City Council members debated late into the night Tuesday over amendments proposed for the rewriting of Madison's zoning ordinance before adopting the plan.
The code, though adopted, will not go into effect until the maps related to the zoning code are also adopted, Ald. Satya Rhodes-Conway, District 15, said.
Sponsor Ald. Marsha Rummel, District 6, proposed an amendment to the portion of the zoning code focused on preventing housing cooperatives in several districts.
Housing cooperatives would create the housing diversity alders say they want to create in Madison, Rummel said.
A housing cooperative consists of a group of residents that become shareholders in a corporation that owns property, in turn allowing the residents to occupy a unit of the property.
Madison resident and Greenbush Neighborhood Association member Amy Rountree said she was not in favor of Rummel's amendment.
Rountree said the plans are ""inconsistent with our neighborhood's hard work to restore single family homes and our recently adopted neighborhood plan.""
Marquette Neighborhood Association member Scott Thornton said he was in support of Rummel's amendment.
""I'm most concerned about the co-ops in the neighborhood appearing to be non-conforming with the current language for the zoning code rewrite,"" Thornton said.
Madison resident Leslie Fields spoke out against the proposed amendment and said she wants to see an increase of single family and owner occupied homes.
Ald. Julia Kerr, District 13, had an opposing amendment that would prevent the creation of additional housing cooperatives in select districts. This amendment was placed on file.
Madison resident Fred Mohs spoke out against several of the alder's amendments to the zoning code. Specifically, Mohs said he has problems with the rules pertaining to height limits and building near the lake front.
An amendment pertaining to planned developments was adopted, but then further amended. A section about the current height regulations for each district was kept in the code even though the amendment sponsors proposed for it to be taken out.
Amendment co-sponsor Ald. Mark Clear, District 19, said the city might miss out on opportunities with the height restrictions put in place.
""Those projects might not come before us with a restriction but there could be a process for them to be approved,"" Clear said.
