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Council hears planning briefing on Pownall Road zoning amendment; staff seeks guidance
Summary
Planning director Carl Brown explained a proposed zoning map amendment for a residential strip on Pownall Road that would align a small pocket of agricultural zoning with surrounding residential parcels; staff asked whether to draft an interim amendment or wait for the comprehensive plan adoption and recommended referring the draft to the planning board.
Carl Brown, the city's director of planning and permitting, told the council the zoning question at Pownall Road grew out of a resident inquiry and a comp-plan committee review. Brown said the map's residential strip was not intended to remain static and that map lines in the comprehensive plan are general guides used to trigger map amendments as neighborhoods change.
"the strip zoning for residential, was there actually never meant to be stagnant and stable," Brown said, describing the policy rationale for a map amendment. Council members asked whether staff believed the change would be consistent with the city's current comprehensive plan; Brown said staff's analysis supports moving forward now if council wants to do so, though staff could also support waiting for the new comprehensive plan.
Councilors voiced strong support for clearing the inconsistent line: several members (Platts, Walker, Cowen, Duvall) urged staff to prepare a draft referral to the planning board to hold a public hearing and make a recommendation. The council's procedural options were described: a referral to planning board for review and public hearing, or deferral until comprehensive-plan adoption; staff said preparing a draft is work-intensive and desired early guidance from council.
The council instructed staff to prepare the draft map and referral to the planning board for a future agenda.
