Inside views and news

The SKINNY G E O R G E T O W N - S C O T T C O U N T Y

P L A N N I N G C O M M I S S I O N April 2015

March

Landscape requirements amended

Planning staff have been working on updating the Landscape and Land Use Buffers Ordinance to preserve existing trees, create a healthier environment for trees, and give developers more choice in the placement of trees. There are three main components to the proposed changes: 1) reducing the number of trees required in the interior vehicular use area by half, 2) creating overall canopy requirements to ensure adequate tree cover-age in developing urban areas, and 3) requiring landscape plans/tree protection plans with the initial submission of all Preliminary Development Plans and Preliminary Subdi-vision Plats. These changes in the Landscape Ordinance are proposed to affect only new develop-ment and amended development plans. Studies of several existing developments in Scott County show the proposed changes would result in little to no increase in the number of trees required for most developments. The biggest change will be the emphasis on the protection of existing trees by creating canopy standards with a bonus for protecting ex-isting canopied areas. Reducing the number of trees required in internal VUA areas will provide for a more suitable habitat for trees to mature and survive while retaining the same interior island area re-quirements. The public hearing regarding these proposed changes has been continued to the May 14th Planning Commission meeting. A copy of the current Landscape Ordinance can be found at www.gscplanning.com.

Construction Progress

Culvers is underway . . .

and so is Panera Bread!

New building permits City 45 County 15 Subdivision plats reviewed and recorded 8 LOC sureties $4.51M Cash sureties $ 310K

In the Pipeline

Toyota Engineering Bldg.

BCTC - in the Lanes Run Industrial Park

Mapping Your World

On April 16th, Georgetown College senior Lucy Davis pre-sented her proposal that GC shift from high-pressure, sodi-um to solar-powered, LED fix-tures for lighting around cam-pus. Our GIS department ad-vised how, via aerial imagery and ground truthing, she could map locations of the existing fixtures. The GIS department is excited about the work Lucy has begun and will be housing the data so it can be used to support future projects.

Planning 100 years ago

Patrick Geddes was regarded as the father of the social theories underlying modern city planning. He was a Scottish sociologist who also held the position of Assistant in Practical Botany at Edinburgh Universi-ty. A practical man, he believed deeply in the importance of citizens shaping their own communities. He and his wife moved into Edin-burgh’s Old Town, which at the time was a slum, and renovated a tene-

ment. He established the Environment Society to encourage residents to survey, plan, and improve their own environment. Geddes developed an international reputation with the publication of the 1915 book Cities in Evolution, and with the Cities Exhibit that he toured in the 1890’s and early 1900’s. Cities, in his view, must connect geography, environment, and social pat-terns; cities are a series of common interlocking patterns. For Geddes, a truly integrated city had a cultural, educational, and spiritual structure. In a 1915 report on town planning in India, he wrote, “Town Planning is not mere place-planning, nor even work planning. If it is to be successful it must be folk planning . . . its task is to find the right places for people; places where they will really flourish . . . .”

Jack Conner enjoyed the Pi Day celebration in the Planning Office!