Changes to city zoning codes are on the agenda for Monday’s Homer City Council meeting. There are public hearings scheduled on several proposed ordinances.
One proposal would require all new streets that serve as public access corridors to have sidewalks. One subsection of the ordinance would specify when developers of new streets are required to provide for non-motorized transportation, like bicycles and e-bikes.
Another ordinance could help address Homer’s need for housing, according to Homer City Manager Rob Dumouchel. He said the ordinance would reduce the number of conditional use permits required by the city. Some development that previously required a conditional use permit would be allowed under permitted use.
“For instance, there were some areas where a townhouse required a conditional use permit,” Dumouchel said during Wednesday’s Coffee Table program on KBBI. “We saw that as kind of an unnecessary barrier to a form of housing that most people don’t have a problem with.”
The same ordinance would also allow for more mixed-use buildings and would permit as many as four dwellings to a lot, excluding mobile homes, in some zoning districts.
During the show, Homer resident Frank Griswold emailed KBBI with a number of objections to the ordinance that would amend zoning codes in all city districts. In his written comments, Griswold noted that one of the conditional uses being switched to a permitted use for most zoning districts is for group care homes.
He asked, “Would you want [group care homes] built adjacent to your home?”
Griswold has also sent a lengthy letter to council and the mayor, arguing there is no legitimate public need to amend the codes and challenging the legality of the changes. His letter will be included in the agenda packet for Monday’s meeting.
Mayor Ken Castner said he was present and active at the meetings when planning commissioners developed the ordinance and fully supports it.
The next regular meeting of Homer City Council is on Monday, Oct. 24 at 6 p.m. The meeting is at Cowles Council Chambers at Homer City Hall on Pioneer Avenue.
You can attend in person, by Zoom, listen here at AM 890 or stream it at kbbi.org.
To see the agenda, the proposed ordinances and find the city’s ZOOM link, go to the City of Homer’s website.
You can listen to the conversation with Mayor Castner and City Manager Dumouchel here or find the Coffee Table podcast on your favorite app.
