Planning commission says zoning rewrite largely compliant with state code but flags R2/R3 character gaps

Jordan Andrews presented the Planning Commission's draft zoning ordinance and said staff and the commission had worked to ensure Code of Virginia compliance. Andrews told the commission the draft addresses most statutory requirements but that the Commission had deferred affordable-housing-specific code language to the comprehensive-plan process.

During discussion Andrews flagged a key concern: "the R2 District and the R3 District do not achieve the goals of the plan regarding the character of the town," saying the R2 standards were suburban in nature and might not fit the town's traditional single-family areas. Commissioners asked for a more detailed gap analysis and examples; staff said commissioners had already performed individual gap analyses and that the commission would receive more detailed charts and metrics at future meetings.