Dear Neighbors,
The Planning Commission will meet July 6, 6:30, City Hall, to deliberate on the proposed Town Center and associated zoning changes as well as to take public comment. There are two ways in which this the TC is a precedent-setting project. First, it raises the ante on building height "by right" from 65 feet to 160 feet in two blocks of downtown. Other than the inclusionary zoning formula which will still apply to the housing component of the mixed-use project, Planning & Zoning will not be able to impose additional "public goods" that exist in the present zoning as conditions for height bonuses above 65 feet to a 105 foot max. No additional affordable housing, no public access parking, no public art, no senior housing, no job creation. In the present zoning these are the price of additional height and would be scrapped. Permitted heights on Church Street, our signature pedestrian way dependent on sunshine, would also go up to 45 feet.
The second pecedent-setting aspect to this project involves legal process. Rather than the developer crafting his project to fit existing zoning, he has asked the city to craft the zoning to fit the development he'd like, even though we just went through a lengthy process developing those rules and embedding them in our ordinances and in Plan BTV. This is the reverse of good practice and in this case has turned our planning officials from impartial technical experts into open advocates of a particular project.
The downtown is the engine of tax revenue and the focus of livability for the entire city. Hill folk need to express their love of open views and building heights consistent with street vitality. Should this re-zoning pass, we will have put ourselves on the road to encouraging 'sky's the limit" heights paid for, in in this case, by our own $22 million in TIF funds.
Thanks,
Charles
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