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Commissioners warn draft allows multifamily and mixed-use too broadly, cite density loopholes
Summary
Several commissioners said the draft permits mixed-use or multifamily in too many residential districts, and raised concerns that developers have used wetlands and utility easements to inflate open-space or density calculations; they asked staff to cap multifamily shares and tighten open-space rules.
A commissioner said the draft currently allows a mixed-use category (referred to in the discussion as a "cord") in every residential district and called for tightening where that use can be allowed. "The draft allows the cord on a tract as small as 10 acres in any residential district," a commissioner said, and urged limiting mixed-use to specific districts nearer city limits or where infrastructure exists.
Commissioners also complained that developers have counted power-line corridors, wetlands and utility easements as open space to reduce density calculations. One commissioner recommended capping multifamily to a percentage of units rather than a percentage of site acreage and strengthening aesthetic and design requirements where denser housing is allowed. Staff said they would remove some allowances and rework district-by-district permissions to reduce loopholes.
