Motley's Planning & Zoning Commission took another look at their proposed map for the city's Downtown Mixed-Use Zoning District at a meeting held April 21; and decided to make some alterations.

In a unanimous vote, the planning commission approved a motion to present to the Motley City Council a revised map of the DMU Zoning District, which is one and one-half blocks smaller than the previous proposal.

The creation of a DMU zoning district (as well as a Land Use Matrix) had been approved by the council at their regular meeting Feb. 24.

However, the planning commission's original proposed map of the DMU area failed to receive the required four-fifths vote at the council's regular meeting April 14. Mayor Konrad Alexander had been the lone nay-sayer, with council members Nancy Nieken, Rob Sampson and Duane Solga voting in favor of it. Council member Rena Underwood was not at the meeting.

Mayor Alexander, Nieken and Sampson were at the P&Z meeting April 21, to look over the map with the commission members and to offer their input.

The mayor said he felt that the original proposed DMU, which encompassed approximately 12 full blocks and 10 half blocks in Motley, went "too far south." He felt that certain business possibilities would be eliminated with such an expansive Mixed- Use Zoning District.

Alexander's biggest concern about the DMU was its location on the east side of Highway 10, from Main Street to Curtis Street.

The mayor suggested it end with Harrison Street... same as it does on the west side of Hwy. 10.

City Clerk/Treasurer Terri Smith asked Mayor Alexander if there were particular items that are allowed now in its present zoning that wouldn't be allowed in a DMU.

The Mayor said that he leases land on the south side of Harrison Street; property that is currently in a C2 (Commercial) zone which allows him to sell tractors. If it were changed to be in a DMU zoning, this type of business would no longer be permitted.

Ben Oleson, city planner with Community Growth Institute, mentioned that there is a tool - an Interim Use Permit - which allows certain pre-approved businesses to operate on a temporary basis. "These are things you could put a time line on, like three to five years; and then see if it's something the community still wants or needs. These shouldn't be major investments, however," Oleson said.

Oleson said that he hesitated to recommend this permit option, however, because if you allow it for one person, it's hard to tell the next person no. "If you have these (Interim Use Permits) all over the place, it can be kind of a mess," he added.

P&Z member Steve Johnson wondered what would be better for the city - to keep the original proposed

zoning map and set up an Interim Use Permit when and where needed; or to just cut the boundary off sooner.

Fellow commission member Lana Hansen said she felt it would be better to have something (like the DMU) drawn up in black and white, than to have to hold a meeting every time someone wanted to put in a new business.

Council member and P&Z liaison Sampson said it seemed to him that the biggest concern with the re-zoning had to do with automotive businesses.

Oleson assured both the council and P&Z members that current automotive businesses would be grandfathered in for future own- ers, even if they were listed (on the land-use matrix) as an excluded use. The only problem they (current and future owners) might run into is if they wanted to expand their business, Oleson added.

The general idea of the DMU district, Oleson explained in a later e-mail, was to be a "pedestrianfriendly" district, meaning that it would be easy for people walking to move around in and the businesses would be more retail and office oriented. The C-2 commercial district, which remains as it is now, is intended to be for the autooriented uses.

Although Mayor Alexander had voiced concerns that the DMU covered too large of an area, Smith said that she had heard from other people in town who were hoping it would go even farther south along both sides of Hwy 10.

P&Z Chairman Greg Weber said he wanted to be mindful of all business owners. "If we make changes so things work for one individual, like Konrad, we really need to make sure we're listening to the needs of the other guy, too," he said. "But that's when it (zoning) can start to get confusing and chopped up," he said.

Sampson stressed that working on a future Land

Use Map would help alleviate

this sort of problem. "A Land Use Map would

clearly state where the city would like to have certain businesses located," he added.

A Land Use Map is helpful, Oleson said, because you want to try and be clear to people moving in to town which direction the city is going.

In addition to the Land Use Map, another future project that needs to be worked on, Sampson said, is the issue of parking.

If, in the future, the city wants to discuss having more areas in the DMU district, they would need to notify residents within a certain distance of the properties proposed for rezoning and hold a public hearing.