The city of Lewisburg took steps to a new future to allow planned unit developments (PUD) that will allow for commercial and residential properties to coexist.
“This is the planning commission beginning to examine what the future of Lewisburg might look like,” said Lewisburg Councilmember Mark Etten.
Etten referenced Lewisburg’s traffic issues as a reason for the council’s consideration of these mixed residential and commercial-zoned areas. The theory being with developments featuring commercial options for its residents would keep traffic in a self-contained area thus alleviating traffic elsewhere, Lewisburg Interim City Manager Misty Hill stated.
The city is currently rewriting its zoning ordinance to include planned unit developments under its planned development section.
Councilmember Joshua Edwards raised concerns about confusing language in the zoning ordinance around where alcohol could and could not be served in a commercial space.
“I just think we need to be clear on what we are trying to ban and not ban,” Edwards said.
Councilmember Heather Blake also cited confusing language around limits for children around childcare centers and childcare homes.
The council unanimously approved the first zoning ordinance amendment pending the language changes.
The amendments will move to a second reading at the February meeting of the Lewisburg City Council.
Hill also stated that while no applications have been filed to build a mixed-development, the city has seen interest from developers for a potential project in the Brush Road area.
In other business, John Lynch appeared before the Lewisburg Council to request funding from the city’s arts and humanities fund to enhance the senior baseball field at Lewisburg’s Hollowell Park.
Lynch, of Lynch Construction, presented the project on behalf of the league. The league is seeking to enhance the baseball field at Hollowell park to feature turf instead of sand now.
Lynch stated that the overall project enhancement would cost approximately $76,000 and was seeking $46,000 from the city’s arts and humanities funding program.
“The budget request if approved will pay for the turf and its placement,” Lynch told the council.
Lynch stated that enhancing the field to the turf surface would drastically reduce game cancellations, bring in state tournaments to the city and will also reduce the city’s maintenance cost on the field down to nothing. As the field currently stands, rain forces game cancellations and repair issues due to flooding, the turf surface would take all that away and make the field an attractive location for statewide little league tournaments.
Lynch said the engineering concept is ready and the league has a loan secured for the other $30,000 to be repaid over a period of five years.
“I think this presentation is pretty compelling,” Etten said.
However, Etten stated that he thought the proposal should go before the city’s parks commission to best advise the council on how to proceed with getting involved in the project as it pertains to city funding and scope of the project.
Other councilmembers agreed that the project did not qualify for its arts and humanities funding program but did not strike down the possibility of contributing, but just needed to find the appropriate place for the funding to come from.
The Hollowell Baseball field upgrade project was sent to the Lewisburg Parks Commission which will meet on February 2 and then upon the commission’s recommendations, back before the Lewisburg City Council on February 16.
