A Quick, Easy Meeting – Until the Last Item
The Roswell City Council breezed through last week’s meeting in less than half an hour, and then everything grinded to a frustrating halt during the very last item.
The holdup was courtesy of a text amendment to an ordinance dealing with mixed-use zoning in the Historic District. This was its second – and final – reading, with the city staff having made all the changes proposed by council after the first reading in September.
It turned into a beast when several members of council decided to make changes to the wording of the ordinance.
After a motion to approve, with Councilman Kent Igleheart seconding, the discussion was kicked off by Councilwoman Paula Winiski suggesting that the minimum square feet per unit in condominiums or townhouses be changed from 1,000 to 1,200.
Councilwoman Lori Henry then added that the maximum height of buildings be limited to three stories, or 40 feet at the front of a building (from the street level). Then Igleheart asked to strike any mention of Floor Area Ratio (FAR) from the ordinance. Then Winiski asked for a five-story maximum on proposed buildings.
Poor Brad Townsend, the Planning and Zoning Director, was trying to write appropriate wording for the amendments on the fly, while also answering the council members’ scattershot questions.
Then the public weighed in.
Architects, developers and members of the community all chimed in, with the professionals vehemently opposing the new amendments. Much of the frustration they voiced centered around the many hoops they’ve had to jump through to get the original ordinance proposed – and now it was being changed at the last minute. Former council candidate Phil Barnet scolded the council for their “eleventh-hour debating.”
Brad Barnett, the developer of a proposed hotel in the Historic District, said he’s “spent quite a sum of money to date designing a project based on what we thought may or may not be the end result of this test amendment.”
Ralph Mills, a property owner based in the Historic District, warned that over-regulation of property will drive off desirable businesses.
Newly elected councilman Rich Dippolito, who is a builder, helped to calm the situation by suggesting a compromise in which a building would be three stories at street level with a fourth story set back and invisible to the eye from the street, leaving space for a rooftop terrace or similar structure. He also brought up the phrase “compatable with surrounding properties” to soothe the many tempers that could not keep the requirements vague enough to allow flexibility to developers.
“I think it’s a good ordinance,” Dippolito said. “We have a group of developers who are fired up and ready to get something done, which is always a good thing. But at the same time we need to make sure we preserve the historic properties. I think we all have the same goals.”
The four newly-proposed amendments to the ordinance were all approved.