Planning director outlines zoning changes and comprehensive plan update

Aaron Villoyed, director of Planning and Development Services, updated the Zoning Board on a set of planning initiatives and staffing changes.

"We are moving forward with some initiatives ... adding some additional zoning districts, which would allow some flexibility for smaller sized lots," Villoyed said, describing staff work on creating zoning districts that better fit smaller or unusually shaped properties. He said staff also is reviewing "double frontage" situations to clarify front‑yard standards when lots face two streets and that commercial districts already allow buildings to go to the property line.

Villoyed told the board there has been ongoing discussion about carports and the open‑structure overlay and that staff will likely bring that topic back for discussion in the fall. He also said the city is preparing to begin a comprehensive plan update, the first since the early 2000s, and that an agenda item the next day would ask the board to engage a selected vendor to help with the update.

On staffing, Villoyed said a planner, Arden, is leaving and the department will post a planner position to fill that vacancy. He closed by inviting public input on the comprehensive‑plan process once it begins.