. "So he could do what he wants," Scolaro said, asking whether the owner could build commercial uses on an 11–12 acre parcel. Jordan responded that the parcel remains zoned Research Office and that the amendment is a code cleanup to bring the ordinance into conformity with the 2014 master plan.
The committee adopted the motion to forward 25‑138 to City Council (moved by Chair John Nickell; seconded by Joanne Krejci). Vote: Yeas — Barath, Krejci, Nickell; Nays — none. The ordinance will appear on an upcoming Council agenda for final consideration.
The change staff described does not itself rezone property; rather, it removes an anomalous allowance in the Research Office section of the city code. Residents who want more detail were advised to review the staff map and speak at the Council hearing.
