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Second town hall meeting expected as city considers new zoning district

Posted 11/11/14

By JIMMY LAWTON OGDESNBURG -- A second town hall meeting will be held regarding changes to Ogdensburg’s proposed adaptive reuse zoning district, but no date has been set. The proposed zoning change …

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Second town hall meeting expected as city considers new zoning district

Posted

By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDESNBURG -- A second town hall meeting will be held regarding changes to Ogdensburg’s proposed adaptive reuse zoning district, but no date has been set.

The proposed zoning change would establish a new zoning district for non-conforming properties throughout the city that once housed schools, churches and businesses in areas that are now zoned residential.

The controversial would allow scattered parcels throughout the city to circumvent the traditional zoning process, which requires a special variance for changes in use.

A similar law already exists for parcels of two or more acres, but these properties are too small to be covered by existing legislation.

The proposal has drawn attention from city residents living adjacent to or near the properties, because it does not specifically state potential uses for the properties.

On Nov. 6 the city held a town hall meeting that was well attended. The meeting was not an official council meeting, but allowed residents to chime in on the proposal.

Mayor William Nelson, who did not attend the meeting, said there seemed to be a lot of good ideas that came out of the meeting and that planning director Andrea Smith would be using the information to put together a new proposal.

He said the planning board wanted to hold a second, similar meeting so people could comment on the proposed changes.

The general consensus gained from the previous meeting was that the final approval of any proposed reuse of a non-conforming district would have to earn final approval from city council, but no such proposal has yet been put forward.

A date for the next proposed town hall style meeting on the Adaptive Reuse District was not set at the Monday council meeting.