Link: The Union - News.
By Trina Kleist, trinak@theunion.com
August 29, 2006
A draft development code that would replace the Grass Valley's zoning ordinance would recreate the city's historical look in new buildings in business and residential areas, a consultant said at a public workshop Monday.
More than 30 people attended the two sessions of the workshop held at City Hall to explain the proposed code.
City goals of preserving Grass Valley's Gold Rush and timbering past, and creating more people-friendly communities and vibrant retail areas in the future, would be reached using the design principals of New Urbanism, consultant Paul Crawford, of Crawford, Multari & Clark Association of San Luis Obispo, said.
The design movement to pattern new development on the human scale of old-fashioned towns began more than two decades ago. It started getting incorporated into municipal law in the last seven years, Crawford said.
It relies on building forms rather than building uses to define what can be built and how it will look, Crawford said.
The new code would most affect properties downtown, City Councilor Lisa Swarthout said.
The draft development code includes several new elements, including:
• Protections of steep slopes.
• Protections for creek banks.
• Standards for citing cellular telephone towers.
• Procedural changes and provisions to keep the code current with state law.
A section on preserving cultural and historical resources is being worked on separately, city Planning Director Tom Last said.
Council members, planning commissioners, representatives of the Nevada County Contractors Association, members of the public, city staff and consultants from three firms have worked for more than two years and met 11 times to develop the draft code.
If people want them, workshops could be held to discuss specifics of how the code would work, city Community Development Director Joe Heckel said.
The environmental review of the code update will be released in September, and public hearings are expected to be scheduled in October, Heckel said.
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