Lakewood City Council Discusses Zoning Refresh Recommendations

The Lakewood City Housing, Planning and Development Committee met on May 12 to review recommendations for the city's ongoing zoning code refresh project, with Assistant Director Boss presenting a comprehensive update on potential changes that could reshape development in the city. The committee, chaired by Councilman Kyle Baker, heard a detailed presentation about the preliminary recommendations report developed with consultant House Lavine. The project, now in its third of seven stages, aims to align the city's zoning code with its community vision. "Rather than see that dropped on our lap at some point next year, I thought it would be helpful and the administration agreed and so did the Council President to kind of give the council and the public in this forum... to hear the progress and hear where we're going," Baker explained. Assistant Director Boss described the zoning refresh as a "long project" that began in August of last year and will likely extend beyond its original 18-month timeline. The presentation covered four main focus areas: economic development, housing, community wellness, and mobility. Among the key recommendations discussed was encouraging adaptive reuse of existing structures through potential overlay districts that would provide flexibility for developers who choose to renovate rather than demolish buildings. This could include relaxed requirements for building height, density, setbacks, or parking. "This would allow residential on a ground floor as long as it's not street facing that would allow a lot of projects that get hung up with a mixed-use overlay requirement especially smaller buildings," Boss explained. The committee also discussed streamlining approval processes, potentially through a unified development ordinance that would consolidate various approval processes and design reviews into a more accessible format. Boss noted this could include adopting objective design and development standards that would reduce the need for subjective review. Councilman Bryan Evans expressed support for the recommendations, stating, "This takes our zoning code from something that's a restrictive document to something that's constructive. It's no longer 'this is why you can't do this' - it's 'I'd like to do this and here are the three tools that we have to be able to do that.'" Housing recommendations included increasing density, particularly near Detroit and Madison Avenues, potentially allowing duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes in areas that have traditionally been zoned for single-family homes. Councilwoman Sarah Kepple, Council President, described this concept as creating a buffer zone: "On Madison for instance... there are some buildings that are maybe a couple stories high and it goes back a little bit down the street and then it sort of tapers into single family or duplex homes." The analysis presented revealed that many properties in Lakewood do not conform to current zoning standards. In some residential districts, as little as 26% of existing parcels meet the current requirements, necessitating frequent variance requests for even basic improvements. Councilman Tom Bullock questioned the process's success metrics, asking, "How will we know what metrics to watch to know if our intended outcomes are actually on track?" Boss suggested the reduction in variance requests and improved efficiency in the development process would be key indicators. The committee members were invited to provide feedback on the recommendations within the next two weeks so it can be incorporated into the next phase of the project, which will focus on detailed district and use standards. Council President Kepple noted the upcoming community conversations in the wards would provide an opportunity to engage residents on these topics: "This isn't the one-stop shop to fix all affordable housing issues or anything else or climate issues, but it does touch on a lot of our priorities and accessibility." The city plans to continue bringing updates to the committee before presenting final recommendations as legislation.Retry JD anything else they discussed?Edit Based on the transcript provided, there were a few additional topics discussed during the Lakewood City Council meeting that I can include in an expanded article: Lakewood City Council Discusses Zoning Refresh Recommendations City Officials Review Plans to Update Zoning Code with Focus on Economic Development and Housing The Lakewood City Housing, Planning and Development Committee met on May 12 to review recommendations for the city's ongoing zoning code refresh project, with Assistant Director Boss presenting a comprehensive update on potential changes that could reshape development in the city. The committee began by approving the minutes from their April 7th meeting before diving into the zoning refresh presentation. Municipal Zoning District One specific recommendation involved revising the C4 district, which currently designates schools, into a municipa