Also on the docket tonight, the Decatur city commission is set to vote on an interim transitional buffer between residential and commercial properties that would increase the setback from 10 to 30 feet and decrease the height-limiting plane angle from 60 to 45 degrees.  It also transfers the authority of giving parking variances from the ZBA to the city commission.

This ordinance (along with one for new mixed use zoning) went before the planning commission a few days back and the minutes from the meeting are particularly interesting – hello concerned resident Kathy Gannon!  While the buffer ordinance was approved by the planning commission, the mixed use zoning was tabled to investigate adding a grandfather clause, increasing building heights by 4′ feet to a 54′ max in the village sub-area, and increasing the allowable retail floor area to 8,000 ft to accommodate a grocery store.