The City Plan Commission voted Oct. 9 to approve an amendment to Planned Development (PD) District 1113 on North Walton Walker Boulevard (case Z25111), with staff‑recommended condition changes.

City staff described the request as a text amendment to the PD that would exempt the Walton Walker Boulevard frontage from several street‑facing and street‑level entry requirements that otherwise apply across the development. Planner Mr. Bate noted the site is not a pedestrian corridor today, lacks sidewalks along Walton Walker and includes a six‑to‑eight foot retaining wall that constrains sidewalk alignment.

The applicant’s representative, Rob Baldwin, said engineering constraints make it infeasible to meet the standard sidewalk and street‑facing entry requirements along Walton Walker; he said a six‑foot sidewalk will be provided in that location and connectivity will be achieved at other entrances. Baldwin told commissioners the amendment does not change the allowed uses or the overall development plan.

Commissioner Carpenter moved to close the public hearing and follow staff’s recommendation of approval subject to amended conditions as briefed and to add a definition and requirement for a bioswale in the PD text (definition added to section 51P‑1113.103 and a bioswale requirement included in section 51P‑1113.112). The motion was seconded and carried.

Why it matters: The change preserves pedestrian‑oriented requirements on the majority of the site while allowing targeted flexibility on a non‑pedestrian arterial with significant grade constraints. The approved text amendments are intended to reflect real‑world engineering limits while maintaining stormwater and landscape expectations through the added bioswale language.

Next steps: Staff will incorporate the amended PD language and the bioswale definition and requirement into the PD text for implementation at permitting.