Public gets first look at proposed Decatur zoning overhaul

Apr. 26—New zoning districts, less-restrictive sign regulations, new bans on parking in yards and on large commercial trucks parking at residences are among numerous changes in a proposed zoning and land-use ordinance that the city unveiled at a public meeting this week.

About 15 residents attended the meeting at Decatur City Hall.

"We're really just here out of curiosity," said Jennifer Wright, a real estate agent who attended the Tuesday event with her husband, Sonny.

About a half-dozen members of Standing in Power, a local group that describes itself as offering "solutions, advice, support to the Black community and to provide information on what affects us locally and nationwide," attended the meeting. Among the members attending the meeting were Catrela Perkins, the widow of Steve Perkins, who was shot and killed Sept. 29 by a Decatur police officer, and the group's co-founder Aneesah Saafiyah.

"We just want to be informed on what's going on in our city, particularly when there might be changes in zoning," Saafiyah said.

Saafiyah said they're particularly interested in a change to the ordinance that would prohibit parking vehicles in the front yards of residences.

"We want to know how they're going to enforce this ban on multi-car parking in the front yard," Saafiyah said.

The proposed ordinance also says a home can't have a paved or gravel parking area that exceeds 30% of the yard or 500 square feet.

City Director of Development Dane Shaw said Community Development's code enforcement officers will enforce the ban against parking on front yards in the same way that they enforce the city's other building codes.

"It's just like anything else — they're out riding around and they see something or they get a call (from a resident), they will write them a letter that says, 'Hey, you can't do that,'" Shaw said.

Mark Herchenhahn said he's been an Arrowhead Drive Southeast resident since 1985. He said he attended the meeting because "I want to keep track of what's going on in our neighborhood."

Herchenhahn is particularly concerned with the recent new subdivisions under development in the Burningtree area of the city. Like many of his neighbors, he isn't happy that Foxwood Trace is next door because it's a "build-to-rent" (BTR) subdivision.

City officials said they cannot regulate BTR subdivisions under existing ordinances, and no such regulations are included in the proposed zoning ordinance. They are working on possibly implementing new BTR regulations in the future.

Herchenhahn pointed out that much of the zoning in his area remains agricultural. He said he wants to make sure that it changes to single-family residential and not multi-family (apartments) if the zoning ever changes.

Bill Thrasher, an Eighth Avenue Southeast resident, said he attended the meeting to make sure nothing changes with the zoning in his neighborhood.

"I live three doors down from Delano Park and I've lived there 48 years, so I guess when you've lived there that long you don't want to see things change," Thrasher said.

Thrasher said he worries that some people could tear down existing homes, most of which were built in the 1930s, "and replace them with little homes."

City officials handed out copies of the new ordinance and zoning maps and answered questions from attendees. They hoped to get written suggestions, but Shaw and Planner Tommie Williams said they didn't receive any.

Shaw said Tuesday's public meeting would be one of at least three chances for the public to give input on the proposed ordinance.

Kent Lawrence, chairman of the Planning Commission, said the commission plans to hold a public hearing and vote at its May 21 meeting on whether to recommend the proposed zoning and land-use ordinance to the City Council.

He said the Planning Commission can delay a vote on the ordinance if it feels changes are necessary.

The City Council must introduce the proposed ordinance for two readings and a public hearing before voting on it. Shaw said he hopes this can occur in June.

Lawrence said the effective date will be included in the final version of the ordinance when the council votes on it.

A link to the proposed zoning ordinance can be found on the homepage of city's website, cityofdecatural.com. — Changes

Among the main changes from the existing zoning code:

—Zoning designations are changed and combined, which Shaw said could help when outside developers want to do a project in Decatur.

"This would give us more options than the city has had before," Shaw said.

—Accessory structures (additional buildings on a property) can't be leased either as long-term or short-term residences.

—New accessory structures will have size limitations. The accessory can be no taller than the main structure and no more than 50% of the size of the main structure, up to 950 square feet. If it's more than 12 feet tall, the building must have a 10-foot setback instead of a 5-foot setback.

—A shipping container cannot be used as a permanent storage building or for any other use, including as a tiny home.

—Repeated parking in the front yard is not allowed. The ordinance requires a paved or gravel parking area that is in addition to a driveway to cover a maximum of 30% of the yard up to a maximum of 500 square feet.

—Commercial trucks with a gross vehicle weight over 13,000 pounds — larger for example, than a Ford F-350 Super Duty — cannot be parked at a residence.

—Different zoning districts will require landscape buffers between them. The ordinance lays out in a chart the buffer required for a specific zoning district.

—The sign requirements for the new ordinance change would become less restrictive in business and manufacturing districts and more restrictive in residential districts.

Under the current ordinance, the required setback for a sign is the same as its height, while the new ordinance creates a "sightline triangle" in which the setback in the main business and manufacturing districts is determined by the extent to which the sign obstructs visibility.

Signs can generally be closer to the road, and some current nonconforming signs would conform to the proposed ordinance. The ordinance would also eliminate the need to go through the Board of Zoning Adjustments for every new sign in the downtown business district. The ordinance would reduce the height limit of signs in some districts.

—Parking allowances for businesses change so more parking spaces would be required. Stacking lanes must be longer for drive-thrus. A new commercial development's parking must be at the rear of the building.

—Beltline Road Southwest zoning changes from M1-A to CC, community commercial, similar to Sixth Avenue's B-2 district, except the 60-foot setbacks on the Beltline remain.

—The proposed ordinance includes more charts and tables to help people understand its requirements.

—A proposed site plan would go to the Technical Review Committee but no longer go to the Planning Commission unless two members on the committee agree that it needs to go to the commission.

—The city's director of development has more leeway to make decisions in certain situations. This keeps some decisions from going to the Planning Commission or Board of Zoning Adjustment.

—There are some changes to the zoning map, including some light industry districts changed to commercial, and some multi-family districts were changed to single-family to match their current use. They tried to match the zoning districts to the current land use where possible.

—A retail development district previously didn't allow multi-family homes. Now an RD district allows multi-family homes except on the first floor of an apartment complex. This first floor must be a retail/restaurant level.

—Commercial districts include design standards, such as the amount of glass and other materials that can be used for construction.

— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432