Oakland lowers ad valorem

Oakland officials are taking a different approach to the Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget than what has traditionally been done in years past. Instead of raising the millage rate one mill with the intention of lowering it during the budget workshop process, the town set the rate at 6.75, the same as last year — and then lowered it to 6.65.

The budget contains three parts: General Fund, at $6,886,747; Utility Fund, at $2,508,859; and Oakland Avenue Charter School, at $4,485,815 — for a total of $13,881,421.

Two special projects totaling nearly $1.7 million are included in the next fiscal budget: Arts & Heritage Center, $925,000; and the roundabout on West Oakland Avenue near West Colonial Drive, $750,000.

The Town Commission passed the first reading and public hearing Monday, Sept. 10. The second budget hearing is Tuesday, Sept. 25.

DESIGN DISTRICTS AND DESIGN MANUAL

The mayor and commissioners are making sure there won’t be anything remotely similar to a “Joe’s Hole-in-the-Wall Bar” in the town limits.

The town has been working to develop a full range of urban design guidelines that will replace the Gateway Corridor Overlay District, which was last amended in 2014.

The new guidelines will apply to the entire town and “provide comprehensive, traditional architectural standards for residential (and) commercial/nonresidential buildings,” Town Planner Jay Marder explained to the commission.

The Oakland Design Manual was meticulously created to preserve and perpetuate what is known as the Oakland character of buildings within the town.

Five design districts, not to be confused with zoning districts, were established: Neighborhood General, Traditional Neighborhood, Neighborhood Center, Town Center and Urban Center.

The design districts are applied only after zoning is verified.

Each design district incorporates more than a dozen building types, which provide choices of function and style.

The new manual further details design, setbacks, massing and porch dimensions, as well as exterior materials, window and door frames and other features.

And while the Gateway Corridor Overlay includes special exceptions, the Design Districts will not. Instead, they will be incorporated into C-1 Retail Commercial zoning, which covers most properties in the West Colonial Drive corridor.

The commission also passed the first reading of an ordinance that makes changes to the C-1 zoning. The revision states that places of public assembly are permitted but no closer than 500 feet from West Colonial Drive.

It prohibits service stations, liquor stores, auto sales and repair, storage, warehouses and drive-through facilities.

It permits beer and wine to be served at restaurants, it permits craft breweries, and it permits restaurants with full liquor sales as a special-exception use.

The new C-1 encourages a more focused range of attractive, pedestrian-friendly commercial development while prohibiting vehicle uses.

A moratorium preventing new buildings and site plans from being considered expires Sept. 30. The commission expects to vote on the second reading of the two related ordinances at the Sept. 25 commission meeting.