Council considers increase in commercial building heights

The city moved forward on plans to raise the maximum building height allowed in a commercial zone to 80 feet at last week’s city council meeting.

The planning commission voted to forward this suggestion to the council at its Nov. 18 meeting. The current maximum height allowed is 50 feet.

“It’s outdated by today’s standards,” said city manager Gary Person of the existing regulation. “C3 zones in proper planning are never near residential areas.”

Most of the new projects zoned for commercial uses are near the interstate, Person said. One of the original reasons for the height restriction of 50 f...