Seward planning commission backs letting 3- to 5-unit housing skip conditional use permits

The Seward Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 Tuesday to recommend that the City Council let builders put up three- to five-unit dwellings without a conditional use permit. The change would cover multifamily dwellings, condominiums and studio apartments in residential and commercial zones that allow higher-density housing.

City Planner Courtney Bringhurst said any project seeking a building permit for three to five units would automatically have to provide landscaping, bear-resistant trash containers inside a three-walled enclosure and parking that meets the Americans with Disabilities Act. Buildings with more than five units would still need a conditional use permit.

The resolution would also let attached single-family homes and accessory dwelling units skip the permit in some zones, the staff report says. Bringhurst said it drops the permit for other uses too, such as auto repair in the auto commercial district and outdoor recreation in the resource management district.

Chair Clare Sullivan said writing common permit conditions into code saves the commission from repeating them, because they are usually the same each time.

For permit requests that remain, the resolution rewrites the review criteria. Bringhurst said the commission could weigh whether a use would bring noise, glare, odor or other nuisances greater than other permitted uses nearby, and whether the property is current on money owed to the city, such as property and sales taxes. Applicants would submit site photos and scaled plot plans, and the applicant or a representative would have to attend the hearing in person or by phone.

Before the final vote, Vice Chair Brenan Hornseth proposed adding a test of whether applicants have complied with permits the city issued before. He said the city lacks an enforcement officer, and a history of noncompliance would give the commission grounds to deny future permits. The amendment passed 5-0.

"Reinforces bad behavior if you don't enforce it," Sullivan said.

No one from the public testified. Five of the commission's seven members were present.

Community Development Director Daniel Meuninck said staff will send the amendment language to the city attorney and may refine it before the resolution reaches the City Council, which makes the final decision.