Today (July 2nd), Chairman Mendelson released his proposed revisions to the Comprehensive Plan's Framework Element, as we predicted last week. A copy of the Chairman's edits is located on his site HERE. The First Vote is scheduled for next Tuesday (July 9).
We have not had much time to digest the substance, but our initial reactions are:
- The Chairman's edits were made to the existing Framework element language. These edits do not automatically incorporate the language the Office of Planning recommended in 2017-2018.
- The Chairman's edits include a new section on "PUDs", but it is not certain whether this language will be sufficient break the log jam in the courts.
- The Chairman's edits do appear to emphasize the provision of affordable housing, but they do not appear to make much progress on clarifying the definitions of the "land use" categories in the all-important Future Land Use Map. Rather, most of those definitions appear to keep the "status quo."
The first vote on these amendments is still scheduled for July 9th. It is anticipated that numerous councilmembers will introduce amendments next week. One such amendment could be to eliminate single family zoning as has been adopted in Minneapolis.
We will continue to monitor and update this Blog.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.