Planning Commission Work Session on Zoning Ordinance Update - August 24, 2026
Planning Commission Work Session on Zoning Ordinance Update - August 24, 2026
The Harrisonburg Planning Commission held a work session on August 24, 2026, to continue discussions on the Zoning Ordinance Update. Note: The agenda for this meeting listed the date as August 18, 2026, but the meeting was held on August 24 as per the provided timestamp. The meeting focused on two main topics: revising zoning district names and intent statements, and reviewing proposed changes to parking and landscaping regulations. Commissioner Al Cindy participated remotely from Irbil, Iraq. No public comment was received.
Discussion Items
Zoning District Names and Intent Statements
Staff presented a proposal to replace the current R1, R2, R3 residential district designations with more descriptive names reflecting density and character. Proposed names included "Urban Neighborhood," "Suburban Neighborhood," and "Neighborhood Residential" (or similar). Commissioners debated the merits of names such as "traditional neighborhood," "urban," "suburban," and "low/medium/high density." Several commissioners expressed concern that names like "urban" and "suburban" carry different connotations for different people, and that labels like "traditional" could be seen as elitist or ambiguous. Commissioner Kettler suggested using density-based terms like "low density," "medium density," and "high density" for clarity. Others noted that the names should be useful for real estate marketing and public understanding.
After extensive discussion, the commission decided to postpone the naming decision. Commissioners were asked to gather input from realtors and other stakeholders and to submit suggested names to staff by September 7, 2026. The topic will be revisited at the next work session.
Parking and Landscaping Regulations (Draft Article E)
Staff reviewed proposed changes to parking minimums, landscaping requirements, and related definitions. Key highlights included:
- Restaurant parking: Reduced from 1 space per 100 sq ft to 1 per 250 sq ft, aligning with most other commercial uses.
- Residential parking: Standardized at 1 space per dwelling unit, except in districts with high student housing (RAC and GC) where a ratio of 0.85 spaces per bedroom is proposed.
- Simplification of parking calculations: Uses moved to a single table with measurable quantities, eliminating hard-to-verify metrics.
- Shared parking: The current 10-year agreement limit was questioned; staff proposed aligning with standard practice (no expiration).
- Educational uses: Staff asked whether public schools, private schools, and colleges/universities should continue to submit parking plans to the commission. Commissioners generally favored handling parking for these uses through special use permits or rezoning rather than requiring separate review.
- Drive-thru stacking: Commissioners discussed the challenge of enforcing stacking requirements and whether nuisance laws could address spillover onto streets.
- Landscaping: The proposed 15% landscaping requirement for parking lots was discussed, with questions about applicability to parking garages and adjacent buildings.
No votes were taken; staff will incorporate feedback into the draft ordinance.
Key Outcomes
- The commission agreed to postpone finalizing zoning district names and will solicit input from realtors and the public, with feedback due by September 7, 2026.
- Staff will continue refining the parking and landscaping regulations based on commissioner comments, with a focus on simplifying requirements and increasing flexibility.
- The next regular meeting is scheduled for September 9, 2026, and the next work session for September 15, 2026. Public open houses on the zoning update are planned for late September to early October 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Planning commission. Relative to quorum, we have four members in the room right now. So I guess quorum. Vice Chair Porter and Councilmember Deb, do we I'm expecting Councilmember Deb to join. Porter, Shannon said he wasn't going to be able to make it. So we hope to have Councilmember Tim here shortly. But uh Commissioner Al Cindy is willing to participate not just virtually, but virtually from a set of records that's hardest to beat. He's gonna stand for a good while furthest away from us physically when he's doing this. Um but uh he's soon he's he's not logged in yet. So uh but if we could take a motion to make the motion from this, yeah. Okay, so um in affordance with the planning commission's adopt a policy for remote participation. Commissioner Al Sidney has requested to participate remotely in this meeting during travel that prevents his physical attendance. He will participate remotely from a private location in Air Beal, Iraq, which is not open to the public. Quorum of the planning commission is physically assembled at this meeting location, and arrangements have been made for the voice of Commissioner Al Cindy to be heard by all person as a primary location. So I'll entertain a motion to allow Commissioner Al Cindy to participate. Moved by Commissioner Kettler, seconded by Commissioner Chesi or any discussion. All in favor say aye. Opposed no. All right, so then we can physically make the uh connections. Um might not be bad to know just for the record at that point, but that nonetheless we will allow him to seamlessly join the meeting as much as classical. Well, I'm first, I'm sure it's a record, but my assertion is that it's going to stand for a good one. But uh who knows. All right, which gets us to our first item under new business uh reflections on prior work session. And we'll note for the record that uh commissioner council member Den is just joined us. Staff gonna leave us in this, or you're just gonna let us uh or was come over whatever something went around. If you have anything on your mind, um don't have any updates. Last time I talked about was there any map I shared to see some of that new questions or anything from the last two meetings you want to discuss? You're good. Well, these things tend to be a little unstructured anyway, so I'm sure if anybody feels a brain need to bring up something uh at some point later, we'll find a way to retain town. So with that, we officially at least move on to item 3b, review zoning district names and intent statements. Yes, so at our last meeting, um someone requested having all the intent statements in one location. And I figured it was a good time to address district names. Um over the course of a number of meetings, it became clear that even amongst staff who regularly read them that the previous names were not sufficiently meaningful for anyone to know how to distinguish them and make it being used in place of one another. Um, and so we went searching for alternatives and a real set of all commissioner Alcindy. Commissioner Al Cindy, can you hear us? Yeah, hi, hello. Yes, I can hear you. All right, fantastic. Thank you. Perfect. Yeah, welcome to welcome Commissioner Al Cindy. Very glad you could join us. And just to let you know at this point, the first their business item on the agenda, there really wasn't anybody who was uh necessarily wanted to have any reflections on private work session. Uh was there anything in particular you wanted to do at that point? Uh no, no, so no, thank you. I'm fine. Okay. Then just letting you know that we were just starting on item three B for reviewing zoning district names and intent statements, and with that, I'll be quiet. Let uh Russ continue talking. Sure, absolutely.
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