By Matthew Jackson
Staff Reporter
HUNTSVILLE —
The City of Huntsville Planning and Zoning Commission will begin a series of three workshop sessions next week to accept public comment on upcoming revisions to the city’s development code.
The first workshop session is set for noon Thursday at Huntsville City Hall, followed by two additional sessions on Sept. 16 and Oct. 21, both at 5:30 p.m.
Huntsville residents are invited to attend these sessions to offer general or specific comments on the development code as the commission prepares to undertake a comprehensive revision of the code first adopted in 1986.
“This has been a long time coming and we hope that all citizens, surveyors, developers, builders, architects, engineers and many others will actively participate in this process,” said Rose Kader, Planner for the City of Huntsville. “The development code affects everyone, from the everyday citizen to the big time developers, these are the rules and regulations people are required to follow when developing in the city of Huntsville.”
Topics covered by the code that residents are invited to address include signs, landscaping requirements, sidewalks, subdivision standards and various other land usage issues.
Kader said residents are welcome to focus their comments on both current code regulations and possible future regulations.
According to City Planner Aron Kulhavy, city staff has already begun compiling areas of concern for the revision process based on their own observations as well as past public input.
“The development code is actually 24 years old. While it has been revised several times since then a comprehensive rewrite has not been completed,” Kulhavy said. “During the time staff has worked with the code, we have internally been able to identify some shortcomings, such as conflicts with updated state laws and other codes adopted by reference.
“In addition, through the Huntsville Horizon Plan process and the recent revisions to Chapter 2 of that plan, recommendations for areas to be addressed in a code update were identified by the Planning and Zoning Commission, the City Council, and through public input.”
According to Kulhavy, after public comment is received, city staff will then begin researching all suggestions in an effort to prepare possible new regulations for the code.
“If someone were to provide a suggestion for the code for revision, staff would then complete research on the suggestion and draft language for consideration,” he said. “This draft is then presented to the Planning and Zoning Commission for their consideration and recommendation to the City Council for their ultimate consideration and two readings of the proposed ordinance.”
Additional information on the development code revision process can be found at the city’s website at www.huntsvilletx.gov. Questions may be directed to Kader at rkader@huntsvilletx.gov or by visiting the City Service Center at 448 SH 75 North.
“We cannot stress how important this process is to the city; these regulations actually shape the look and feel of Huntsville,” Kader said. “Now is the time to give us your opinion on any need or deficiency that (Planning and Zoning) needs to considered during this process as we work on the revisions to the development code over the next year.”
