Maitland changes downtown zoning rules

Maitland has a vision for the remainder of its yet-to-be realized dream downtown, and it includes only mixed-use and commercial developments.

Purely residential properties are now a thing of the past in downtown Maitland, as the Maitland City Council voted to tighten development code to make mixed-use or fully commercial developments mandatory in its downtown core.

The Council voted Monday to change the Downtown Maitland Zoning District code to limit that no less than 50 percent of a development’s ground-floor square footage be designated for retail, office or commercial uses in the main downtown Packwood zoning district, which encompasses the downtown core. If that is deemed unviable, the code reads, only then can that percentage be reduced to no less than 25 percent commercial on the ground floor.

The code change also designates that live/work units be classified as residential-only for zoning purposes

“I think this will get us where we want to go,” said Maitland Community Redevelopment Agency Director Charles Rudd. “We want people living upstairs … this is a good step to let people know that we're going to draw the line that this is our commercial district.”

The new code would prohibit residential-only developments in downtown and the surrounding area, such as Maitland Station apartments, which was begrudgingly approved by the City Council last April. In the fringes of the downtown area, in the Sawmill and Waterhouse Districts, such as the area near the SunRail station, the new code mandates that 25 percent of ground floor development be designated retail, commercial or office. Designations of less than 25 percent, the code says, can only be made if meeting the requirement is deemed unviable.

When the Maitland Station project proposal to put 293 apartments just north of the SunRail station came through the pipeline, some Maitland City Council members raised concern over the fact that they had to approve it since it wasn’t prohibited by code, even though it wasn’t what they wanted.

“I’m neither pleased nor proud,” said Mayor Dale McDonald of the plans last April, upset that no retail was worked into the project.

City Attorney Cliff Shepard advised Councilmembers last year that they could only vote no on the project if they could find discrepancies with the proposal not meeting city code.

Councilwoman Bev Reponen said that’s why at the end of the discussion she found herself voting yes for a project she didn’t want to vote for.

“I’m only voting yes because I can’t find a good enough reason not to,” she said. “I certainly feel that an injustice has been done. Our residents really wanted more out of this.”

The residential-only project ended up passing unanimously.

To prevent similar projects squeaking through, the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission drafted the now-approved changes to city code to make building residential-only developments more difficult.

Reponen said the new rules will help get Maitland the kind of downtown development it wants.

“Right now we are in a situation that we have a drawing board, and we're trying to establish the rules,” she said. “…I've always found that people are really cooperative if the know what the rules are.”

But newly sworn-in Councilman Mike Thomas said he was hesitant to encumber future city councils with rigid rules to follow, instead of allowing members to use their own discretion to make development decisions.

“It’s like we’re saying we don't trust future city councils to do their job, so we're going to do it now,” he said. “I wouldn’t want some council from 10 years ago making a decision for me now.”

“…I would like to give them all the flexibility they need to make that call.”

Former Maitland mayor Doug Kinson also said he opposed tying the Council’s hands with additional regulations. He said adding strict new rules will limit the possibilities of the future of downtown Maitland.

But resident Kay Yeuell, argued the opposite. He said the city needs to stick to its guns and put the necessary rules in place to get what it wants.

“We need to be in control of our own destiny and not be a factor of the market… the market's not always right,” Yeuell said.

After discussion, the City Council unanimously voted to enact the code changes, which take effect immediately.