We Are Pleased To Introduce The Manhattan Development Code

The Manhattan Development Code (MDC), formerly known as the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) is drafted and is ready for community review. This project originally began in 2017 when the City contracted with Kending Keast Collaborative to review the current development regulations and draft a modern development code that combines the City’s zoning and subdivision regulations. The project was originally called the Unified Development Ordinance because it unified two separate sets of regulations (Manhattan Zoning Regulations and the Manhattan Urban Area Subdivision Regulations) into one document. Since the beginning of the project, its name has evolved to the Manhattan Development Code, which is to convey the set of requirements and procedures that regulate development in our community. We in the Community Development Department recognize that this has been a drawn-out project and that people may have forgotten its purpose and elements of the draft regulations presented some time ago. To re-orient you to the Manhattan Development Code (MDC), we invite you to watch this brief introductory video.

What Are Development Regulations And Why Are They Important?

We realize that most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about zoning and subdivision regulations, or how these requirements shape our neighborhoods, where we work, shop, and play, or how we get to and from these places by car, bus, bike, or walking. However, these regulations play a significant part in our daily lives. Our friends at Phoenix, Arizona’s Community and Economic Development Department have created an amazing Zoning 101 video that explains the nuts and bolts of these development regulations – you should check it out!

Come Back To Stay Informed

The Community Development Department is committed to providing as much information about this draft of the Manhattan Development Code (MDC) as possible to keep you informed of the proposed regulation and procedure and the next steps in the review and adoption process. Over the next several months, staff will be provided news feeds and videos of the different articles of the MDC to give you an overview of those individual sections. Please come back to www.EngageMHK.com for more information. The next installment will be about Articles 1 - 3 of the draft development code.

The finish line to adopting the Manhattan Development Code (MDC) is in sight! The Community Development Department recently advertised for the public hearing by the Manhattan Urban Area Planning to adopt the Manhattan Development Code. The Planning Board’s public hearing will be on November 1, 2021, at 7:00 pm in the City Commission Room at City Hall, 1101 Poyntz Avenue. If all goes well, the Planning Board will forward a recommendation of approval to the City Commission, which will hold a public hearing for the first reading of an ordinance to adopt the MDC on December 1, 2021.

The Final Draft of the MDC can be found here.

There are still several project elements related to the MDC that need to be completed; such as finalizing new application forms and procedures and finishing up a user guide to help people navigate the new set of regulations, applications, procedures.

Also, the MDC is not set in stone. City staff will work with applicants and consultants to make sure the new development code, the new applications, etc. meet the objectives of the MDC and are easy to use. We will continually evaluate the MDC and make needed changes. We anticipate routinely discussing the effectiveness of the MDC with the public and the Planning Board over the next 18 – 24 months. So, there is still plenty of work to do, even during and after the adoption process.

There is a long list of folks that need to be thanked for their time and energies reviewing, providing comments, and editing the Manhattan Development Code to prepare it for final adoption. This list includes numerous business owners and neighbors, stakeholders, such as developers, architects, landscape architects, and engineers, the Ordinance Advisory Committee, the Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board, City Commission, and City staff from the City Manager’s Office, City Attorney’s Office, Fire Department, Risk Reduction Department, Public Works, and the Community Development Department.

Although the final draft of the MDC has been completed and the public hearings have been set, edits of issues can still be made by recommendation of the Planning Board and approval of the City Commission. If you have any questions or comments, please free to contact the Community Development Department.

Thanks again to all of those that have helped get the Manhattan Development Code to this point!

Managing nonconforming uses, structures, and other site improvements have always been a confusing and challenging effort. Since Manhattan adopted zoning n 1925, there have been regulations dealing with situations that do not conform to the current zoning districts. City staff has updated the way nonconformities are regulated in the Manhattan Development Code to better balance the property rights of the owner of the nonconformities with the needs of the surrounding neighborhood and community. We hope you find the summary video about the proposed changes informative. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Community Development Department.

Along with other updates and changes to zoning and subdivision regulations, the Community Development Department is proposing several changes to the administrative steps for approval of developments. Article 8, Procedures and Administration, outlines who makes decisions on different development applications, what processes each application type will be required to follow, and how violations will be enforced.

Admittedly, this is not an earth-shaking set of regulations, but it is important information to make sure that home and business owners, developers, and neighbors know what steps must be taken to have a subdivision or construction project approve and constructed.

As always, we hope you find this video informative. If you have any comments or questions about the Manhattan Development Code, this article, or the previous articles, please submit them in the Questions tab above.

Ben Chmiel, Long-Range Planner III, provides another fantastic overview of Article 26-7, Site Development. This article covers vehicle off-street parking, new bicycle parking requirements, landscaping requirements for parking lots and screening, business signage, and lighting standards. The topics found in this article help shape the look and feel of our community, especially our commercial areas.

If you have questions or thoughts on these standards or any other part of the MDC, please drop us a line in the Questions tab above – we are excited to hear what you and your neighbors think about the draft regulations.

Here is another installment of an overview video of an article of the Manhattan Development Code. In this latest video, Ben Chmiel, Planner III, gives an overview of residential design standards found in Article 26-4A. The draft regulations can be found on the Manhattan Development Code EncodePlus site.

The City has had design standards in some shape or form for a few residential districts or overlay districts for nearly 20 years. These site layout and exterior building design standards set minimum requirements to make sure new development or redevelopment keeps our community looking attractive and vibrant, meets the intended purpose of the applicable district, and/or keeps these developments compatible with the surrounding area.

We hope you find this video informative. If you have any comments or questions about the Manhattan Development Code, this article, or the previous articles, please submit them in the Questions table above.

To carry on with the overview of the proposed design standards in the Manhattan Development Code (MDC), John Adam, Senior Long Range Planner, discusses the draft requirements for commercial districts and uses. As John puts it, not all commercial developments are the same, some have good architectural character, others have solid internal transportation layouts for cars, bikes, and pedestrians, and others focus on landscaping. These commercial design standards create a minimum bar for the community to make sure Manhattan continues to look great, attract people to our stores, restaurants, and other businesses, and function well both within the development and with the surrounding sidewalks, trails, and roads.

If you have questions or thoughts on these standards or any other part of the MDC, please drop us a line in the Questions tab above – we are excited to hear what you and your neighbors think about the draft regulations.

The City of Manhattan and Riley County entered into a fairly unique and visionary agreement on May 1, 1976. That agreement created the process to jointly create a comprehensive land use and review development projects in Manhattan and the area immediately outside of the city to ensure that development on the edge of Manhattan would be appropriate and could, one day, seamlessly be a part of the City. The agreement was most recently updated in 2001.

This process, which has been in place for more than forty-five-year, has prevented development patterns that occur in other areas of the state from happening in our community. For instance, imagine a new residential neighborhood being created on the edge of Manhattan that could have substantially smaller rights-of-way widths, narrow or no utility easements, and inadequate public utilities for water, fire protection, and community sanitary sewer services. When the nearby city limits extend out to that neighborhood and it eventually makes sense to annex the area into Manhattan, upgrading that neighborhood to have adequate streets, sidewalks, fire hydrants, and sewer and water would be expensive and challenging.

The result of the agreement is the creation of the Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board. The MUAPB is a defined area per the joint agreement and the boundaries of the Manhattan Urban Area Comprehensive Plan. The Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board is made up of seven members and comprised of both residents of Manhattan and rural areas of Riley County within the defined board boundary. Three Board members are appointed by the City Commission and three Board members are appointed by the Board of Riley County Commissioners. The seventh Board members rotate between the City and County for each three-year term. Additionally, the agreement established that the subdivision of land would follow the same regulations and processes in this area to ensure consistent and appropriate infrastructure, such as sewer and water, would be provided for development.

The different elements that make up the development oversight in the MUAPB jurisdiction can be viewed as a set of nesting circles, where each map jurisdiction is smaller and fits within its larger counterpart.

The sum of all of the parts is the Manhattan Urban Area, and, as we have already discussed, is the jurisdiction of the MUAPB. The outermost layer is the Urban-Rural Fringe, which is areas in the Manhattan Urban Area that are not anticipated to be developed at an urban or suburban scale in the foreseeable future because of the limited utility infrastructure and development demand. This area generally will stay in its rural agriculture and residential character. The next layer is the Urban Service Area. This the area that has infrastructure readily available or could be extended to the area soon and that the market or development demands make the area a prime location for future growth. And the last, innermost area is the city limits of Manhattan.

The MUAPB hears requests for all rezoning and subdivision of land in their jurisdiction, regardless of if the property is within the City limits or not. For applications within the City limits or is to be annexed into Manhattan, the City staff will manage the applications and handle the process with the MUAPB. For applications in the MUAPB jurisdiction that will not be annexed into Manhattan; Riley County will shepherd these applications to the MUAPB. Any land use application outside of the MUAPB jurisdiction will be handled by Riley County staff and be heard by a separate Riley County Planning Board. Following the Planning Board actions, the City Commission will hear items that are to be within the City, and Riley County will hear all other items.

The Manhattan Development Code continues this mutual process that has been placed since 1976. Section 26-9C. Land Division outlines the applicable jurisdiction, as previously discussed. Section 26-5C-1, General Requirements for Streets and Division 26-5D, Standards for Public Improvements describes which entity’s utility design standards will need to be followed, depending on where the site is in (urban-rural fringe, urban service area, or city limits) within the MUAPB boundary.

Although slightly more complicated than other processes to review and approve development applications in the areas outside of a growing city, the Manhattan Urban Area Planning Board has served the City and Riley County well. To keep this mutually beneficial process going, the City and County staff are working to ensure the new development codes that both entities are separately working on will seamlessly meet the objectives of the original, unique, and visionary idea.

A community’s subdivision regulations are the unsung requirements that help shape our neighborhoods and commercial areas. These regulations establish several of the basic services to our homes and businesses that we take for granted daily, such as reliable power, water, sewer, and storm sewers. The subdivision regulations also define how our neighborhoods are laid out, how streets safely handle traffic, and make sure that adequate bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure is provided.

Currently, the Subdivision Regulations are in a separate document. And as discussed in the last edition of the news feed, the City of Manhattan shares the regulations with Riley County for areas immediately around the city limits. The Manhattan Development Code will incorporate them into the one-stop development code by placing these standards into Article 26-5. Subdivision.

Barry Beagle, Senior Current Planner, briefly explains the purpose of these regulations and the changes that are proposed in the Manhattan Development Code. Although we often forget about this set of regulations, they are the workhorse for establishing the layout of our community and the basic city functions. Please watch the short video that Barry created to learn more. Also, please offer any comments or questions you may have in the “Questions Tool” We would like to hear from you!

EncodePlus bring the Manhattan Development Code into the 21st Century

The city wanted to modernize its zoning and subdivision regulations to use best practices to regulate new development and redevelopment of sites in Manhattan and make it easier to use the Manhattan Development Code. One way we hope makes the new development code easier to use is by having the regulations live online, which allows any user to quickly navigate through the various sections of the code, simply find development definitions, and have tools to determine what regulations will apply and to help calculate some requirements, such as minimum off-street parking to provide or a maximum size of sign allowed for a building or use.

Kendig Keast Collaborative’s EncodePlus website is where the development code is located. To help you use this new website to find and apply these regulations, we have created this quick instructional video. Please note, some of the tools and functions are not quite ready yet, but most of the site for the MDC is up and going. Future instructional videos will be created on tools that are not fully functional yet.

If you have any questions about EncodePlus or the MDC, please feel free to use the Q & A tool here on EngageMHK.com or contact the Community Development Department.