Council likely to delay zoning ordinance vote on Monday
Nov. 2—A final decision on whether to adopt a proposed new zoning ordinance for Decatur will likely be delayed Monday even though there's a scheduled vote, officials said.
City officials scheduled consideration of the 398-page ordinance for Monday's 6 p.m. meeting, but most agree with some residents that it's not ready.
City Council President Jacob Ladner said at this week's work session a second reading and public hearing will stay on the agenda, so it will be up to the council whether to table it.
City Attorney Herman Marks reminded the City Council that any change after a first reading of an ordinance would require at least a one-meeting delay "unless you do a unanimous consent, and that's not likely on this issue."
The city is seeking to replace a zoning and land-use ordinance originally written in the 1950s and modified frequently through the years with a new, more modern ordinance.
Blake McAnally, of Pugh Wright McAnally Inc., said the current ordinance no longer fits the city's residential or commercial real estate market, so the city's Board of Zoning Adjustments ends up with a lot of requests for variances.
Work began on the ordinance rewrite six years ago, but changes in the Planning Department and the COVID-19 pandemic delayed completion.
The city recently upgraded the vacant planning manager position to a higher paid director position and the application period has ended. The council hires city directors, and Human Resources Director Richelle Sandlin said Friday she plans to talk to the City Council on Monday about scheduling interviews. However, Monday's agenda now includes a proposed resolution to hire a recruiting firm to fill the position.
Councilman Billy Jackson advocated at this week's work session waiting to approve the new ordinance until after the council hires a planning director.
He pointed out the city hasn't had a planning director since 2009 and nobody on the City Council or Planning Commission has a planning background.
"The tangible things (in the proposed zoning ordinance) we can understand," Jackson said. "We can understand the height of a fence and what's allowable and things related to a new subdivision. But the process of how we determine what's applicable to our city is where we need help."
The city hired Clarion Inc. as a consultant on the zoning rewrite, but Jackson pointed out the company is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
"While they know planning, they're not from Decatur, Alabama," Jackson said. "The things that are important to Decatur, Alabama, may not be applicable any other place."
He said a planning director helps with growth and knows what works and doesn't work in zoning. The city needs someone on staff who can say what's good and bad about the proposed zoning ordinance, he said.
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'Political box'
"If we've worked with this (zoning) ordinance 70-plus years, I think it's OK if we wait three, five or six months to get a planner on staff to lay his or her eyes on this plan," Jackson said. "I don't see any reason why we should rush through this.
"If it's a political box we can check to say we accomplished something, that's something different. But if we're trying to get this right, we need to do our due diligence and do it the right way."
Ladner said it's taken six years to get to this point "so we're not rushing." He also said Clarion gave the city the planning expertise it needs for this rewrite.
"Our next planner may be from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, we don't know," Ladner said. "The reason for hiring Clarion is they have a bunch of planners on staff."
Jackson said the planning director will need time to acclimate themselves to Decatur if that person isn't from the city.
McAnally said his engineers are reviewing the proposed ordinance and will likely have some suggestions.
"I like the approach that they took for existing zoning and regulations," McAnally said. "For the most part, they kept the designations of the various districts the same. They kept the setbacks, and any limiting factors in a zoning district were really not changed."
Andrea Hoffmeier-Wilson, of the citizens group 1DUCK (OneDecatur United Citizens Kaizen), said she had a long discussion with Planning Commission chairman Kent Lawrence about the proposed ordinance at the Oct. 22 public meeting.
Hoffmeier-Wilson said she feels the City Council shouldn't be in a hurry to approve the rewrite, but she only wants a one-meeting delay. She also doesn't want the changes to go back to the Planning Commission because that would cause a two- or three-month delay.
"Now as we're approaching the City Council vote, one of the critical things is there can be addendums done later," she said.
However, Hoffmeier-Wilson added that she prefers making changes now over later addendums.
City Director of Development Dane Shaw said they could approve the zoning ordinance and then amend it later if necessary "because it's a living document that can be updated as we need to in the future."
McAnally said most cities are continually reviewing and updating their zoning ordinances "probably not annually, but every so often."
Lawrence agreed with approving the new ordinance and making changes later, but he said he's OK with a short delay.
Jackson said he objects to approving the ordinance and then almost immediately making changes to it. This doesn't make sense, he said.
"(Former Planning directors) Michelle Jordan or Rob Walker could have done this with their eyes closed," Jackson said. "We don't have those people on board anymore. That's what I mean when I say we're rushing through (zoning ordinance approval)."
Mike Faruqui, a Flint area resident, said the proposed ordinance needs to enhance the communication requirements on developers.
The new ordinance only requires the city to notify residents who live within 500 feet of a proposed development. Faruqui said this isn't reaching out far enough, and the city should have to notify a lot more people.
The city should require developers to hold neighborhood meetings on any major development or subdivision, he said.
"If you fix those two things, it might be OK, but no one is willing to do that," Faruqui said. "It's too hard to do or they don't want to change it because it might make people not willing to come to Decatur."
Ladner said they need to require bigger signs so people can see and know that a development is underway.
Lawrence and Shaw said communication has been an ongoing issue over the years. The Planning Department changed its notification process, going from using doorknockers to sending certified letters to affected homes.
Lawrence said people complain about lack of notice, but somehow they still find out an issue affects them and show up at Planning Commission meetings to protest.
Lawrence said they urge developers to hold neighborhood meetings on some developments, but this isn't a requirement in the current ordinance. He said making neighborhood meetings a requirement could keep a developer from coming to Decatur, especially when it's not a requirement in surrounding cities.
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Roosters banned
Lawrence said several people, including Hoffmeier-Wilson, brought up the ban against roosters that's in the proposed ordinance. Some people want roosters to be allowed while other people don't, he said.
Hoffmeier-Wilson approached the chicken issue from a different perspective. She said a resident who raises chickens or other home-raised bird should have to register with the city, so officials know where the birds are. She said the reason is the potential for avian flu or other types of bird illnesses. Avian flu wiped out private and commercial production throughout the Southeast in 2022.
Hoffmeier-Wilson said the Decatur area is at great risk, especially since avian flu could affect the endangered whooping cranes that winter in Decatur. Households keeping backyard chicken flocks need education on bio-hygiene, biohazards and how to prevent the spread of disease, she said.
"People are gonna be like, 'I don't want anybody coming in, and I don't wanna have to register my flock,'" Hoffmeier-Wilson said. "But here's the thing, if you accept the responsibility to get a rabies shot for your dog and get a tag, then you should know there's a higher risk (with birds) to our local economy and our local ecology."
Lawrence said chicken ownership is one of those issues "that we should not hold the rewrite up for, but we should at least take a look at anything like that."
The proposed ordinance permits chickens, but "no more than reasonable for consumption of chicken and/or eggs by the household."
Hoffmeier-Wilson caught an issue in the new ordinance that city officials almost missed: The proposal increases the number of yard sales allowed by a resident from two to five a year.
"I could see maybe allowing four because that could be one per season," she said. "But more than double becomes a situation that's ripe for abuse."
Hoffmeier-Wilson suggested changing the new ordinance so it allows fences higher than 4 feet tall alongside roads and on corner lots. She said the city has a problem with coyotes and other predators, and they're able to jump a shorter fence to get to small dogs and cats.
The new ordinance includes a section about green building incentives, and Shaw agreed with Hoffmeier-Wilson that the city needs to look at how it deals with this rapidly evolving issue. The incentives for green buildings — those that conserve energy or water — include less restrictive height limits and the ability to have more parking spaces.
She said other municipalities assemble a qualified committee to review and update green incentives annually.
"What are the incentives? How do we ensure compliance?" Hoffmeier-Wilson said. "How we make sure that we're not keeping features in place that actually are found to be detrimental?"
Lawrence said this is a "very good" comprehensive zoning ordinance that is up to date and easier to use.
"It's much easier to read now, maybe not for just a common person, but for the people that use it like the Planning Department, Planning Commission members, developers — people that are accustomed reading zoning ordinances," Lawrence said.
