Pud Proposal Tightened Up

Several changes in the proposed Planned Unit Development (PUD) ordinance making it a bit more restrictive were approved by the Ann Arta o r Planning Commission Tuesday night. The changes were urged last wepk by speakers bef ore the commission and City Council who claimed the ordi nance would allow builders and developèrs too much leeway. They also expressed the lear that the PUD ordinance wculd be used to bypass the city's normal building requirements. ' Included in he„ alterations was a statement that any PUD zoüjng must combine land uses which could not be cornbined under any other single zonini classiiication. The commission also decided to restrict PUD to developments I w i th ''mixed and varied uses." The nature of a PUD zoning I would p e r m i t builders to I avoid some of the technical I construction recjuirements to I obtain land uses which would not be possiblunderordinary zonings. The main criteria for PUD projects would be that they benefit the surrounding neighborhood. The landscaping requirements were also changed to require provisión of open space equal to the total minimum usable open space in percentage of the net lot area, which would be required for each of the component uses in any development. The commission opted to retain the exemption of the central business district (CBD) f r o m usable open space requirement unless the commission or City Council deern it necessary. The exemption of the CBD was allowed because of the high cost and general lack of space in the central city. A m o n g the proponents of PUD have been persons seeking " to use it as a means for redeveloping the downtown area. A provisión necessitating adequate buffering between uses within a PUD development or surrounding property was also added.