McCandless to conduct June 23 open house about zoning update

McCandless is hosting an open house in June 23 to get community feedback about its plan to revamp rules and regulations that regulate zoning and land development.

The event will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. at the town hall on Grubbs Road.

McCandess is undergoing a complete overhaul of its zoning and land development ordinances to reflect the current needs of the community, according to RJ Susko, planning and development administrator for McCandless.

“We’re looking to get feedback from the community on a wide range of zoning and land development topics, but with information presented in a way that is accessible and easy to understand even if you aren’t a zoning expert,” she said.

The year-long process is being handled by a core team of town staff, a task force of community members and the outside consulting firm Michael Baker. The project will include analyzing, evaluating and updating the current land ordinances.

The open house is “sort of the kickoff” for when the intensive work begins on drafting new zoning districts, maps, and regulations, Susko said.

The project team has been researching and gathering feedback from the community up to this point, setting the stage for the really transformative work, Susko said. The open house gives residents the opportunity to see where team is headed.

“We’ll share our early ideas from the initial due diligence and feedback we’ve gathered, and further refine those based on what we hear at the meeting. We want to show that putting together a zoning and land development ordinance can be exciting and engaging – even inspiring for the future,” Susko said.

There will be a presentation by the project team at 4:30 p.m., after which residents may visit a variety of stations at their leisure. These information stations that include: “What is Zoning? Purpose and Impact;” current and future zoning districts; definitions and uses of key zoning code terms; and community visions of what a future zoning could look like.

Residents can also participate in a mapping exercise where they can share thoughts and input on a large map.

The feedback officials get from this event may reveal what’s been unclear with zoning regulations in the past, what’s been hard to understand or maybe what isn’tserving the community, Susko said.

“The new code will be more flexible and easier to understand in plain English, but we need to hear from the community what the pain points have been with the current code so we can make sure to address them in the modernization. It’s good to get the perspectives of people who don’t spend all day working with zoning laws,” she said.

There will be a summary of the open house stations available on www.mccandlessandme.com. This site also provides updates and ways to get involved.

Shelly Sponholz, of McCandless was on the town council from 2020-2021 when the project was greenlit and is currently on the planning commission as well as the Task Force for the project itself.

“I hope our residents will take the opportunity to be actively involved in our Town’s zoning modernization efforts. Resident input will help shape changes that will inform how McCandless will manage future growth, maintain unique characteristics that are important to the community and sustain a high quality of life into the future,” Sponholz said.