City Council will hold a public hearing next week on the final draft of a new subdivision and land development ordinance (SALDO) and a new zoning ordinance, after a year’s development under consultant czb.

The hearing will take place at 5 p.m. Monday at City Council Chambers, 1320 Washington Ave., before a regular council meeting at 6 p.m.

The draft ordinances can be viewed at the city clerk’s office in Suite 100 on the first floor of City Hall during business hours, at the Blair County Law Library, 423 Allegheny St. in Hollidaysburg, and at the city’s website, altoonapa.gov.

A prior draft was recently open for public comment for 45 days, resulting in “solid” observations from the community, some of which led to revisions, according to City Manager Christopher McGuire.

There weren’t substantial revisions, however, according to Deputy Community Development Department Director Diana White.

The new ordinances, a followup to czb’s work on a new comprehensive plan, will make development in the city “far easier than it’s ever been,” McGuire predicted.

They will do that because they have “streamlined” processes connected with both land development and zoning, McGuire said.

With zoning, diagrams and color coded tables will make things easier, especially for smaller-scale developers, according to McGuire.

With land development, changes that allow for more “by right” approvals should help speed many projects, provided proposals meet requirements laid out in the ordinance, czb officials have said.

Also making it easier for land development proposals will be a new distinction between minor and major projects, with minor ones handled internally by staff, McGuire said.

Even major land development proposals that still need to go before the Planning Commission for approval will be subject to a streamlined process, he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.