Following a brief introductory presentation at November 14’s kick-off meeting for the Unified Development Code, attendees were asked to provide their own perspective and ideas on just what is and isn’t working with Decatur’s growth regulations.
They did not disappoint.
As detailed in the city’s adopted Strategic Plan, goals in five areas — housing, transportation, preservation, lifelong community, and sustainability — were presented on large wall posters for review (1.9mb .pdf), together with questions for consideration. Using Idea Cards provided by the session organizers, residents were then tasked with two questions:
- In what way do you feel our existing development regulations fail to support the goals of the Strategic Plan?
- What revision or new regulation would perform better? Should it be required? Or encouraged with incentives?
In response, and fueled by a full hour of near-furious scribbling, residents completed 124 cards, most of which were pushed to capacity with multiple ideas. Everything from “Need ‘teeth’ in the regulations — big, strong teeth to support tree canopy/trees” to “Zoning for smaller lots = smaller houses” to “More creativity and incentives to encourage green building and sustainability” and everything in between.
Residents completed 124 of these “Idea Cards,” contributing both perspective and ideas towards development of the city’s new Unified Development Ordinance. Click for larger view.
Curious what else got submitted? You can work your way through each and every comment with this summary (.pdf). And if you were unable to make it, there are still plenty of ways to plug in and get your thoughts on the record. Provide your own answers and recommendations in the comments section below or submit more general comments and questions directly to the city here.
Check back with us regularly for updates of progress.