The City of Bridgeport could potentially see a massive rezoning in the upcoming year. The key word, at least for the moment, is potentially.

 

At Monday’s Bridgeport Planning Commission meeting, the board looked at a large section of the city that contains roughly 500 lots that are all located in an area zoned Residential-2, which allows for multi-unit homes, apartments, and duplexes.

 

The area in question is what some often refer to as “old Bridgeport.” The area in question was I the sections of First Street to Fifth Street as well as Grand Avenue, Liberty, and a few others.

 

Currently, 380 of the lots in the area in question are home to single-family homes and 106 lots are vacant. Community Development Director Andrea Kerr told the board the majority of those lots are too small to build any type of residential unit on or may have issues involving slopes too steep to build on.

 

There were some multi-family units in the area. Kerr said the city identified 24 that fell under that category, which is allowed in R-2.

 

The Commission began discussion Monday about the possibility of making the entire area Residential-1, which is for single family units only. Commission President Rodney Kidd has said the idea is to consider doing it to protect an area almost exclusively with single-family homes from seeing multi-unit facilities going in. Currently, lots that meet city requirements in the area could become multi-unit buildings under the R-2 designation.

 

While those on hand agreed the idea was worth discussing and potentially doing, member Philip Freeman said he was concerned that it might be in contrast to a City of Bridgeport (Comprehensive) Plan that he said called for more multi-unit buildings in older sections of the city, along with the need for more patio homes.

 

Whether that was the case is unknown, but it cause the Commission to pause. In fact, due to the full body not being in attendance, the matter was tabled to the next meeting. Barring something unforeseen, Kerr said that would be February at the earliest.

 

It should be noted that the matter was only for discussion and would require public hearings and a recommendation from the Commission to City Council for any change in zoning. Then, it would require at least one public hearing in front of the city’s governing body and approval on that end before it would become reality. In other words, the matter – as stated at the meeting – is strictly for discussion purposes at this time.

 

Kerr also said if it advanced to a public hearing portion that all the lots shown - 500-plus - would receive letters notifying them of a possible change and a public hearing.

 

It should also be noted that in the event the zoning would change, any multi-unit facility that would require R-2 zoning would not be impacted. Those facilities would be grandfathered in if a zoning change would take place.

 

Any lots big enough to be subdivided to allow for another lot that would allow for another single-family residential would still be able to do so as long as it met city requirements and approval by the Planning Commission if the rezoning took place - as it currently is.

 

In other business, the Commission approved a preliminary plant approval for Daniel and Susana Vlaisavljevic to subdivide property located at 8 Point of View. The subdivision leaves two lots – one covering 7,176 square feet and the other covering 7,124 square feet. Both lots meet the city’s 6,000 square foot lot requirement for new homes.

 

Now, the Vlaisavljevic’s must get a plat showing the subdivision and have it stamped by a professional surveyor and brought back before the Planning Commission. The lots will have one facing Point of View and one Rebecca Drive.

 

Neighbors will be sent letters of the subdivision when it goes onto an upcoming Planning Commission meeting, the earliest of which looks to be in February of next year. Prior to approving the final plat there will be a public hearing for anyone wishing to comment on the subdivision.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Planning Commission members, from left, Dr. Hank "Harry" Murray and Rodney Kidd waiting for Community Development Director Andrea Kerr to review an item for discussion. Bottom photo shows member Philip Freeman bringing up a point during Monday's meeting. Photo below is a look at the zoning map that was shown. The light blue are all single-family units, the green are vacant lots, and the orange/yellow are existing multi-unit structures. The entire area shown is zoned Residential-2.