The Town of Center will be updating its codes in an effort to address community housing needs. The town will host a Town Hall meeting next week to address citizen comments and questions. Keith Brockhurst, the town’s economic development coordinator, issued this summary of the code changes:
The meeting will be at Center Town Hall, 294 S. Worth St.
What’s the purpose of making these updates?
The primary objective is to update our codes to help us address our community’s housing needs and foster sustainable development for our community by:
- Supporting the development of additional housing units for local residents.
- Simplifying our codes to increase transparency for everyone in our community.
Want to learn more about these proposed updates and why we are recommending them? Call or visit Town Hall and ask us about them! And join us at Town Hall on Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. for a public hearing to ask questions, bring up your concerns, voice your support, or even just to listen.
What are the Town Board / Planning Commission actually recommending? Check out this summary of the different updates.
- Allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
- Allowing high-quality (ADUs) or “granny-suites” in town gives more housing choices.
- Tiny Homes Allowed:
- Saying yes to Tiny Homes on small lots means more housing options without overcrowding.
- Rules for Short-Term Rentals:
- Making rules for short-term rentals blends them in without stopping more housing. Starting with 3 rentals allowed, 1 per owner.
- Flexible lot coverage:
- No more maximum lot coverage means building ADUs or duplexes is easier, setbacks still control density.
- PUD Zone Addition:
- Allowing planned unit developments (PUDs) with unique rules can help enable positive development in undeveloped places like the North 90.
- One Simple Residential Zone:
- Combining the existing two residential zones into one makes things easier for everyone to understand.
- Clear Zoning Map:
- Adding a simple map makes it easy for people to know the rules for their area.
- New Dimensional Standards:
- Small changes in how far buildings are allowed to be from each other (setbacks)
- Clear List of Allowed Uses:
- Making a simple list of what’s allowed in each area helps people know what they can do.
- Easy-to-Read Size Standards:
- Making a simple table for size rules helps residents and builders follow clear guidelines.
- More Definitions:
- Adding new words to the rules helps everyone understand better and keeps things complete.