Proposal to simplify Portsmouth zoning code

PORTSMOUTH

Developers and builders looking to work in this city deal with more than 200 pages of city code - most of it telling them what they can't do.

City leaders want to change that.

For more than two years, staffers have been working with residents, consultants, developers and builders on overhauling the city's zoning ordinance. On Tuesday, they presented a comprehensive revision of the more-than-20-year-old ordinance to the city's Planning Commission.

The aim is to make the code easier to understand; streamline review procedures; modernize the process and make it more flexible; focus on compatible development; and encourage redevelopment.

"We got very strong community input that the new ordinance should be made much more user-friendly," said Craig Richardson, a vice president at Clarion Associates, a consultant working on the new ordinance.

The commission will consider the proposal again at its Dec. 1 meeting for a public hearing, then it will proceed to the City Council.

Deputy City Manager Paul Holt said the proposed ordinance is still at the draft stage and that the city is looking for public input.

The goal of rewriting the ordinance is to make it prescriptive, rather than reactionary, Holt said. The new ordinance would provide clear rules for residential, commercial and industrial development.

The proposed ordinance features a new graphic format and tables of development and use standards.

As part of the effort to simplify, the city is also looking to change from 14 types of residential districts to four: neighborhood residential, general residential, urban residential, and high-density urban residential.

The new ordinance also provides for three tiered commercial districts and two industrial districts.

For more information on the proposed ordinance, go to www.portsmouthva.gov/planning/destinationptown5.

Jen McCaffery, (757) 446-2627, jen.mccaffery@pilotonline.com