City seeks input on “Natural Features Protection” ordinance during development moratorium
In its 2017 Master Plan draft, the city provided a map indicating their intent regarding future land-use around the city, including currently undeveloped land. This map included an overlay designated “Natural Features Protection” (NFP). Intended to limit the extent to which new development could clear-cut and pave over currently natural areas, NFP proved to be too vague in 2018, when pitted against development plans for the corner of Drake Road and Stadium Drive, which abuts the Asylum Lake Preserve.
In late 2018, the City Commission approved a City Planning Department request to place a six-month moratorium on development of any land that the city had put under Natural Features Protection. Those six months are intended to provide time for a thorough definition of what NFP actually means.
On February 18, the city published a draft of their proposed ordinance and put out the call to all interested citizens to weigh in. The accompanying statement reads:
The Draft Natural Features Protection Ordinance is now available for review and input here. The Natural Features Protection Ordinance and Development Standards would put in place a guide for the development of land on or near areas identified as Natural Features in order to achieve the long-term protection of these areas. The draft and ultimately the Ordinance is created using four guiding principles:
- City-Wide Ordinance
- Standards included protect the Natural Features
- Standards included can be managed and enforced by City Staff
- Not about no development, but about more thoughtful development in areas with Natural Features
The draft needs to be reviewed and discussed by the wider community so that it can be refined over the next 6 weeks. City Staff will also be holding four focus groups and a community wide meeting to present, discuss, and revise the draft ordinance with the community.
