Council clears path for zoning change to reduce front/back setbacks from 25 to 20 feet

The chair introduced a proposed amendment to the city's zoning ordinance to change front- and back-yard setback requirements from 25 feet to 20 feet. The chair said the change would allow developers to place different housing products and offset house placements to create more varied development layouts and could allow for slightly larger houses or different configurations on existing lot sizes.

"So, speaking to a couple of developers and looking at it, keeping the same lot sizes, I'd like to make a change for the setback requirements to go from 25 to 20," the chair said, describing the goal of greater product variety. Council discussed the procedural next steps: a public hearing is required and any specific zones affected can be specified in the proposed amendment. A council member moved to initiate the setback adjustment process and the motion was seconded; the council approved moving forward to the public-hearing and ordinance-amendment stage.

The council did not adopt an ordinance at this meeting; members explicitly noted the process requires a public hearing and formal amendment before any change takes effect.