The Town Board Tuesday approved amendments to the town planning ordinance that tighten restrictions on the size and height of new construction and renovations on existing homes in the traditional center of town.

The changes stipulate what developers can do if they tear down and replace or substantially renovate existing homes in the Village Infill Planning Area. The rules do not affect new construction on vacant lots.

The board voted 5-0 in favor of the amendments, which have been more than year in the making. That process included a public hearing at the board’s April meeting.

The board adopted interim rules last October. The changes approved Tuesday replace the interim rules.

CONCERNS OVER SIZE

Town officials began working on planning ordinance revisions in 2006, amid concerns that some residential construction projects were dramatically increasing home sizes, pushing homes too close to lot lines or adding height beyond what exists in their neighborhoods.

“The Town’s historic core cannot remain static, but its existing character is worth preserving,” says the text of the revisions. “It is acceptable for new houses to be larger than old ones, but not so much larger as to threaten the neighborhood character.”

NEW OVERLAY DISTRICTS

The revisions adopted Tuesday set slightly different requirements for each of six new “overlay districts” within the Village Infill area. One criticism about the interim rules was that blanket restrictions were inappropriate for the diverse collection of new and old neighborhoods within the infill zone.

A map published along with the rules divides the old part of town into zones where height and square footage restrictions will vary. So instead of a blanket height limit of 37 feet or 2 1?2 stories as allowed previously, for example, the proposed rules now set a range of height limits, from 32 feet to 35 feet, depending on the neighborhood.

The new rules describe the town’s goals this way: “Development in the Village Infill Overlay Districts should remind one of the surrounding neighborhood, recognize the built environment, have a human scale, (and) preserve significant trees.”

CHANGES SINCE HEARING

Town planners made two minor changes in the amendments following last month’s public hearing:

– Neighborhoods off Beaty and Watson streets that were constructed within the last 15 years were removed from the “red” overlay district, as outlined on a map accompanying the revisions. Planner Lauren Blackburn, who coordinated the revisions, said the change came in response to a request from residents. She said planners decided those neighborhoods were too new to be subject to the same restrictions as the overlay district.

– The revisions delete a section of the existing planning ordinance regarding the Village Center Support Overlay District. Ms. Blackburn said that section conflicted with the proposed changes, and was deemed unnecessary.

LINKS

April 10, 2007, Davidson News & Notes, “Hearing set Tues. on village infill rules”

Village Infill rules map and documents, on the town website.