In the news
As was discussed here earlier, an enduring issue in the background of the debate over the City Place proposed development has been the role of the Central Area Plan in determining how the Germantown area – and all the city’s neighborhoods near the downtown core – should be developed. Sadly, the zoning map was never revised to reflect the goals of the CAP. Specifically, the predominant zoning, R4C, allows for much greater density than that indicated by a reading of the CAP. Worse, in combination with a rather labored definition of a “household” in our code, R4C allows a peculiar configuration into a “housing unit” designed solely for student occupants, with individual locked bedrooms adjoining a central living area. It is not a form of apartment design that is likely to be used by other demographics at any time in the future, and provides for a very high income from one “housing unit”. So the R4C, when applied to a neighborhood of homeowners, will create high-density buildings that will not support long-term tenants or families.
