While the Town of Easton has quite a few challenges on its plate these days, the Spy has been particularly interested with the municipality’s efforts to zone or rezone land use associated with Port Street’s Easton Point development zone on the Tred Avon River.
What makes this intriguing is the unique opportunity and perhaps possible hazards that may be part of the difficult task of defining new zoning regulations for this rare waterfront access point for Easton and its visitors.
Given the complexity of zoning in general, and the specific nature of Easton Point’s future land use, the Spy has turned to an expert in the field to outline what has taken place so far and highlight the work that remains to make this choice site has the best possible laws the govern such essential things as building heights, parking and the protection of viewscapes.
Our expert for this turned out to be Chris Jakubiak who has been in the field of city planning and land use for almost twenty-five years. Hired by the Easton Economic Development Corporation to draft the zoning articles for the newly annexed property, Chris shares with the Spy his perspective on the two-phase effort to define zoning that complements the community’s master plan goals and provides long-term guidelines to intelligently develop Easton’s only significant waterfront.
This video is approximately five minutes in length. For more information about the Easton Economic Development Corporation please go here
Doug Davies says
A famous question that Chuck Mahon from Strong Town’s always asks is “Under your current (or proposed) zoning, could you rebuild the best part of your downtown?” I love this question because if the answer is no, then why should you expect the new neighborhood, town center, or port area to have the same vibrancy of your most beloved part of town? If we fill it with parking in front, large lots, and wide streets you are not building on your existing success.