A consultant reviews the new proposed Ford City zoning maps at an open house last night.
Approximately a dozen residents of Ford City showed up to the Latin American Club to see their first glimpse at the new zoning maps for their town.
Ford City hired 4th Economy Consulting to create their Comprehensive Plan. From that plan which was presented in March 2019, zoning changes could be made to coincide with the Plan.
“The new zoning ordinances have no miscellaneous catch-all sections,” the consultant explained to those in attendance. “We have created these categories and put the regulations where they are easy to find.”
The first thing the consultants did was to establish what currently exists on each block of Ford City.
“We did a lot of photographing, driving around, and understanding the building form. This is the kind of layout people are looking for across the country. They are looking for walkable, a mix of different housing types – not just single family on big lots – but two-family, row houses, and apartment buildings. You have all of that here in addition to your very walkable downtown. We wanted to preserve that character and make sure that the zoning regulations would allow that to continue.”
A new proposed zoning map was shown that included business and neighborhood sections in addition to major changes to riverfront property.
“We are replacing the current districts with new districts, but the uses are staying with what is already there. It’s important that the new regulations match the existing structures and uses already in place. We wanted to match the character of the existing neighborhoods.”
The consultant said that small business is important within the neighborhood zones.
“Within the N1 (neighborhood zone), we looked at each of the corner stores and little office buildings that you have within your community. Those have been mapped very carefully to retain them. “
The new zoning map has defined new industrial districts since the current codes do not match what now exists. For this reason, a new riverfront zone has been created. The consultants also remapped civic and institutional buildings and gave them their own zoning designation.
The riverfront zoning features a flexible-style regulation that can be adapted as developers submit plans for utilization.
“There would be a master plan developed before it would get implemented. The master plan would show the connectivity of all streets, parks, and green space along the riverfront that might occur. Instead of one part being developed without thinking about how it would work with the other parts, it will be designed out at that time. The riverfront does have street sections and types of open space defined within it.”
The riverfront zoning also has the possibility of riverfront residential units.
The new zoning regulations also include types of façade materials that can be used in riverfront or downtown districts, including number of stories per building, and other specific construction details.
The idea of updating the zoning map and ordinances was discussed as early as February 2015. At that time, then-Planning Commission Chairman Tyson Klukan pointed out that growth could not take place unless there were zoning changes.
“(The zoning map is) so outdated – that’s with a crayon,” Klukan said pointing to current zoning maps in the borough office. “We need actual blueprint maps. We do need to rezone in this town certain areas. That’s where this blueprint comes into play too.”
Greg Dinko, at that meeting, also was a proponent of zoning changes.
“Our zoning laws are so antiquated that we cannot do anything! We can’t piece-meal. It has to be redone,” Dinko said.
Council President Carol Fenyes said she has attended every meeting, working closely with the steering committee. She said her involvement started shortly after her election to Council in 2016.
“I went to the Planning Committee and I said, ‘You need to rezone the Riverfront because it’s Industrial and it’s never going to be industrial again unless we wait forever,’” Fenyes recalled. “So at the next meeting, Jim Milligan who sat on our Zoning Hearing Board for a number of years, came back with probably three sheets of paper and said, ’Well if you’re going to rezone the river, you have to know how you want the buildings to look, how you want the lots…’ and he just went down this checklist.
Fenyes said that is when the decision was made to do the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning updates all at the same time.
“The Comprehensive Plan tells you how you are going to formulate your community.”
Fenyes said she believes the new zoning map will help to move Ford City forward.
“To wait for things to reoccur the way they used to be, is fruitless because we’re in a different world now. We need to move forward if we’re going to grow the community at all economically into the future, so it’s all part of that.”
