Council sends proposed driveway ordinance back for further wording and designee clarification

Council members reviewed a proposed ordinance to repeal and recreate local driveway regulations and decided to send the draft back to the ordinance drafter for additional clarification.

Staff described the proposal as an effort to remove ambiguity in the current code, clarifying that single-family lots would be allowed one driveway while multifamily lots could have two, that a 200-foot frontage exception created confusion, and that the building-inspector reference would be updated to the director of public works. The draft would also permit the plan commission to grant waivers and require engineered plans for certain exceptions.

Alder Lawson asked whether a circular drive with two street entrances would count as two driveways under the new rule; staff said that possibility was not contemplated in the current draft and recommended the waiver process or further wording changes to address such cases. Councillors also questioned the significance of the January 1 date used to fix which driveways would be subject to the rules; staff said it reflected a prior local change around 2004 and that the date was selected to set a clear baseline.

Several council members, including Alder Meyer, voiced support for returning the draft to the ordinance drafter (Paul) for specific language changes — for example, whether to add 'or designee' after the director of public works — and the council agreed to revisit the item after those clarifications.

No formal vote to adopt the driveway ordinance was taken; the item was sent back for amendment and reintroduction at a later meeting.