After five years of planning, a city committee unanimously approved new zoning codes and maps Monday, which could affect downtown areas currently occupied by students.
Madison Plan Commission Chair Nancy Fey said the city’s zoning code has not changed since 1960 and city officials have been revising it for the past five years.
While they are two separate documents, the city’s proposed zoning code sets a guideline for the recently approved Downtown Plan, which is a comprehensive planning and development guide for the city, according to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4.
Verveer said the Downtown Plan looks at every property in the city’s downtown area and recommends whether the land should be used for residential, commercial, office, institutional or retail use.
The Downtown Plan also includes recommendations, which are now incorporated in the new proposed zoning code, for buildings in the Mifflin neighborhood to become more multi-purposeful rather than solely residential, according to Verveer.
“The action of the Plan Commission tonight absolutely encourages and anticipates increased density of the Mifflin neighborhood,” Verveer said.
But before a developer proposes redevelopment of the Mifflin area, the plan requires an additional city committee to create design guidelines for the neighborhood.
Plan Commission member Anna Andrzejewski said despite some minor imperfections, the zoning plan is a significant cooperative achievement.
“I just think it represents an extraordinary collaboration between staff, the commission, alders, as well as members of the public,” Andrzejewski said.
Madison’s city Council will vote on the zoning code at their next meeting Oct. 16.
