Draft 4

Missed the Draft 4 Review?
There are other ways to find out more! Watch the Zoom recording, catch up with us at one of the upcoming events/meetings, and check out the annotated Draft 4 on your own time. As always comments/questions can be emailed to [email protected]. 

Draft 4

Draft 4 Outline

From Wednesday, Sept 4, Draft 4 Review and Q&A:

Sept 4 Zoom Recording

What's included (proposed map). 

Notes on Draft 4:

​Key changes in Draft 4 include:

Height - after much feedback, discussion, and research, we have changed this regulation to be "the compatibility rule or 35 feet" which means that at a minimum, the max height allowed on the front facade is 35 feet. If a house is taller on your block, your house may go up to that height.

After discussion with City staff, we have also added the height-calculation rule used for Atlanta Historic District which states that the "height of structures is measured on the front facade from the average point of grade along said front facade to the highest point of the roof or façade, whichever is higher." This is different from the Zoning which measures max height of a building from the average grade to the mid-point of a roof on all elevations. The Historic District calculation is much easier to use on existing buildings!

Accessory Dwelling Units - in this draft additional regulations in the proposal that govern the size of ADUs have been removed (see struckthrough text in Draft 4) and thus will default to existing Zoning. The reason was to eliminate unnecessary complications which means that regulations governing ADUs can be found in one place (the Zoning Code).

Density - at the Review meeting on Wednesday night we discussed 2 options here:

1. Option 1: Allow up to 2 ADUs per lot (all other Zoning regs regarding ADUs apply)
   1. This is an increase of 1 unit per lot
   2. Apartments and detached units are still be subject to FAR and Lot Coverage.
   3. Enables Density and protection of historic buildings to occur simultaneously (not one without the other)
2. Option 2: No change in the number of allowed ADUs (which remains 1 ADU, per Zoning)
   1. Zoning allowance would be the rule
   2. Would allow Density to be addressed separately and at a separate time from the Historic District proposal

Nonconforming Structures - finally, a clause for nonconforming structures was added which refers tot he existing Zoning Code Chapter 24 (2)(a) which states that "Should such nonconforming one- or two-family residential structure or nonconforming portion of structure be destroyed, by any means, in whole or in part, it may be reconstructed in the same location and upon its previous foundation and to its previously existing height, provided said reconstruction does not increase the previously existing degree of nonconformity and further provided that said reconstructed structure is used for a permitted use." 
This applies to accessory structures as well.
Note: it is preferred by the City that we refer to but not quote a regulation enshrined elsewhere in the Zoning Ordinance as it could lead to legal confusion if the original language differed from the repeated language.

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