Planning Commission to recommend new West Homewood zoning plan

The Homewood Planning Commission, at its regular meeting for Tuesday, Sept. 3,  voted to recommend to the City Council that it replace the current zoning for West Homewood with new regulations very similar to those in place in the thriving Edgewood community.

Greg Cobb of the Department of Engineering, Planning and Zoning told the Commission that current zoning for West Homewood is too complicated.

The current code for the area is 39 pages, with the code for other districts in the city coming in at only two to three pages.

Not only that, but the code is difficult to understand and causes problems for both existing and prospective new businesses in West Homewood, according to Cobb.

Businesses are already having trouble complying with the current zoning, with some establishments having to relocate, he said.

The new plan to be sent to the Council removes the form-based code now in place in the area, Cobb said. According to an online source, form-based code is a land development regulation that uses physical form, rather than the traditional separation of uses, as its organizing principle.

This code “has been part of the problem with trying to develop anything over there,” Cobb said. “This form-based code is so restrictive on exactly what you can and can’t build. I think it’s actually hindering development.”

Cobb said the new code for West Homewood would match the code in Edgewood, with a few exceptions. 

Vicki Smith, a planner with the city, said the code is too complicated and can make things contentious with residents in West Homewood when certain zoning requests come up.

“I’m afraid that is going to continue to happen as long as we have the form based code,” Smith said. “There’s just a lot of hidden things in there that will continue to crop up, and if you keep putting a band-aid and trying to fix it as it comes up it’s just going to get worse instead of better.”

The current zoning code also has the West Homewood sign ordinance embedded in it. Cobb said there is no other zone that has the sign ordinance besides Wildwood and Brookwood Mall. 

Cobb said he can release more details on the plan for West Homewood after he has submitted it to the City Council, which he planned to do this week.

The plan will likely be sent to a Council committee, and it may be a few weeks before the full council considers it, according to Cobb.

The Commission also voted on Monday to amend the regulation that governs when the zoning administrator must post signs on pieces of property affected by a proposed zoning change, such as the sweeping changes to zoning downtown that are currently being considered.

In the case of those changes downtown, city staffers said that it would be necessary to post well over 400 notices.

The amendment states that the posting of such signs is not required if the proposed new zoning district has been the subject of a public input session prior to a Planning Commission public hearing.

In addition, the city will send out about 800 notices on October 10 regarding the proposed changes to all subject properties and other properties within a 500-feet area. 

The proposed change to the downtown zoning district, which have been discussed for several months, would divide downtown into three areas — low-intensity, medium-intensity and high-intensity areas. The final version of the plan was to be presented to the public in September. 

Commission staffers said they hope to have the new zoning downtown approved and in place by mid-December.