F3’s Land Action Team members have been attending the City Council meetings regarding the Zoning Code rewrite. We are speaking up for open space preservation and trees, slopes and wetland protection along with supporting policies that promote greater citizen participation in the development process and sustainable development policies. Although the Council has not voted on the acceptance of the new code they are going through chapter-by-chapter and making recommendations.

One new recommendation from the Council that F3 supported is the creation of a new zone for open space – POS. In the past all City properties including, for example, Buffalo Park, Pulliam Airport, Thorpe Park and City Hall were in the same zone – Public Facilities – PF. This zone allowed for multiple uses of the land. By separating out an Open Space Zone the City is creating a category where only passive recreation uses will be allowed. Public parks, like Thorpe and Bushmaster will still be in the PF zone but there is new language in the code to require citizen notification if there are other uses proposed for public parks besides recreation uses.

F3 supported maintaining the detailed submission requirements that developers currently have to provide for rezoning. Unfortunately there were not enough Council votes and these requirements have been reduced. We thank Mayor Presler, Councilwoman Barotz and Councilman White for their thoughtful comments and their vote in support of maintaining the requirements.

If you’d like to learn more about the Zoning Code or join the Land Action Team contact Marilyn at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it