COVINGTON, Ky. - The City of Covington is totally revamping its approach to zoning, and it’s urging the public to help shape the new plan at the beginning stages rather than react after the fact.

 

Anybody who lives, owns property or runs a business in Covington is invited to four events at the end of the month to offer opinions, concerns, and goals on how and why development happens and how neighborhoods look and “feel.”

 

In that vein, if you’ve ever: 

... then you might want to attend these events.

 

Or, as Christopher Myers, the City’s Preservation and Planning Specialist, puts it: “If you’ve seen development in your neighborhood or favorite area of Covington that made it better, or you see an example of where an opportunity was missed to make it better, these events are for you.”

 

The gatherings take place April 29-May 1 (details are below). They range from a drop-in-at-any-time 8-hour open design studio to a 2-hour presentation on work-in-progress.

 

Attendees will have a chance to talk with staff from both the City and its consultants. The City hired Kendig Keast Collaborative - who also brought in Dover, Kohl & Partners - to oversee the transition from a rigid, traditional, Euclidean zoning code to what is known as a form-based code, or Neighborhood Development Code (more on that below too).

“People shouldn’t worry about not being able to speak legalese or being able to speak the so-called language of zoning,” said Alex Koenig, the City’s Zoning and Development Specialist. “We have experts who can listen to the public’s ideas, concerns, and opinions and make sure those are reflected in actual regulations.”

 

Zoning is the process by which communities guide physical development of land and buildings to reduce conflicts and create complementary spaces.

 

But many people say that Covington’s Zoning Ordinance:

A traditional code like Covington’s existing ordinance zeroes in on specific land “uses” and typically assigns buildings and/or spaces only one use, thus separating the City by use.

 

A form-based code encourages mixed uses and focuses more on the “form” of buildings and their relation to adjoining spaces and the streetscape. It uses standards and design ideas to preserve the character or “feel” of an area.

 

“Our ordinance seems to focus on what we don’t want,” Myers said. “We want a guiding document that by right allows us to pursue development that we do want. We also want to make those good investments - this smart, sensitive development - easier to implement instead of throwing up roadblocks.”

 

 

For questions about the Neighborhood Development Code effort, contact Christopher Myers, the City’s Preservation and Planning Specialist, at cmyers@covingtonky.gov.

 

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