City Council adoptions reported: middle-housing ordinances take effect July 1; comp plan amendments adopted June 10

Community Development Director Nick Bond reported to the Planning Commission July 1 that the City Council adopted the middle-housing ordinances at its June 17 meeting and that those ordinances took effect July 1. Bond said the council also adopted the comprehensive plan amendments on June 10, which had been recommended by the Planning Commission.

Bond described one late, targeted change the council made to the middle-housing ordinance: the McCormick Village Overlay District standard for minimum first-floor story height was reduced from 12 feet to 10 feet. He said the change was intended to allow low-rise, wood-frame construction using prescriptive International Building Code methods, noting that a 12-foot minimum would have pushed some projects toward steel-and-concrete frame construction and increased costs.

"The comp plan was adopted, as recommended by the the planning commission," Bond said. He added the council's adjustment was narrow and specific to the McCormick Village Overlay District to allow the type of construction anticipated there.

No formal Planning Commission action was recorded on the council adoptions; Bond delivered them as informational items in the director's report.