Officials in the Town of Malta are still tweaking a new form of zoning for the downtown area, and the process is showing exactly how divisive big growth in a small town can be.
Members of the Town Board met on Monday, Dec. 17, for a workshop to discuss form-based code zoning. The town has been researching the new zoning practice since earlier this year along with Code Studio of Austin, Texas, in order to help meet the goals of the Downtown Master Plan the Town Board adopted in 2011. The $90,000 project is being funded by the Town of Malta and The Capital District Transportation Committee.
Form-based code zoning would essentially allow the town put in place more specific and area-targeted zoning restrictions that would otherwise have to be examined on a case-by-case basis, such as building height limitations. The initial FBC draft was presented to the board in July of this year. Some of the suggested changes included limiting building height to only three or four stories following negative public reaction to the five-story Ellsworth Commons mixed-use project that was completed in 2005.
Another suggested change would be to the allow projects that comply with zoning rules to get approval from the Planning Department rather than appear before the Planning Board. It was also suggested minimum lot sizes be set at 5,000 square feet and businesses with outdoor dining be exempt from parking requirements, since they would assumedly not be open year-round.
But on Monday, it was clear members of the Town Board have outstanding concerns on downtown issues despite having worked on form-based code zoning for months. The discussion became testy at times as board members accepted some revisions, but disagreed over others.
Councilman Peter Klotz wanted a definition of what is considered an “outdoor amenity.”
“I have concerns over what should be used,” he said.
Supervisor Paul Sausville felt that the outdoor amenities should be at the discretion of the developer.
“It looks like the Town Board has no say on outdoor amenities,” he said. “I want to make sure the Town Board understands exactly what an outdoor amenity space is and who makes that decision as to what it is. This should be revised to allow the town to negotiate a better quality of life.”
Sausville was especially concerned with setting minimal lot sizes at 5,000 square feet.
“Am I to assume a developer could come in and subdivide this property into 5,000-square-foot lots?” he asked.
Lee Einsweiler of Code Studio clarified that the requirement would be for commercial purposes only. He said a developer could build a two-, three- or four-story building on each of those lots.
Sausville reminded the board of problems the town had in the past in the Silver Beach area, where the town allowed the breaking up of small pieces of property that then became less useful.
“It almost seems like we’re kind of in that situation here, allowing a developer to break a piece of property into chunks of land. It seems like poor planning to me,” he said.
Einsweiler said this concept would leave room for “the little guy.” He argued a small-scale builder who is building a space for a café on the ground floor and two residential units on the upper floors might easily build on a smaller parcel.
“It’s just a very different model of thinking,” he said. “It’s going back to that main street model and would begin a pattern we would like to see of small shop fronts lining Dunning Street.”
Another point of contention between Sausville and Councilman John Hartzell came up later in the two-hour workshop and concerned establishments with outdoor dining being exempt from calculations for adequate parking.
“It is my understanding you didn’t provide enough parking so you could encourage outdoor dining, that somehow by shortchanging the parking lot, that’s good policy,” Sausville said.
Hartzell interrupted and said he had a different understanding and turned to Einsweiler. Sausville, in turn, interrupted Hartzell.
“I think he can speak for himself,” he said.
Despite lingering disagreements, members of the board said that plan to complete the final FBC draft in time for the Jan. 7, 2013, Town Board meeting and would shoot to schedule a Feb. 4 public hearing.