Following through on the promise of its adoption last November, as well as a few minor edits and additions adopted thereafter, Decatur’s long-discussed Unified Development Ordinance is now in full effect...

The fact that our city leaders deferred decision on the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) during their meeting October 20 was no big surprise. As followers of this process know, it's been an enormous undertaking. And while it's true that the vast majority of the UDO is comprised of the same regulations we had before, just cleaned up and reorganized for easier and more efficient use, it still adds up to a considerable body of content -- some new -- that, not surprisingly, requires a considerable amount of review, discussion and consideration...

In mid July, after almost 9 months of increasingly focused public meetings, the UDO process finally arrived at an initial draft -- a draft subsequently subjected to 22 hours of open house discussion with residents and 4 exploratory topics for online consideration via Open City Hall. From that, together with additional comments that came in, a second, work-in-progress draft was released and presented for review by the city commission in two September work sessions...

Consider how far we’ve come: Eleven months and seven public drill-down meetings; pages and pages of resident comments submitted via Decatur Next; 22 hours of open house sessions in which residents came by, explored the draft-in-progress, asked questions of city staff, and provided comments; four Open City Hall exploratory topics; and two evenings of city commission work sessions, in which they reviewed the latest version of the draft...

On Monday, July 21, a comprehensive draft of Decatur’s Unified Development Ordinance was released, followed by a full month of public review and comment -- a process that kicked off with 22 hours of open house Q&A sessions and continued with a wealth of resident input submitted directly to the city. That input can be reviewed here, with many of the issues raised addressed in our Frequently Asked Questions...

Nine months and seven public meetings in, specifics of the UDO are now getting a good look -- not just here online at Decatur Next but through 22 hours of open house sessions in which residents came by, explored the current draft, asked questions of city staff and provided comments on the work-in-progress. These Q&A sessions were a big success. Not just in terms of getting questions answered but in helping the city and the consulting team a) better understand where there’s concern or confusion as to the impact or intent of various UDO provisions; and b) review, scrutinize and proofread what is inarguably a hefty document. So thanks to everyone who's made the time to come by. Your comments, and those submitted here, have been invaluable...

Last Fall, meetings were held to establish and affirm how the Unified Development Ordinance should be approached and structured, and to determine any areas of potential regulation requiring further discussion. This Spring, “Hack the Code” sessions were held to explore the four identified areas: community character, stormwater, green building, and zoning approaches to expand the City’s allowable housing types. Residents also provided comments and direction here, through decaturnext.com. Beginning in May, we assessed the amassed -- and diverse -- comments; sought direction, areas of agreement or potential compromise; and began work on the comprehensive draft...

Those who've followed along and participated in the Unified Development Ordinance process so far know the road we've been down. Last fall, in Phase 01, we began by revisiting the Decatur Strategic Plan, considering areas where city goals were not supported by existing ordinances, and identifying areas to focus on. General approaches to addressing those areas were then integrated with the overall clean-up effort and, in a meeting January 8, were affirmed by residents -- together with a request that four areas (character, stormwater, sustainability/green building, and new zoning districts) be given further opportunity for community consideration and discussion...

The city’s Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) process wrapped up its second phase in May after four drill-down sessions explored  a variety of regulatory topics where additional resident input was needed...