A month after delaying adoption of a new zoning code to provide more time for community review and feedback, the city hosted a sparsely attended open house Tuesday on the map that would accompany the code.
The Plan Commission, which has already recommended approval of the zoning code rewrite, will review and make a recommendation on the map next Wednesday.
Both the code and the map will go before the Common Council immediately after, and there will be an opportunity for additional public comment.
Five people attended Tuesday’s open house.
“A couple of people brought in the same request for a property that is currently zoned multi-family and has been vacant for quite some time,” said Mike Slavney, of consulting firm Vandewalle and Associates. “They want to make sure it stays multi-family and the property is well-suited for that.”
Slavney said those who attended the open house were curious and had a few questions, but “they went away happy, particularly with what we’re doing for the non conforming structures and lots.”
The new code would toss the “legal nonconforming” designation for properties that don’t fit in with the zoning in their neighborhoods. The change would make the properties legally conforming and make it easier for property owners to get loans to make improvements or sell the properties.
Last month, the Common Council delayed action on the zoning code to provide more time for public input. There hasn’t been any additional input since then that would alter the proposed code, Slavney said.
“I don’t see any other changes coming in the code as a result of what we’ve heard,” he said.
Slavney said there have been some minor tweaks to the zoning map, but, he added, “I don’t think those will be controversial.”
City Administrator Brian Knapp said he hopes everyone feels there has now been sufficient opportunity to comment on the proposed code and map.
“We hope everybody who was concerned about it initially and wanted more time to review it has had that time and feels comfortable enough to go ahead and pass the ordinance next Wednesday,” he said.
Knapp added that the code isn’t written in stone.
“What people need to remember is, there can be modifications, there can be amendments to the zoning code and the map,” he said.
The proposed code would replace the one that has been in effect for 31 years.
In addition to jettisoning the legal nonconforming status, another major change in the code would be a greater focus on landscaping.
The code would put a premium on landscaping for any new development, setting a score that proposed developments would have to meet. They would get points toward the score for various types of landscaping included in the site plan.
The requirement would only apply to new development and to those portions of existing properties that are significantly remodeled or expanded.
The code would reserve its most rigid requirements for downtown Shawano, which under the proposed new zoning map would run from the 100 block of North Main Street to Presbyterian Street on the south and would promote two-story storefront buildings with no setback from the sidewalk.
Any proposed renovations, designs or projects in that area would be closely scrutinized by the city, down to which storefront colors would be appropriate.
The code was last adopted in October 1983. Though it has been frequently amended, this is the first complete overhaul in 31 years.
The city budgeted $50,000 for the project.
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