Session #2 Roles and Responsibilities
October 22, 2008 Memo from Community Development Director, Gary Locke
Good Afternoon:
Just a quick follow-up to last evening’s discussion regarding Session #1 and the discussion of General Land Use Issues. We went through the issues I had outlined in my report for the meeting and had some good discussion in regard to their specific impact, both in regard to economic development and the overall quality of life in the City. There were no significant issues added to the list I prepared, so that appears to be a good starting point for us to work from. The issues need to be kept in the back of our minds during discussions of some of the specific zoning code issues as we move forward.
The next joint meeting has been tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 7:00 PM in Council Chambers. We will be dealing with Session #2 which will cover Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals Procedures. I expect to have our staff report and summary out on this topic approximately 5 to 7 days before the meeting, along with the agenda. If you missed last evening’s meeting and want to provide any input on the general land use issues, please feel free to email me any thoughts you may have in that everyone’s input is helpful.
Gary Locke, Community Development Director
City of Kent Community Development Department
930 Overholt Road, Kent, OH 44240
330-678-8108
330-678-8030 fax
Locke@kent-ohio.org
Nov 18 Agenda
Existing Zoning Chapters
Proposed Unified Code Chapters
Session 2 Summary Memo
November 19 Summary Minutes of Session #2
From Gary Locke, Community Development Director
Good Morning:
This past Tuesday evening, members of the Planning Commission, Kent City Council, the Board of Zoning Appeals, staff and several residents met to discuss Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals procedures as part of Session #2 for the Comprehensive Zoning Code update. Staff provided those present with an overview of each board’s current responsibilities and also gave them a quick overview of the overall development review process in the City, which both the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals are part of.
We then discussed some of the issues that staff had identified in our report for the meeting. In short, several changes were discussed and it was agreed that starting with projects coming to the City in 2009 which require a review by both the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals, that the projects would first be routed to the Board of Zoning Appeals before going to the Planning Commission. Since the early 1990’s, based on an informal agreement between the two bodies, those types of projects had been presented to the Planning Commission first and then the Board of Zoning Appeals. This process is not spelled out in the zoning code so the change to be made here does not require a zoning amendment, it can be implemented administratively. If we find out that this does not work well or better than the previous procedure, we can always go back to the way we were doing it. We also discussed whether the Planning Commission should have more authority to grant variances to projects which it was reviewing but there was not strong support for this. Alternatively, when we start looking at certain design requirements later in the update process, there could be some provisions built in, giving some flexibility to layout and design that could be approved by the Planning Commission without a variance being needed. Lastly, staff was asked to come back with some additional information and recommendations related to 1) extending the approval period for a project beyond 1 year (to get its permits), 2) to look at whether smaller parking lot projects and expansions needed to come before the Planning Commission and in what situations they would do so, and 3) evaluating which type of building additions needed to come before the Planning Commission for a site plan review.
The next meeting at which our discussions will continue will be the Planning Commission meeting on December 16, 2008. We hope to be able to provide follow-up on the three additional items of information that were requested at Tuesday evening’s meeting and to begin Session #3 which will focus on the definitions in the zoning code. We should have materials related to Session #3 and our recommendations for Session #2 out about a week before the meeting.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Gary Locke, Community Development Director
November 6 Email From Gary Locke
Good morning everyone!
Attached to this email are the materials for the next joint meeting for the purpose of conducting a comprehensive review of the zoning code.
The next meeting will be Session 2 and will be devoted to discussing the roles and responsibilities of the Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals. You will find the following attachments:
1. Meeting agenda
2. Staff Paper (Report)
3. Applicable Draft Unified Development Code Chapters (shaded text represents additional wording). The UDC was a work in progress and never formally adopted. It does have some good work put into it that should be considered.
4. Applicable Existing Zoning Code Sections
The joint meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at 7:00 PM in City Council Chambers. Please join us for this discussion if you can and share your thoughts with us. If you cannot attend and would like to mail or email written comments, those comments should be directed to my attention and will be shared with those attending the meeting.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Thank You!!
