Roswell is extending its moratorium on new apartments while officials tweak the development code. Officials have said they want to ensure builders of mixed-use projects with multifamily housing meet requirements that will attract quality development.
During a Monday meeting, City Council approved a 60-day extension on a moratorium on conditional use applications for new apartments unless they’re within a mixed-use project with 75% non-residential space.
Council members approved the original 90-day moratorium on the measure in March. Since then, city staff has drafted proposed changes to the city’s Uniform Development Code. If the suggested amendments are approved, builders of mixed-use projects would have to show that existing buildings on a property are in compliance with city standards, according to a proposed amendment.
Mayor Kurt Wilson and City Councilmembers say they want to promote walkability. Under the proposed amendments, developers would be required to have sidewalks around the development, Council Mike Palermo said on Tuesday.
The goal is to model development after Alpharetta where successful live, work, play projects have been built or are in development at the downtown City Center, Avalon and the North Point district. Alpharetta has been so transformed in recent years that the city is building Alpha Loop linear park to connect the three destinations. Developers building office and mixed-use spaces along the park trail are sharing project costs with Alpharetta.
Roswell’s planning commission is scheduled to hear the proposed changes next Tuesday and City Council would likely vote on them soon. If the changes are approved the moratorium would end sooner than the 60-day period, Palermo said.
The councilman was absent from the Monday meeting and didn’t vote on the extended moratorium.
The proposed amendments are separate from Uniform Development Code changes that City Council approved in May. In that case, council decided developers can no longer build standalone apartment communities in Roswell, and the city will not accept applications for rezoning to standalone residential multifamily communities.
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