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Saturday, May 25, 2013
Covering Dallas, Monmouth, Independence, Falls City and surrounding areas since 1868
October 09, 2012
MONMOUTH -- Developers of multi-bedroom apartments or duplexes in Monmouth will have to provide more space for parking than before starting this fall.
There will also be stricter landscaping provisions for future commercial developments and subdivisions of certain sizes -- in the latter scenario, there must be a tree in the yard of every home.
These were some of the amendments unanimously approved by the Monmouth City Council to zoning, development and sign laws during its Oct. 2 meeting.
Officials had been reviewing updates for development laws for more than a year, said Community Development Director Mark Fancey.
Parking changes were prompted by the number of new apartment complexes that have gone up in the last year and the lack of on-street parking that happens in most college-town neighborhoods, said City Manager Scott McClure.
"If they can't find a parking space at their complex, they park on the street," McClure said.
All future multifamily housing units that have two or more bedrooms must have one off-street parking space for every bedroom; a triplex, for example, must have three spaces in its parking lot.
Officials greenlit several aesthetic development changes, as well. Ten percent and 15 percent of the gross land area for new commercial and multifamily housing complexes, respectively, must be used for landscaping.
"This doesn't include new properties on Main Street," Fancey stressed.
Meanwhile, every new subdivision -- parcels divided into at least four home lots --- must have at least one tree that's visible from the street if there's no planting strip available.
"Anybody who's building homes is required to submit a landscaping plan," Fancey said. "We're not going out there right now, looking for people who put trees in the yards."
The city ended a ban on reader boards, provided they don't exceed certain height and length restrictions.
Signs that rotate or include animated and moving displays -- such as animated billboards -- are now off limits.
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