City Council Agenda and Packet 1998 12 01

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public hearing notice described a slightly larger area than intended. Correction accepted by Sisk and Howard. Roll call was taken on the amendment to Ordinance No. 1286, Series 1998 - An Ordinance Amending the Louisville Municipal Code Setting a Maximum Building Height within the Old Town Commercial Community District. Motion passed by a 4-2 vote, with Keany and Mayer voting against. . Davidson called for further Council discussion. Keany agreed with Mayer's earlier comments. He did not disagree with limiting building heights downtown. He expressed concern that Council approved funding for a development plan and guidelines for downtown Louisville which have yet to be presented to Council. He questioned the logic of setting a policy for the future without having a clear definition of what downtown is. Davidson agreed with Keany, however, he felt that passing this ordinance was preferable to placing a moratorium on downtown development. Keany stated that he believes there are other ordinances which, when enforced, would effectively prevent downtown development. Sisk stated that the current use-by-right would allow a building height of 35-feet and a height of 42- feet to the top of any mechanical units. He questioned whether Council would want to have those guidelines to remain in effect. . Mayer stated that he did not believe placing a moratorium on downtown development would cause business to go away. He feels this ordinance sends a worse message than a moratorium would. Howard stated that he believes this ordinance is important because it allows Council the opportunity to continue reviewing applications f,Dr downtown development versus prohibiting all applications from coming forward. Keany stated that while he is not in favor of 42-foot buildings in downtown Louisville he believes there are other ways to address this. Roll call was taken. Motion passed by a 4-2 vote, with Keany and Mayer voting against. 13