Following up on its Comprehensive Plan, the Fort Thomas Planning and Zoning Commission has launched an extensive review of zoning ordinances. The plan itself was a culmination of more than a year of planning and community-wide discussions.
City officials are working to implement parts of the plan, and updating the zoning ordinance is part of the process. The city hired CT Consultants to review zoning ordinances and suggest updates that better support goals identified in the plan.
City Administrator Ron Dill said the zoning ordinance is “a very important tool for the city in shaping the future of our community. The zoning ordinance update is intended to be collaborative with the Planning Commission leading the effort and hopefully engagement from citizens throughout the entire process.”
A year-long process
Dill said he expects the review process to continue throughout the year. The Planning Commission will discuss studies and presentations on the zoning update at its meetings, and materials will be posted on the city website.
“Issues to be addressed range from defining the methods for future development, potential redevelopment, appropriate housing types all the way to sign/fence regulations or nuisance ordinance language,” he said. “The update process will touch on these issues and more, as they are all important in shaping the way we live in our community,” he said.
Alisa Duffey Rogers, an architect and planner with CT Consultants, presented to the Planning Commission last fall and suggested the city consider form-based zoning in business districts.
As the name suggests, form-based zoning puts the emphasis on the form of a building and how it relates to other buildings within a zone. The Fort Thomas zoning ordinance follows a more traditional concept – zones are developed based on land usage, how the buildings would be used.
Three key business districts
At Planning’s February meeting, the contractor presented a second part of the zoning review, digging deeper into business districts and making suggestions for other commercial and residential districts within the city.
Part two identified three business districts — the Central Business District (also known as Town Center), Midway and Iverness — and outlined what form-based code in those areas would look like, starting with the recommended building types for each district.
The proposed building types for business, commercial and residential areas included a variety of single family, multi-family, mixed use and civic structures. Each description noted how the building would be situated on the lot and in relationship to the street. Descriptions included façade treatment, windows and entry requirements, parking and garage placement and more.
The Central Business District
The Central Business District would feature three sub-zones within the district each with different types of building forms.
Town Center Core Mixed Use requires first floor retail or office uses only (no residential) and includes civic and mixed use buildings.
Town Center Traditional Mixed Use includes residential and nonresidential buildings including traditional single-family, rowhouses/shophouses, multi-family and civic buildings.
Town Center Neighborhood Transition provides a transition from business to residential with a mix of single family homes, small multi-family and rowhouses.
The Midway and Iverness business districts
The vision for Midway in the comprehensive plan was as an entertainment and recreation destination for residents and visitors. This acknowledges that there are already businesses and community facilities in the area including the VA Hospital and Tower Park.
The contractor proposed three sub-zones for this area: Midway Core Mixed Use, Midway Contributing Civic and Residential and Midway Contributing Neighborhood.
Located at the intersection of Memorial Parkway and North Fort Thomas Avenue, the Iverness District includes two sub-zones: Iverness Neighborhood Commercial Mixed Use and Iverness Residential Mixed Use.
Alexandria Pike districts
A highly commercial, office and light industrial area, Alexandria Pike is seen as the gateway to the city. With that in mind, the contractor proposed two districts: Alexandria Pike Mixed Use and Alexandria Pike Corridor Residential. These two would replace the many different zones in that area.
The contractor recommended developing a set of standards for building forms, lot area, building and parking placement, signage, finishing materials and height limits for main and accessory buildings. The Design Review Board would set criteria and review site plans.
Public input encouraged
Dill encourages public input throughout the process. The discussion will continue through the summer at select Planning and Zoning meetings with an eye toward completion by February 2023. Check upcoming agendas for further information.
See the Official Zoning Ordinance Update on the city’s website for parts one and two of the diagnostic report. The report also addresses other zoning and subdivision issues and includes maps of each of the current and proposed zoning districts.