THOMASVILLE — City of Thomasville personnel are in the process of tweaking a proposed Planned Unit Development, or PUD, ordinance.

The ordinance was approved on first reading at a previous council meeting, but was an item on Wednesday’s council workshop agenda. It is slated for second reading at Monday’s 7 p.m. regular council meeting.

“The Planned Unit Development Ordinance would allow for a greater mix of uses to occur on a property than would be allowed under our current zoning ordinance,” City Planner Lee Chastain explained.

The biggest difference between PUD and the current ordinance is “only a single parcel of land can be developed with one principal use,” he said.

Under PUD, “multiple parcels of land can be assembled and many different uses could occur within that site,” according to the city planner.

The second major difference between the current zoning and a PUD is the developer proposes the development standards instead of the development standards being specified in the code, as it is under the current ordinance.

Examples of development standards include building setbacks from streets, building heights and landscaping requirements.

“The unique thing about a PUD is the developer can propose what a site should look like and it allows a greater opportunity for the community, the City of Thomasville Planning and Zoning Board, and the mayor and city council to have input into what is being built in the city,” Chastain said.

There are three different types of statements PUD would require of developers: a land use summary statement, an improvements requirements comparison statement, and a community benefit statement.

“The developer has to be able to show that what they are proposing is better than what is required under current zoning,” Chastain said. “In order to be granted a PUD, the development has to be superior to what would have otherwise occurred.”

PUD is something Chastain’s department has been working on for a long time, he said, and can help facilitate construction projects, such as the Victoria Place Urban Redevelopment Plan and those types of initiatives and redevelopment projects.

The city planner said changes made to the draft from the first reading approval were “minor technical wording changes,” language revisions “to more accurately reflect what was required.”

Wednesday’s workshop discussion was a chance for council members and the public to ask questions about the minor language changes to the proposed ordinance since the first reading.

Communications Officer Greg Lawrence said the workshop yielded a few more “minor adjustments” to the ordinance’s language, specifically to allow for more flexibility to the council for variations to the PUD that may be requested at the time an application is submitted.

Chastain said a local landscape architect and a local developer have been keeping up with the PUD ordinance process, and have offered professional comments and suggestions.

The local developer is John Bennett, who said he has enjoyed the opportunity to be involved in the PUD development process and to provide input on its designation.

He feels the workshops have gone very well and is pleased with the response from city staff and the council.

“As a local real estate developer, citizen and consultant, the interest is in really trying to help frame a good zoning system for Thomasville, particularly with the sort of landlocked nature we have,” Bennett said in a Friday phone interview.

“We don’t do a lot of annexing so we’ve got to really be careful with how we plan and allow the city to manage future infill development and to continue to improve the community.”

The developer also attended Wednesday’s workshop. He feels pertinent issues were addressed during that time and feels good about the proposed ordinance.

“I think it is a good ordinance to help protect the continuity of Thomasville with respect to the unique development dynamics we have here,” Bennett said.

“It also gives our future leadership the ability to decide what is good for our community in respect to future development.”

Chastain stressed that this proposed PUD ordinance will not cancel out the city’s current zoning.

“This does not replace our current zoning ordinance,” he said. “This is just another means by which development can occur.”