Publication select ▼TROY — The Troy City Council recently approved a series of text and map amendments to the city’s zoning ordinance regarding neighborhood nodes. The “nodes” determine what kinds of developments are allowed in each district, such as office space, commercial and residential.
Approval came at the meeting May 11, but the process has been a long time coming, following the master plan’s amendment in 2024 to better regulate land uses throughout Troy.
A subcommittee of the Planning Commission, which advises the City Council, was tasked with researching areas of the city that would be most impacted by changes to the ordinance.
Some concerns emerged from this process. The subcommittee found an overreliance on residential-only development, a lack of placemaking efforts, a tendency toward traffic congestion and setback issues, and more.
The subcommittee also emphasized the need to focus on mixed-use developments featuring first-floor commercial uses and upper-story residences, plus open spaces that promote pedestrian traffic and “sensitive” transitions between those spaces.
The effort also aimed to cut back on drive-thrus, car washes and data centers while allowing single-family special uses on small sites and only allowing residential-only developments as part of mixed-use projects.
“It’s impossible to craft a zoning ordinance that is going to be able to address every potential issue,” said Brent Savidant, the city’s community development director. “So, when we developed the neighborhood nodes, we included some automotive uses like drive-thru restaurants and gas stations and car washes, but there’s also the intent of creating walkability … and it’s difficult to find the balance between walkability and automotive uses.
“One of the things we did is we removed automotive focus uses, like car washes and gas stations and drive-thru restaurants, simply because it had been proven that it wasn’t a balance that we could really meet,” he said.
As part of the map amendments, 90 properties were proposed for rezoning, which would eliminate six nodes. After much feedback from community members and officials during the council’s April 6 meeting, the council postponed the decision to iron out the details.
At the meeting May 11, several procedural details had changed.
“If a developer wants to change site types, the City Council has now taken back the power to hear and make that decision,” said Jeff Williams, a representative for the Save Troy Corners neighborhood group, in an email. He also noted the developments height limits on structures built near neighborhood nodes, limiting them to two and a half stories, or 30 feet.
“This process reinforced something important: residents need to show up, ask questions, and do their homework,” Williams said. “We are also encouraged by the discussion around forming a task force (for our node) and look forward to continuing to work collaboratively with the city to help shape that corner in a way that reflects the intent of the master plan. We simply want to leave the city that we have called home for many years better than what we found it — that’s the goal, and the reason we stay involved.”
The council members were enthusiastic about finally resolving the matter.
“This is the end of so many years of discussion and debate and hard work by residents and staff and council, and I think these updates are a substantial improvement to where we were before,” said Troy City Councilmember David Hamilton. “If we don’t approve this, then the old zoning ordinance is still in place, and I have little doubt that what we have now here is an improvement over what we had, and I’m ready to move forward.”
