October 01, 2005
The New PUD Ordinance: Taller Buildings?
There's a lot of letter writing and talk going on about the proposed PUD (Planned Unit Development) ordinance, set for final public hearing at the October 6 Planning Commission meeting.
The major concern is still the same: will it bring higher buildings to
downtown South Haven? The answer is: if passed as it's written, probably.
PUDs have, previously, NOT been allowed in the CBD (Central Business District). The new ordinance permits PUDs in the CBD.
The language of the proposed ordinance appears to restrict building heights to traditional, historical ordinance heights:
"Height of Buildings: Except as may otherwise be provided in this
Article, no building shall exceed forty-five (45) feet and three and one-half (3˝) stories."
Well, that's a red herring. The devil is in that small detail there: "Except as may otherwise be provided in this Article....". In the case of PUDs, unlike other development, what is "provided for" is that City Council can WAIVE any and all aspects of the building ordinance, from sidewalks, street widths, heights, green space, density, anything they please.
Let's get the facts straight from Merriam-Webster:
Entry: waive
Pronunciation: 'wAv
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): waived; waiv·ing
1 archaic : GIVE UP, FORSAKE
2 : to throw away (stolen goods)
3 archaic : to shunt aside (as a danger or duty) : EVADE
4 a : to relinquish voluntarily (as a legal right)
5 : to put off from immediate consideration : POSTPONE
6 : to dismiss with or as if with a wave of the hand
synonym see RELINQUISH
PUDs, in theory, are a method for enhancing creativity in development.
In practice, they are used as a way to get around the standard building ordinance.
Not only CAN height restrictions be waived with PUDs, City Council has recently proven that they WILL waive the height ordinance. Despite vociferous opposition from the community to the tune of 600+ signatures on a petition, City Council approved the Wells St. highrise PUD.
If PUDs are permitted in the CBD, you can be quite sure that the historical height limits in downtown will be...well...historical.
Posted by Elaine at October 1, 2005 07:19 AM