Due to the economic recession, the close proximity to the university campus, and the allowance of 200 bedrooms per acre, downtown Athens is experiencing an increasing turnover of commercial properties to student housing development, which has raised infrastructure and land use concerns.
How do other college towns regulate residential density in their downtown areas? Do you have a maximum allowed density by number of bedrooms or dwelling units per acre, or is it limited by other standards, such as FAR and dwelling unit size?
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It is with deep regret that we have to report that after 20 years in business as an independently owned and operated publication for citizen planners, the Planning Commissioners Journal will be ending publication this Spring. Unfortunately, the long economic recession and the impact it has had on municipalities—who make up over 90 percent of our subscription base—has left us in a position where it is simply not economically feasible to continue publication.
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Currently the sign section of our zoning ordinance is pretty restrictive to off premise signs, we require 1,000' separation.
The issue we've ran into is we have a newly created medical district off of the downtown which has 3-4 major employers. These major employers and and rents a number of parcels that they use for parking and other ancillary functions. They want to install signs on these properties which direct individuals to the main building or to other sites on their individual campus.
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MetroTrends is a site from the Urban Institute that features interactive charts and maps, expert commentaries, and downloadable datasets regarding the state of metropolitan economies in the United States.
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We're working on a climate action plan in the community I plan for, and one of the draft recommendations that I proposed for the plan would be for the municipality to create a bicycle and pedestrian web page that would contain recommended bike routes on low traffic streets, point out areas with sidewalks, and have information on the health and environmental benefits of walking and biking.
I presented this concept to my planning director and was shot down on account that such a website would create a potential liability for the municipality - reason being that if someone were to get hurt while following one of the recommended routes, the municipality could be subect to a lawsuit. Is there a way to do this while reducing the lawsuit risk, or is the only way to pull this off to create a full-blown bike/ped plan with screenline counts, consultant engineers, and the works? Thanks, everyone.
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In 2005 Williamsburg saw a re-zoning by the city that allowed for a number of residential towers to be put up along its waterfront. The community put together its own plan and had that plan approved by local government, but saw its plan largely ignored in the re-zoning. The re-zoned area allowed for the towers which are of a much greater height than the surrounding residential area and eliminated much of the light industry in the area.
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For the past few years there has been a lot of effort and resources put into the development of a light rail system for the City of Detroit. About a year or so ago (I cannot recall exactly when), the various plans began to coalesce and a final plan was released which would be a line running up and down the center of Woodward Avenue (the Main Street for Detroit and its northern suburbs) from just outside of downtown eventually to 8 Mile Road (the northern city limit). Once downtown, the line would make a bit of a loop through the central area. The rail line was going to be paid for through a combination of federal and private grants, city and state funding, and a small coalition of wealthy private donors.
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I was talking to a contractor last week and he was telling me about a new product Walmart is developing. He called them "mini-Walmarts" and told me up to 400 of these were planned in the southeast. Larger than a 7-11 but smaller than a typical grocery store. Basically, he told me the new focus is rural and small town communities and targeting the success of Dollar Generals and their ilk. I know there are areas in my county where they would thrive. A quick Google search uncovered this article: Walmart Planning Hundreds of Mini Shops
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Vehicle Auctions vs vehicle dealerships
CPSURaf 2012-01-27, 1:43 PM