Zoning change OK'd for rear-building residences on Square

A change in Holton’s zoning regulations allowing single-story business owners on Holton’s Town Square to split their buildings between commercial and residential use received the Holton City Commission’s approval on Aug. 3, albeit on a split vote after concerns were raised over the cost of remodeling part of those buildings for residential use.

Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve an ordinance changing zoning around the Square to allow first-floor residential spaces to be built into the back of single-story buildings that are zoned C-1, general commercial use specific to the Square, with a special use permit.

Commissioners Tim Schlodder, Tim Morris and Mason Baum voted to approve, while Holton Mayor Marilyn Watkins and Commissioner Clara Lovvorn voted no.

The ordinance, as presented by Holton Codes Enforcement Officer Jeff Draper, received the Holton Planning Commission’s approval in June after city commissioners heard a proposal last December to allow the back of the ground floor of all commercial buildings around the Square, including multiple-story buildings, to be remodeled for residential use.

Doing so, proponents of the proposal said, would alleviate a shortage of available residential spaces in Holton and help building owners with the cost of maintaining their businesses and buildings. In its finished form, the zoning change was limited to single-story buildings on the Square, due to opportunities for residential spaces on the second floors of multiple-story buildings.

Watkins argued that some of the conditions approved by city planners as part of the proposed zoning change — particularly that residential spaces at the back of buildings on the Square meet the Kansas State Fire Marshal’s Office requirements on sprinkler systems and firewalls, among other things — would prove too costly a burden for business owners interested in splitting their buildings.

Schlodder, whose motion to approve the zoning change was seconded by Morris, countered that the fire marshal’s requirements were not things the city could circumvent and added that the zoning change was “written exactly the way I think it needs to be if we’re going to approve it.”

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