Culver Town Council Waits to Consider Reading on Ordinance Amendment

The Culver Town Council members agreed to hold off on going through with the first reading of an amendment concerning the zoning and subdivision ordinance. 

Town Council President Ginny Bess Munroe was not present at the meeting Tuesday night and Vice President Bill Githens, who was in charge of the meeting, asked to wait until the full council was present to move forward with full discussions on the matter.

The main concern was the portion pertaining to existing non-conforming structures with plans to add a story or completely raze the building and build a new structure.  The change states that that a person can build on the same foundation, but the structure cannot be outside of perimeters of the original construction.  The structure can be taller up to 35 feet, but the other boundaries must remain the same.  The Board of Zoning Appeals would not need to approve this type of construction, but the neighbors would have to be notified.

The other portion of the ordinance amendment includes updates to include the complete streets policy, catch basin specifications and flood control standards, height restrictions and establishing grade for clarification, the definition of public and private sewers, system of treating private wastewater that is limited in scope and relies on onsite system treatment, system of treating public wastewater that lawfully accepts effluent from multiple households or residences, and general formatting corrections.

The ordinance will be considered for first reading at the council’s next meeting on Tuesday, July 23.

City of Plymouth Amends Zoning Ordinance to Include Solar Energy Systems

A proposal to amend the zoning ordinance regarding solar energy systems for the City of Plymouth was considered by the Plymouth City Council in a meeting earlier this week. Plymouth Plan Director Ralph Booker provided a presentation, explaining what amendments would need to be completed in order for solar energy systems to be a possibility for members of the Plymouth community.

First off, a definition had to be added to the ordinance. It described a solar energy system to be any device or structural design feature whose primary purpose is to provide daylight for interior lighting or provide for the collection, storage or distribution of solar energy for space heating and cooling, electricity generation and water heating. Continue reading