Milton passes emergency moratorium on rezonings.

Courtesy City of Milton

Milton passes emergency moratorium on rezonings

Milton’s elected officials last night passed an emergency moratorium on rezoning applications across multiple residential districts in the city in an effort to stem the tide of housing developments seeking less restrictive regulation.

In a unanimous vote, City Council chose to bar the acceptance of applications for rezonings to the Community Unit Plan (CUP), Neighborhood Unit Plan (NUP), Transitional Zone (TR), and single-family dwelling (R-2 and R-2A) classifications.

“In the past few months we have seen a number of rezoning applications, especially to the CUP zone, because residential developers are looking for ways to decrease the amount of setback restrictions they would traditionally face when building in Milton,” said Kathy Field, community development director for the City of Milton. “By enacting this moratorium we can look at modifying our current zoning laws to protect the rural viewshed and feel of our community.”

Mayor Joe Lockwood said the moratorium is just one of many options Milton is exploring to balance the city’s sudden housing boom with resident concerns their bucolic city might be slipping away.

“The important thing to realize in all this is that we, as a city council, remain committed to protecting our city from unchecked development,” said Lockwood. “Instead, we’re actively taking steps to build a proper balance of property rights and community desires.”

To learn more about the moratorium and Milton’s other smart growth strategies like form-based coding, transfer of development rights and community-based master planning, visit the Community Development Department’s Web site.

To learn more about rezoning cases currently in the regulatory process, click here.