Neighborhood plan is sent back to city staff

After more than three hours of discussion, the Neighborhoods Element Plan of Vision 20/20 is going back to city staff for more work.

During a public hearing before the Planning and Zoning Commission March 16, trade groups and citizens spoke against the plan as it now stands, asking the city to consider reworking key elements.

Stephanie Stenger Montgomery, representing the Home Builders Association, asked that the entire housing design section of the plan be removed. Home builders, members of the Springfield Apartment and Housing Association and the Board of Realtors were opposed to portions of that section.

The housing design section referred to developing a housing court to hear cases of noncompliance with housing and building codes, and specific suggestions for the design of homes and apartment buildings. The housing design section also contained a suggestion that there be an inspection at the time a property was sold. Montgomery expressed concern over all those sections, as did Lynn Richards, executive director of the Springfield Apartment and Housing Association.

Staff continued to assert that the document was an idea piece, and it would not immediately become code but would shape decisions in the future, when the city amends its codes and regulations.

Senior Planner Brendan Griesemer said the document would now come back to city staff for more work. The staff will present a framework for dealing with the questions asked at the March 16 meeting at an April 13 meeting with Planning and Zoning Commission.

Richards said SAHA wanted a preamble to the whole document that states it is just a plan.

"We want it made clear that this is not a policy document," Richards said.

Her organization was drafting a letter to city staff asking for changes.