Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Great Seneca Londonderry topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee backs rezoning and no‑net‑loss approach for Londonderry in Great Seneca plan
Summary
In the Great Seneca plan review the committee supported staff recommendations to increase residential density and commercial FAR in the Londonderry/Hoyle's Addition area (staff recommended CRT 2.5, C 2.0, R 2.5 with H‑150), urged strategies to achieve 'no net loss' of affordable housing (higher MPDU targets and nonprofit partnerships) and approved developer/tenant protections during redevelopment.
The committee reviewed planning board recommendations for the Londonderry and Hoyle's Addition districts of the Great Seneca plan and agreed to forward zoning and housing provisions to full council with amendments.
Planning staff recommended rezoning several properties (from R‑20/R‑200 as applicable) to commercial‑residential town (CRT) designations intended to enable mixed use, new retail and additional residential capacity. For the Londonderry area staff recommended raising residential capacity to enable no‑net‑loss of currently affordable units, and presented back‑of‑the‑envelope scenarios showing that a 2.0 FAR could generate about 4,158 units on the site and that 20–30% of those units would need to be income‑restricted in different scenarios to equal current on‑the‑ground affordability.
"Using an average unit size assumption of 1,250 feet...2 FAR could generate approximately 4,158 units," planning staff said, adding that the affordable percentage needed to preserve no‑net‑loss varies with FAR and assumed unit sizes.
Housing protections and targets: the plan recommends preserving existing naturally occurring affordable housing where practicable, prioritizing eligible existing residents for replacement units, and encouraging public‑private‑nonprofit partnerships and DHCA coordination to extend subsidy contracts and mitigate displacement. Council staff recommended raising MPDU targets in several plan districts to 15% (from 12.5%) to better pursue no‑net‑loss objectives in areas likely to redevelop.
Transportation, parks and environment: the committee accepted associated transportation and park recommendations for Londonderry, including a north‑south internal street, transit lane recommendations and a minimum green cover and tree canopy targets in redevelopment areas. Staff also advised coordination with NIST and noted the federal NIST property would not be rezoned by the county plan.
Next steps: committee members asked for continued engagement with DHCA and other agencies, confirmation of parcel‑level counts and the proposed MPDU percentage goal for the area. The committee voted to forward the amended Great Seneca plan — including the Londonderry recommendations and strengthened housing protections — to full council for review.
