By Diane Chiddister

At their meeting Jan. 16, members of Yellow Springs Village Council approved second readings of an ordinance amending the Village Zoning Code and the Village Comprehensive Plan, and approved a first reading of an ordinance that rezoned the site of the Center for Business and Education.

The amendments to the zoning code, which were recommended by the Planning Commission, addressed items related to the central business district, or CBD. According to Planning Commission President Bruce Rickenbach, the commission has undertaken an extensive review of the code, and identified “inconsistencies in the zoning code, and conflicts from one section to another,” which made downtown development difficult.

The approved changes covered a variety of code items, including signage and off-street parking, and are designed to encourage downtown development.

The planners have not yet finished their review of the code, according to Rickenbach, who called last week’s changes “an interim step.”

In other Council business:

• Council also unanimously approved the second reading of an amendment to the Village Comprehensive Plan to revise the Village’s urban service area, which is the area the Village has identified as potentially open to development in the next 20 years. The amendment approves the redrawing of the urban service area map, eliminating some areas, such as parts of Whitehall Farm, which are no longer appropriate because they have been placed under conservation easement, and adding some new areas on the western edge of the village.

Planning Commission had recommended amending the urban service area map because the current area was outdated, according to Rickenbach. Identifying an area as within the urban service area does not necessarily mean the Village plans to develop it, according to Rickenbach. Rather, an area’s inclusion in the urban service area gives the Village the right to be included in discussions regarding its possible development.

“It means having a seat at the table” regarding the land’s development, he said. Including land in the Village’s urban service area also “gives sort of an implication but no guarantee” that the Village would extend sewer service to the area, according to Rickenbach.

Council approved the amendent after Council members agreed to change the ordinance’s wording, since the original wording was interpreted by Council member Judith Hempfling as encouraging potential development. The old wording stated that the area “when developed” would be served by a sanitary system connected to an existing public treatment works; the new wording states “the area, should it be developed” would be served by sanitary sewer.

• Council approved a rezoning for the Center for Business and Education, from agricultural to mixed commerce district. The rezoning does not allow retail in the center, according to Rickenbach, although it would allow a business person to sell items made on location, such as original art.

• Kathryn Van der Heiden, who was appointed several weeks ago to take the Council seat of former Council President Jocelyn Hardman, was sworn into office.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com