By Jake Palmateer
ONEONTA _ The city's Zoning Task Force, working with an outside consultant, has generated a preliminary proposal to trim the 22 zoning districts in the city to eight.
The effort, which began earlier this year, has also led to a proposal that has three times as many definitions than what exist in the city's current zoning code, which dates to the 1970s, Oneonta Mayor John Nader said.
Nader said the more definitions, the better.
Zoning laws in the state typically prohibit a use if it is not explicitly defined as acceptable in a particular zoning district.
A zoning district is a geographic area within a village, city or town where development and use of properties are regulated.
The current zoning code is confusing and needs to be streamlined, Nader said.
"We're tying to do this to both simplify and clarify the zoning code," Nader said.
Bergmann Associates of Rochester was hired this year to assist in redrafting the zoning map.
"We are going to try and complete this by the end of the year," Nader said.
The eight new zones, which were released after a Zoning Task Force meeting Thursday, are as follows: Low-density residential; traditional residential; transitional residential; downtown mixed-use; gateway mixed-use; commercial/industrial; institutional; public/semipublic land.
The 22 zoning districts in the 4.4-square-mile city include eight distinct residential zones.
The city's comprehensive plan, adopted in early 2007, includes a future land-use map that was generated with input from the public. The nonbinding map has seven land-use areas.
Preserving single-family homes was one of the key concerns brought forth in the comprehensive plan and in the months of collecting data from the public.
Property and business owners will not be forced to change the use of their properties to conform with the new regulations if they are adopted by the Common Council.
"No one is contemplating terminating any existing uses," Nader said.
But future changes to any properties would have to conform to the new rules, he said.
Nader said a public meeting on the changes is anticipated this fall, and there may need to be official public hearings before the Common Council can vote on adopting the changes.
The Zoning Task Force consists of the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee of the Common Council, representatives from the Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeal, Tim Hayes from the Center for Community and Economic Development, a college student representative and former aldermen Keith Bott and Patti Hanley.
Bergmann Associates has a $75,570 contract with the city.
About 35 city residents attended a public meeting in July, at which the task force solicited input.
