By CECILIA FOX
Record Herald Writer
Courtesy of the Record Herald; Printed 8.12.12
TIPP CITY – The zoning code update steering committee met twice in the last two weeks to tackle the largest section of sign code draft yet, the section dealing with district and use regulations.
The committee met Aug. 7 and July 31 to discuss the new draft.
This new section of code draft spells out the various types of zoning districts in Tipp City and their allowed uses. It is the most recent step in a process that is expected to take more than a year.
Last November, Tipp City hired Wendy Moeller and Compass Point Planning to assist the city with the comprehensive zoning and subdivision code update, the first comprehensive update since 1993.
“I am really so happy with the changes you have made,” Tim Logan, of Gem Real Estate Group and steering committee member, told Moeller. “This will make life easier in Tipp City.”
Zoning districts
A key part of the new code reestablishes zoning districts. Some districts, like the conservation district and the restoration overlay district, stay the same. Others have been combined or eliminated.
In an effort to make the code easier to understand for residents, city officials, and business owners, and to eliminate inconsistencies, some districts have been combined. Open Space Residential and Suburban Residential have been combined in the new Suburban Residential district. The General Business and Convenience Business districts become one General Business district.
Other districts have been eliminated. For example, the Light Industrial district no longer exists. Instead, properties along the railroad tracks that were previously in the Light Industrial district will be part of the new Legacy Development (LD) district. Rezoning these properties will allow for more uses, providing, as the code says, “a mechanism that will transform an existing industrial district and certain residential properties to a vibrant, mixed-use business district.”
This area was the city’s industrial heart when the railroad dominated Tipp City, explained City Planner Matt Spring.
“As time progressed, then you had more residential and commercial development, leaving that residual industrial in the middle of our town,” Spring said.
The zoning codes for the LD district will protect the architectural character of the area, requiring any new building to match the style of the existing structures. Still, requirements for the LD district are not as strict as the requirements for the Restoration District.
Though the new code allows for the expansion of the same pedestrian-oriented development downtown into the new LD district, it also says that no attempt to speed the transition will be made.
The new code also combines all the various planned development districts—planned residential, planned commercial, planned highway service—into one Planned Development district. It then discontinues this type of district from being built in the future.
Planned development districts create lots of smaller zoning districts with disparate requirements. It meant taht the developer could make their own rules. Eliminating this type of development will require new developments to adhere to the zoning requirements for residential, commercial, industrial uses in the code.
“Everybody’s living by the same rules,” Moeller said.
Vertical mixed use buildings
The committee also discussed the types of uses allowed in each district, including nursing homes, internet gaming cafes, auto repair, solar farms, and a new type of use: vertical mixed used buildings.
Vertical mixed use buildings are a throwback to an older method of city planning: multi-story buildings with businesses on the lower floors and residences above. Older examples are the buildings downtown; a newer example is Beavercreek’s The Greene, which blends residential and commercial spaces.
“I am all for this,” Moeller said. “As a planner it would make my heart so happy.”
Vertical mixed use buildings are making a comeback, Moeller explained, because many people are less willing to drive long distances to go to work. They’re also popular with young people who are waiting longer to have families and older people who don’t want to take care of a large home.
“It’s kind of a history lesson,” said Spring.
As people moved away from cities, a kind of city planning called Euclidean zoning became widespread. This method of zoning segregates industrial, business, residential and agricultural areas, keeping urban and residential areas apart.
Now many people are interested in moving back to urban areas, explained Spring, where they can walk downstairs and be close to work, shops and restaurants.
“Can anybody give us a reason why we shouldn’t go that direction?” Councilman Joe Gibson said.
Both Moeller and Spring felt there was no reason why they shouldn’t.
“The one criticism I’ve heard is that some people think that letting people live above business will create slums,” Moeller said, “That’s ridiculous and completely untrue.”
The committee will meet again in two weeks on Aug. 21 for further discussion.
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