Concerns over proposed R-1 changes

A speaker raised concerns about proposed changes to R-1 zoning and how they were presented.

A Ward 2 speaker said townhomes and multiplexes had previously required rezoning in R-1 zones, usually involving a Planning Commission meeting, neighborhood meetings and two City Council meetings, while the proposed change would allow those uses after only a neighborhood meeting. She said the expanded uses had not been clearly stated or adequately explained, and that a slide was the only reference she saw to the change but did not explain that it expanded allowed uses.

She said residents in her neighborhood had gone through a year-long fight over what they believed were their rights, and that their experience with a neighborhood meeting had not been good. She also said there had been no neighborhood outreach, including no outreach involving the public that officials could cite. She said the changes had passed the Planning Commission and the first City Council vote, with a second vote still to come, and had not received proper consideration from the commission.