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PARKERSBURG -- The Municipal Planning Commission will meet today to consider a pair of ordinances clarifying some city rules.
Although the Parkersburg Municipal Building is closed today for the state's observance of the Juneteenth holiday, the previously scheduled Planning Commission meeting will be held at 12:30 p.m. in council chambers and is open to the public.
The first ordinance on the agenda would provide property owners who want to build a secondary structure such as a garage on a separate, adjacent lot another option to link it to their dwelling.
The city's Code Department requires lots to be consolidated before a building permit is issued in such a situation.
According to a memo included with the Planning Commission agenda, the amended ordinance would allow a property owner to add a restrictive covenant to their deeds saying the parcels cannot be sold or transferred separately unless the secondary structure is first removed. This way, the property owner could avoid the expense of a professional survey, which is required when consolidating lots.
The second proposed ordinance would clarify that buildings in the city's Central Business District are not subject to the requirements of the municipal parking and loading ordinance designed to prevent congestion of streets. The Central Business District was established after the parking and loading ordinance, according to a memo with the agenda, and does not have those requirements "due to the need for preservation of building density."
The change is intended to clarify that the zoning district takes precedence over the parking ordinance, when applicable, the memo says.
If approved by the commission, the ordinances would go on to Parkersburg City Council, where they must be approved on two readings before they could take effect.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.