Johnstown council approves PD district changes to let city manage a unit "bank" of housing capacity

Johnstown City Council voted July 21, 2026, to approve Ordinance 07-2026, which amends Chapter 11.65 of the codified ordinances to create a process for the city to manage residential density within the planned development (PD) district.

Legal staff and planners described the change as twofold: simplifying the process of adding land to a PD district and establishing a procedure to create a housing- or "unit" bank that lets the city reallocate or negotiate existing residential entitlements among properties in the PD. As staff explained, the change does not immediately move units; it creates a framework so the city can authorize transfers or negotiate compensation when developers request conversions or transfers of density.

Council members raised several specific concerns: who controls the bank (staff said the city retains control and the code language clarifies city approval is required), whether units should ever expire or include a sunset, and whether transfers should generate direct payments to the city. Staff said those implementation details (conversion formulas, compensation and potential sunsets) would be decided on a case-by-case or later policy basis.

Staff flagged that the PD currently contains more than 1,200 residential units under existing commitments; the ordinance creates the ability to negotiate transfers rather than automatically changing product types or counts. One council member suggested renaming "housing bank" to "unit bank" or "dwelling bank" to reduce public confusion about what the number of units represents; that language could be refined in subsequent drafts.

Council passed the ordinance after extended discussion. The change gives the city a clearer mechanism to control allocation of existing residential density in the PD while leaving conversion specifics to future negotiation and policy work.