After over a year of work on a major Gettysburg zoning code update and rewrite project, Planning Director Charles Strauss feels the process is moving forward, but will take still more time.
“Generally we have forward progress, said Strauss. There are a number of items we’ve postponed to revisit later. We have some more research, work, and hard decisions to make,” he said.
The new zoning document, which currently stands at 188 pages, was initially drafted without public input by a working group consisting of planning commission and borough council members and other selected stakeholders. The council worked with an outside consultant, Michael Baker International, on the initial draft.
Earlier this year, the commission opened the process to community input. The rezoning has now been extensively discussed with public input at planning commission meetings, at an open house, and at public conversations held at the Adams County Farmers Market.
Major Issues
In terms of the contentious issue of building heights, Strauss said the current version of the zoning plan sets the limits for new construction at 48 feet, which has long been a standard in the borough.
Strauss said there were no plans to incentivize for higher buildings in the proposed Revitalization District West of Carlisle St. “Incentives to go higher are only permitted in the Revitalization District east of Carlisle St.” (the lots that comprise the upcoming Gettysburg Station Project).
Strauss said the higher buildings east of Carlisle St. had been approved by a decision of the borough council in 2018 to amend the zoning ordinance by incorporating incentives so a developer could be allowed taller buildings.
Another important issue, said Strauss, is the question of allowing multiple families in the residential districts (R-1 Low Density Residential and R-2 Moderate Density Residential). “We have the big historic buildings that are not going to be sustainable if we don’t allow the homeowner to allow more than one family in them,” said Strauss.
But residents, especially of R-1, have said there are plenty of opportunities for multi-family dwellings in other areas of the borough, and that the residential neighborhoods should maintain single-family use. In R-2 zoning, the document allows a variety of building types including duplexes and apartment buildings. The number of unrelated people allowed per unit is currently 4, but this is also under discussion.
Strauss noted that the current draft allows buildings to be designated as “Principal use as student dwelling” in the residential districts. In the current draft, in the R-1 and R-2 districts also provide opportunities for“group housing” and “sober living” uses.
Residents have asked whether these uses, which are commercial in nature, belong in residential districts.
The commission has already removed provisions that would have allowed residents to have honeybees and chickens.
Strauss said the zoning document was being updated regularly and that a new version was expected to be made public soon. “Staff collects the revisions and has twice published them. There will be another revision,” he said.
Strauss said the staff is also working on a summary document that would concisely explain the proposed changes.
Next Up: The Gettysburg Station Project
Strauss said that even as the rezoning discussion continues, the commission has now been been tasked with taking up still another huge decision – the proposed Gettysburg Station Project proposal that will have buildings up to 72 feet high.
“The borough has not faced a development of this size, maybe forever. There’s a lot of study left to be done,” said Strauss. “The developer has to do the land use plan. Once he submits the land use plan the borough has only 90 days to make a decision. This is the only part of the process that has a clock.”
The Planning Commission is the final decision maker on whether the project has met all requirements of the borough code.
Strauss said the developer had been getting information about the borough’s reactions to his plan by presenting preliminary ideas at the Zoning Hearing Board to get approval for heights and at HARB to get input on aesthetics.
Comments on the rezoning project can be submitted here.
Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.
I would encourage anyone that currently lives in an area that would experience down zoning under this plan to read all the details of the plan and come to the Planning Commission meetings with your comments. There is representation of residents in R-1 and R2 attending, but not those in the most affected areas, such as those who are currently in old town but will be down zoned to NC1. These areas will lose the benefits of being in Old Town but still have all the restrictions of being in the historic district. Plenty you need to be aware of,… Read more »