The Planning & Zoining Committee is charged with creating and implementing a neighborhood comprehensive plan as well as hearing requests for zoning variances from neighborhood property owners.
If you are planning to build a new structure or make modifications that require a variance to an existing structure, please contact the P&Z committee chair to schedule an appointment to review your request.
Please read our guidelines for developers before contacting us, as this document outlines the process you must follow in order to be heard at a regularly scheduled planning & zoning meeting.
Guidelines for Developers
Our role in the zoning variance process is as a representative voice of our neighbors and as such we hold monthly meetings to facilitate a conversation between developers and investors in our community and the people who live here. If you are planning to build a new structure or make modifications that require a variance to an existing structure, please contact the P&Z committee chair, Aaron Ritz, to schedule a meeting to review your request.
Once a meeting has been scheduled, please prepare a presentation for the neighbors of your project and be ready to answer any questions that they might have.
What to expect at your meeting:
Several days before your meeting, the members of the NNA Planning and Zoning Committee will flyer the immediate vicinity around your project to make sure that the neighbors are alerted to what is going on. On the flyer will be a complete agenda for the meeting with a brief description of your project and any other matters to be discussed at the meeting.
At the meeting, we will convene at the agreed-upon time and place and the Planning and Zoning Chairperson will announce the projects and go over a brief introduction to the neighborhood group, and our decision making process.
Please be prepared to present the following materials in order to give a clear understanding of your project or request. If you have hired a project lawyer and/or architect, they should be present at the meeting if at all possible.
You should bring the following to your meeting
- A detailed description of your project including square footages of the proposed spaces and information on the materials and finish of the interior and exterior. The description should also include information on the proposed use, and projected rent or selling price for the units.
- Pictures of the existing building or lot and the block as a whole
- Architectural drawings showing the floor plans or lot plans as well as the front and side elevations of the building.
- Color renderings or photo simulations of the proposed building if available.
Once you have presented your materials, and any questions that we have about the project have been asked, we will open the floor to the area neighbors and they will also ask questions and make comments. We may at this point discuss some options for the project design and some concessions to the neighborhood. After this point we will continue onto other meeting business and at the end of the meeting hold a vote on your project. NNA holds the right to support the project with or without provisos, or, if no compromise can be reached, we may write a letter of opposition. Once that has occurred, the committee chair will contact you in the next 2 business days regarding the outcome of the meeting. We will also write a letter to the ZBA and our Councilperson regarding the meeting outcome.
We hope to present a transparent meeting format, please feel free to contact the committee chair with any questions or suggestions about making the process simple and fair.