Planning Department weighs land use

AIRWAY HEIGHTS – As the city continues to grow, the Planning Department has been updating and revitalizing the comprehensive plan.

One emphasis is figuring out how to most efficiently use available land to provide adequate space for housing as more residents move into the area.

The city is currently looking at a few options and would like to see some public input on the subject.

City officials encourage members of the public to submit written comments and ideas through either mail or by hard copy letters, or residents can provide input via the web-based software “Konveio.”

The proposal shows three current options that have been analyzed by the Planning Department and mapped out to show the general areas of anticipated growth.

Principal Planner Heather Trautman said the three alternatives show a type of potential land use “menu,” as residents can look at the maps and help influence which highlighted areas can be used to the greatest benefit moving forward.

The ideas provide opportunities to potentially re-zone certain areas to fit a higher density of residential housing, and that medium-density residential zoning can possibly be applied to other parts of the city’s urban growth area.

Trautman said the first option is the “steady growth planning” alternative, and it looks to rezone 36 acres into medium-density residential space.

Another 39 acres would potentially be upgraded to a high-density zone, which can hold 10-20 residences per acre.

Medium density can hold a maximum of 10 housing units per acre; low-density can only accommodate five units.

Trautman said the city’s website shows estimates regarding each alternative, and the first proposal would help allocate between 1,820 and 2,555 new housing units.

The second plan would incorporate all of the land-use ideas from the first proposal, but also adds other options in the urban growth area.

The off-road park can also come into play with this proposal, Trautman said. The land the park currently sits on would need to be swapped so residential housing could be built in place.

The off-road park could then be moved to the outskirts of the city.

This second option is as a “plan for the growth rate,” and would add between 3,155-3,890 housing units and presents a couple of other options on the placement of additional houses.

Trautman said because different parcels of land will be zoned at different densities the city can housing options of all types.

The higher density areas can be used for multi-family enclosures such as apartment complexes, and the medium density areas can hold duplexes and similar structures.

With the second proposal, 133 acres near the recreation zone could be changed from industrial zoning to medium-density housing.

Single-family homes will still be able to be built on any land still designated as low-density residential housing.

Up to this point, all of the proposed additions will fall under the city’s current water-service area.

The third alternative is the “growth expansion” alternative, and this plan takes all of the pieces from the first two ideas and adds to that.

Trautman said this idea presents a couple of urban growth area proposals that lie outside of the current water-service zone, so it would take some extra time, work, and resources to make that happen.

Trautman also said the city isn’t looking to adopt one specific plan necessarily either, and aspects of multiple strategies can be brought together to build new and different ideas all together.

The city has taken public transportation into serious consideration as well, and nearly all of the presented areas are near or will be near a public bus route.

Officials would like to have public input by mid-February, so they can take plans to the board and start working on the next steps as soon as possible.

Reporter Matthew O. Stephens can be reached at [email protected].