Council debates wide-ranging zoning draft: downtown uses, R2 changes and self-storage

Ad Leclerc (S13) presented the second draft of a comprehensive zoning ordinance and led council through requests submitted by members and the public. Staff flagged specific topics for discussion: restricting institutional/public‑safety uses to prevent potential detention facilities from locating broadly, refining a 'data processing' definition to avoid unintended large data centers, and defining shared/ghost kitchens differently from catering operations.

A public suggestion to allow self‑storage in downtown prompted substantial debate. Supporters said storage would help residents move and improve affordability; opponents warned it could deaden street‑front retail. Staff proposed prohibiting first‑floor street‑facing storage and permitting storage in upper floors or rear areas. On R2 residential districts, council coalesced around removing proposals to allow multifamily and townhomes immediately, but expressed interest in several small‑scale neighborhood commercial uses (coffee shops, live/work, artist studios) if introduced first as special exceptions or conditional uses so standards (hours, signage, parking) can be defined. The draft also proposes allowing accessory dwelling units and clarifies ADU rules; council approved studying parking impacts and tentatively favored permitting a detached ADU plus one internal/attached ADU with a potential single additional parking requirement when two ADUs are present.