Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
A steering committee gave its blessing Thursday to a proposed zoning code rewrite, sending it off to the Shawano Plan Commission and Common Council for consideration after a lightly attended open house.
Though only about a half dozen people attended the open house, suggestions they made were discussed at length by the Zoning Code Rewrite Steering Committee, which incorporated several of the recommendations into the proposed code.
The most significant of those was the adoption of an overlay district that would protect woodlands within the city limits.
The new district would require a permit for clear-cutting more than a third of designated woodland areas.
City Administrator Brian Knapp said there probably wouldn’t be a problem with the Plan Commission granting the permit to allow for new development, but the requirement would give the city some control over clear-cutting.
“I’ve had a lot of people ask about the clear-cutting that took place on Airport Drive,” he said. “Maybe there would at least be a way to monitor that and require that it be cleaned up and not be an eyesore. Right now, it’s a mess, and it’s a 40-acre eyesore.”
The new code would replace the one that has been in effect for 31 years.
It would put a premium on landscaping for any new development, setting a score that proposed developments would have to meet. They would get points toward the score for various types of landscaping included in the site plan.
The requirement would only apply to new development and to those portions of existing properties that are significantly remodeled or expanded.
The new code would toss the “legal nonconforming” designation for properties that don’t fit in with the zoning in their neighborhoods.
The code would reserve its most rigid requirements for downtown Shawano, which under the proposed new zoning map would run from the 100 block of North Main Street to Presbyterian Street on the south and would promote two-story storefront buildings with no setback from the sidewalk.
Any proposed renovations, designs or projects in that area would be closely scrutinized by the city, down to which storefront colors would be appropriate.
The code was last adopted in October 1983. Though it has been frequently amended, this is the first complete overhaul in 31 years.
The city hired Vandewalle and Associates for the project, which was budgeted at $50,000.
There will be a public hearing before the Common Council and possible adoption of the code Nov. 12, with another public hearing Dec. 10 on the new zoning map that will accompany the code.
story created on Thursday 10/9/2014 at 8:46:32 pm by Tim Ryan