The Covington City Council will soon be taking public comment and considering how the city’s downtown will look in the very near future.
A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Council Chambers on downtown zoning and comprehensive plan amendments.
Following the hearing, the Council will begin deliberating and discussing the issues.
According to Planning Manager Richard Hart, seven comprehensive plan amendments will go before the Council.
An important issue to be addressed involves zoning of the neighborhoods surrounding the downtown area. This includes the Covington Firs neighborhood, residences east of Walmart and property along Wax Road near Jenkins Creek.
The downtown area covers 520 acres with state Route 18 on the west, Covington Way Southeast on the south, Wax Road and to Home Depot on the east and 267th Place on the north.
Hart said none of the proposed zoning changes would affect current residences.
If the City Council adopts the proposed amendments, Hart wrote in an e-mail, “The rezoning will come next year. The impact at that time will only be on a new developer when someone wants to sell their property, or when someone wants to redevelop their own property for any new housing or office use. So as long as someone stays in their home, with any new rezoning or zoning restrictions next year, there would be no direct impacts at that time. The new zones and zoning and development standards only ‘kick in’ when the property is sold and redeveloped.”
Hart said a second issue before the public and council is the realignment of Wax Road, which would be moved “slightly to the east” after the Kent Kangley intersection. The road would then move back to the West when it intersects Covington Way Southeast.
According to Hart, the realignment is designed to “give more space to the public plaza and City Hall.”
The recommendation from staff is to change from the current 11 different zoning districts in the area, which include DN (downtown)1-10, 7A and 7B.
The proposal will be to change to three commercial zoning designations, one mixed housing and office and one multifamily housing zone.
The meeting on the 24th will provide an opportunity for the public to give council information as it sets policy for the downtown zoning. Next year, once the council sets policy, the staff will write the zoning changes and codes for the downtown.
