Milton’s City Council will hold a Special Called Meeting on Wednesday morning, though only routine items are up for conclusive votes. 

The April 1 meeting, which is set to begin at 9 a.m., is expected to be brief. Typically, there are no in-depth discussions involving the two categories on its agenda – Consent Agenda and First Presentation. Regardless, citizens can attend this meeting in-person or watch it online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRne4cfpL3Y.

This meeting begins with consideration of the Consent Agenda, which consists of routine items that the Council considers collectively (so there’s a single vote that covers all items). The two such items pertain to potential new Parks and Recreation programs, both of which Milton’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board recommended for approval. 

The first provider agreement would be with Alyssa Rives to offer “Baby and Me” fitness classes focused on restorative, functional movement as well as rebuilding core and hip strength for postpartum mothers and their pre-walking babies (ages 6 weeks to 1 year). 

Next, the Council will vote on whether to approve a provider agreement with AR Workshop. This local business’s members would guide participants – who could be either adults or children – in making custom home décor and other handcrafted projects. As with the “Baby and Me” classes, these camps and workshops would be held in City facilities. 

The agenda’s other two items are under “First Presentation” (and, as such, can be moved forward but cannot be approved until a subsequent meeting). Both relate to a months-long initiative to consider enacting text amendments aimed at better aligning lot creation with development intensity, preserving Milton’s rural character, and enhancing clarity and predictability for property owners and applicants. 

Details of these potential text amendments are linked to in the City Council meeting “packet” -- https://meetings.municode.com/adaHtmlDocument/index?cc=MILTONGA&me=e891f095f47546f1b509097d955c96e4&ip=true. 

Earlier this year, the City Council approved a moratorium pausing applications to subdivide AG-1 property into three or fewer lots when those resulting lots are less than three acres in size. They did so to give City staff time to evaluate development trends, analyze available data, then devise potential text amendments based off that information. There have been multiple opportunities for the public to be involved in this process, including through a stakeholder survey, a pair of community feedback sessions (on February 26 and March 11), a Community Zoning Information Meeting (on March 24), and a Planning Commission meeting (on March 25). 

That has led to this matter going before Council. The proposed text amendments include the following elements and other minor revisions:

• A revised definition and standards for what constitutes lot coverage
• New and updated standards for what constitutes buildable and usable area
• Establishing new requirements to preserve rural character, maintain tree canopy, and provide appropriate transitions between adjacent properties and roadways
• Establishing and clarifying as-built survey requirements
• Clarifying limits for repeat lot splits involving minor plats
• Establishing a new provision aimed at preserving large tracts of land (10 acres and larger)

The Council is set to discuss and vote on adopting some or all these potential amendments at its April 13 Regular Meeting. The moratorium could be lifted following this vote.