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Commission agrees to pursue rewriting design review standards; staff to seek council funding for professional assistance
Summary
Commissioners and staff agreed the current design review standards contain vague, non‑enforceable language and decided to ask city council for funding to hire professionals to rewrite the standards as ordinance‑style rules; next steps include coordinating with council and scheduling public hearings if the rewrite proceeds.
Commissioners discussed concerns that the city's design review standards use suggestive language ("should," "may") that lacks enforceability and leaves the commission vulnerable to inconsistent decisions or legal challenge. The chair (speaker S5) said the commission met with the city attorney and that one clear path is to request council funds to hire a consultant to draft ordinance‑style standards.
Staff (S4) and the chair recommended asking the council (via staff member Alyssa, referenced in the discussion) for funds so professional architectural historians or preservation consultants can write standards that read more like ordinances and provide the commission with clearer, enforceable rules. Commissioners noted that other nearby towns have clearer, ordinance‑style guidance and that rewriting will require additional public hearings and council action.
Next steps discussed on the record included contacting council staff to request agenda time, identifying consultant firms, and later holding public hearings on any proposed ordinance changes. Commissioners emphasized they are not seeking to change historic character but to create clearer rules that will stand up to challenge if a decision is appealed.
If council approves funding, staff will return to the commission with a scope of work and schedule for consultant engagement and required public hearings.
