Development in areas of Athens zoned as Conventional Planned Unit Development Districts will now have an updated and more “robust” set of guidelines to work with, according to Micah Cochran, the city’s GIS coordinator.

The City Council voted unanimously Oct. 26 to accept an amendment to Athens’ zoning ordinance dating back to 2017. Cochran said overhauling C-PUD rules was the driving force behind this round of changes.

“Amending the zoning ordinance is a long process,” Cochran said. “We have to go before both the Planning Commission and City Council, and both have to be happy with it in order for it to pass.”

He said an example of a C-PUD in Athens is the Canebrake subdivision. In a C-PUD, developers are allowed to utilize different densities, with some lots larger and others smaller to create a mix.

“It gives the developer room to execute a vision,” Cochran said.

According to a synopsis of the zoning ordinance amendment compiled by Cochran:

• Master plans will have to specify districts on the plans. For the C-PUD, those districts

have to be one of the Conventional District;

• C-PUD will have to be three different mixture of uses and/or densities: — Two residential densities and one non-residential use. — Three residential densities. — Non-residential with incidental residential use; and

• There is a system of developer incentives and public benefits that allows some dimensional lenience for something that could be of public benefit.

The amendment also requires many new developments to include an open natural space or recreational amenity. Forest buffers, called riparian buffers, will be required around streams, lakes and wetlands to protect water quality.

Cochran said the amendment has been in the works for over a year. He said since this ordinance only dates back a few years, some of the “bugs” are still being worked out.

“We think of this as a living document,” Cochran said. “We had amendments in 2019 and once again in 2020, and I’ve got a list of things to be amended in 2021 already. It’s something we are continually working on.”

The following minor changes were included in the zoning ordinance amendment:

• The public sidewalk fund will give developments flexibility to pay for the cost of city sidewalk improvements that may one day reach that site. The development will pay 80% of the total cost to this fund;

• Minimum distance is being added between potential water pollution hazards and streams;

• When a residential development adjoins a freeway, there are new requirements for visual and auditory separation;

• Bicycle parking spaces have some more specific design requirements;

• For fences, wood composite was added as a permitted material;

• For smaller developments, a wood composite fence may be used to enclose a dumpster;

• The maximum length of an attached residential building was increased;

• Modify the way minimum off-street parking spaces are counted for gas stations that allow for stacking spaces in front of the pump to count for those requirements, but also require a minimum of five parking space for any gas station;

• There is a proposed change to food truck courts that would allow this type of use to be approved through a conditional rezoning; and

• There were a number of small changes that will improve the Zoning Ordinance in order to make more sense and work better with city policies.

“Updating the zoning ordinance is important as fast as we are growing,” said Mayor Ronnie Marks. “We have to have better rules and regulations.”