lowlyplanner
Cyburbian
- Messages
- 69
- Points
- 4
According to the planning theory drivel I learned in grad school, you can slowly "phase out" uses you don't like by making them non-conforming. Our city's zoning code has taken this to heart, and lots of things in many of our older neighborhoods are non-conforming - duplexes and quads (got to maintain the sanctity of the single-family neighborhood, apple pie, etc.), isolated commercial uses, even some older lot sizes.
My question would be: Does this ever actually work? What I see happening is: duplex in mostly single family neighborhood made non-conforming. Continues in use for many years. Some dolt of an owner allows the power to be off for than a year - loses legal non-conforming status. Property sits vacant. Sits vacant some more. Various owners come and go; each one learns that the property is essentially unusable, and tries to foist it off on some other unsuspecting person. Finally someone ends up with the Planning Department, trying to get it rezoned.
I have yet to see anyone knowingly buy a non-conforming building, tear it down, and build something conforming, as our code seems to intend. Have you'all? What I see is perfectly sound structures sitting vacant for years, and occasionally for decades. Is it just our code / map that's screwed up?
My question would be: Does this ever actually work? What I see happening is: duplex in mostly single family neighborhood made non-conforming. Continues in use for many years. Some dolt of an owner allows the power to be off for than a year - loses legal non-conforming status. Property sits vacant. Sits vacant some more. Various owners come and go; each one learns that the property is essentially unusable, and tries to foist it off on some other unsuspecting person. Finally someone ends up with the Planning Department, trying to get it rezoned.
I have yet to see anyone knowingly buy a non-conforming building, tear it down, and build something conforming, as our code seems to intend. Have you'all? What I see is perfectly sound structures sitting vacant for years, and occasionally for decades. Is it just our code / map that's screwed up?