The first and second reading of this Ordinance was continued from the May 10, 2018 City Council Meeting. The Mayor and Aldermen approved this text amendment request following a zoning hearing at the April 26, 2018 City Council Meeting. The action being considered now is the approval of an ordinance for the text amendment.

At the request of City Council, several stakeholder meetings were held by the MPC to review the proposed changes to the Historic District Ordinance (Section 8-3030).  The stakeholders reached a consensus on the proposed draft.  The primary difference between the draft Council originally reviewed and the revised draft is the definition of what is considered an active use and the bonus story provisions.

MPC staff, Petitioner (File No. 17-006200-ZA), has proposed text amendments to the Historic District Ordinance (Sec. 8-3030 of the Zoning Ordinance) that will serve to:

1) Correct typographical errors;

2) Clarify definitions;

3) Add/revise standards to address changing technologies;

4) Allow ‘R’ zoning districts outside the Landmark District to qualify for a bonus story;

5) Strengthen the bonus story criteria, particularly in regards to the ‘active use’ criterion;

6) Add additional standards for large-scale development;

7) Provide the Historic District Board of Review (HDBR) some flexibility in the strict application of certain standards;

8) Strengthen the standards applicable to monumental buildings to ensure the protection of the Oglethorpe Plan;

9) Revise the boundaries of the “Factors Walk Character Area” to reflect the historical boundaries of Factors Walk; and

10) Require that amendments to the Historic District Ordinance are reviewed by the HDBR in addition to MPC and City Council.

On December 12, 2017, the Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the proposed revisions.

Approval