Recent Planning and Zoning meetings brought to light issues discovered during the development of Meade’s Crossing. Insights from these issues have resulted in the City staff suggesting new rules and regulations for future ‘community villages’, which have been approved by the City’s Planning Commission and submitted to the City Council for their review and approval.
Meade’s Crossing was built during the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused long delays and raised costs dramatically. At the time, the Planning Commission decided not to require alleys. The original purpose of alleys in the ‘Community Village’ ordinance was to allow for cars to be parked in the back of units – the intent being to give the front of homes a cleaner and neater facade.
Without the alleys however, owners were forced to park their cars in the front of their homes. City staff noted that the decision to drop the alleys should have also resulted in the streets being widened to allow cars to park. Unfortunately the impact of not widening the streets wasn't noticed until after the building process had begun, the staff stated.
In the draft of the new Community Village Regulation, the Council has decided to require alleys for townhomes but waive them for single-family homes, because unlike townhomes, single-family homes typically have more space to allow parking either in a driveway or in front of the homes, where townhomes offer neither option.
Staff noted that Meade’s Crossing auxiliary parking lot had a lot of empty spaces on evenings and weekends so the number of required auxiliary parking lot spaces was reduced in the draft.
Under the revised regulation, owners of lots in a Community Village that are less than 10,000 square feet may have two vehicles on site and one off site in the auxiliary parking, limiting each residence to three total. The staff is also encouraging developers of future developments to provide a central location that larger vehicles such as campers, RVs and boats can be parked, instead of at homes.
In other proposed changes, home businesses, i.e., businesses where customers would visit the home for a service, such as daycares, which had been prohibited, would now be allowed. While the Planning Commission accepted the staff’s recommendation, applicants will still be required to get approval from the City’s Board of Appeals first. Since the parking limit at the community villages is three vehicles, any customers to home based business would need to use the auxiliary parking spaces.
The biggest issue brought on by the Meade’s Crossing development was private sheds in people’s yards. Town Manager Jim Wieprecht explained that due to the many years’ wait between the original approval for Meade’s Crossing and the actual start of construction, sheds were advertised as being allowed even though City code prohibited them.
Because the allowance of sheds was a selling point for some current residents, and the forced removal of them would create an unnecessary burden on the on owners, the Council chose to allow Meade’s Crossing residents to have individual sheds that are 120 square feet or less, but the siding and roofing must match the home.
However, the Planning Commission voted to include language in the new community village regulations prohibiting sheds in any future development done under the new rules. Instead developers will be required to build appropriate storage in homes, such as garages or central storage locations.
Resident Jim Thomas expressed concern over the issues identified as a result of the development of Meade’s Crossing and the future community village zoning regulations within the City. The community village zoning guide should be used, he said, as a tool by the planning commission to encourage creative design solutions and to advert the issues of Meade’s Crossing. Commission members and City staff should all receive proper training on how to use it. He also requested an easier way to view the changes made to the guide.
