Zoning consultants topic of joint meeting

By Grace Lovins

Birmingham City Commissioners and Planning Board members held a joint workshop meeting on Monday, September 29, focusing on the hiring of a consultant to assist the city in updating the existing zoning ordinance.

The city’s existing zoning ordinance was created roughly two decades ago and over time city staff and board members have noticed inconsistencies and complexities that they state should be addressed. Both city commissioners and planning board members met in June to discuss updating the ordinance, which was also included as an action item in the city’s 2040 master plan.

Since the June workshop, the city issued a request for proposals (RFP) to hire a consultant to assist in updating the ordinance. City planner Leah Blizinski said the RFP listing closed on Tuesday, September 30, and Monday night’s workshop was an opportunity for commissioners and board members to touch base about the scope of work.

Blizinski explained the scope of work was divided into seven steps in the RFP: Starting the project and background review; public engagement and stakeholder involvement; diagnostic report and recommendations; drafting an updated ordinance; zoning map revisions; administrative and procedural improvements; and final ordinance and adoption support.

Several board members and commissioners emphasized the importance of public engagement and clear communication throughout the process. They noted that most residents are not familiar with the complexities and language of zoning ordinances, which can cause confusion or cause residents to potentially fear changes to the zoning ordinance.

Commissioners and board members also shared their hopes for the end result such as creating a more ‘user-friendly’ document for residents and eliminating discrepancies. Board member Daniel Share added he is hopeful that the consultant will help make the ordinance adaptable.

“The 2040 plan has lots and lots of stuff in it. Some of them are land planning things. Some of them are not,” he said. “With respect to the land planning goals, which, if any of those require some modifications, new language, new concepts in the zoning ordinance and how can we best adopt a revised zoning ordinance that enables those things that are not explicitly there now or not incentivized there now in the best way to become more achievable.”

According to city manager Jana Ecker, once the RFP closes, city staff and the planning board will review the submitted proposals, whittle the applicants down to the top candidates and send those candidates to the city commission which will make the final decision on the hiring of a consultant.

No formal action was taken during the workshop, but both the planning board and city commission will soon review proposals and interview candidates to serve as consultants during the updating process. Planning board members Stuart Jeffares and Bert Koseck were absent from the workshop.